SURF? How hard is it to get into?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Does anyone have any statistics about how competitive it is to get into SURF each year?</p>

2

<p>anyone know?</p>

3

<p>I keep hoping someone will help you out here. All I have are (non particularly helpful) personal anecdotes to share:</p>

<p>-My d (who was a Barnard student) applied for SURF and (to her delight) actually was a Columbia Amgen scholar the first year they did that program;

  • her good friend applied but did not get into SURF (so got no stipend), but was able to find a spot in a lab and stay and get experience anyway (she just had to pay to do it).</p>

<p>My guess is that it’s pretty competitive. I don’t know where you could find stats…</p>

4

<p>the acceptance rate for SURF is around 50% from what I hear, which seems accurate from the acceptances/rejections I’ve been seeing. it provides 4000 dollars in the form of a stipend to cover housing/food etc… the decision of whether you get SURF or not is made by the person you apply to work for. so if you have already worked for the lab you’re applying for during the semester, you will most definitely get into SURF and get to work for the lab over the summer. most people who get rejected are people who apply to work for random professors they’ve never spoken to.</p>

<p>hope this helps :)</p>

5

<p>What garygary says makes sense. My D was very surprised that she was given the Amgen spot, as she only met with her potential PI once for an interview when she applied. She had not had any lab experience (outside of the classroom) prior to that. So I guess she would be the exception to what garygary indicated. Though I would agree that her situation is probably pretty unusual…</p>

6

<p>If you know the professor, and the professor has already agreed to let you work in the lab over the summer, you’re pretty much guaranteed admission. It’s a little harder if you are just applying randomly. Keep in mind that some of the “available” faculty are listed because they may already have undergrads in their labs, so it’s not a bad idea to contact professors in advance.</p>

<p>From my experience, Amgen, as advertised, is really for people who are considering research as a career, as opposed to a straight MD. I would say a good portion, if not the majority, of SURFers are pre-meds who need research experience for med school but aren’t really interested in it as a career.</p>