I am applying to summer research programs a lot of them are asking “Why do you want to apply to this specific program?”
The thing is many of these programs offer the same thing and I feel like I can’t escape having generic answer that could fit any biology research program. How can I approach this kind of essay? I don’t want to spend too much time talking about the location because that really isn’t important for these programs and I don’t want to focus on a specific scientist in my essay. Thanks again
The question is not asking you to review the ambience or amenities of the location…
The question is asking what interests you about the research topics/projects being offered by the program. What kinds of skills and ideas are you hoping to learn? Are there any specific persons you’d like to work with and why? Is there a specific facility you’d like to work in? (Like a national neuroscience imaging center or high energy particle beam facility.) Talk about how your interests & experiences overlap with the those of the people & labs you’re applying to work with.
You need to do some research/reading about each program and learn what they do there. If you’re applying to a huge summer program like NIH’s SIP, pick 3 or 4 researchers (preferably all in related areas) and focus on them and what about their research attracts/interests you. (The instructions for SIP used to explicitly tell applicants to list 3 scientists they want to work for.)
These essays are basically sales pitches. You’re trying to convince the application reviewer/program administrator to pick you over someone else. They want to see how you’ll fit in and what you can contribute to their program.
BTW, some programs do offer special perks to summer students. But you need to research that for yourself…