Hey fellow CC’ers!!!
I want to inform you guys about the Umass Amherst Research Intensive Summer Internship Program (we like to call it AR.SIP-Amherst Research Summer Internship Program).
The Umass web page (http://www.umass.edu/summer/precollege.html) covers all of the housekeeping info the 6 week research intensive program is not the same as the other 1 and 2 weeks programs listed on the website. This research internship is a 6-week program hosted at Umass Amherst, under the guidance of a mentor, you will research in a lab (biology, biochem, physcology, food science, ecology, neuroscience etc).There are also some afternoon talks that involve profs talking about their research and landing future research opportunities (these are really good). This program does require some work both inside and outside of the lab (ex. reading papers, organizing project, reviewing concepts), but there’s an excellent balance between social life (I will explain plenty more about social life later on in this thread) and lab work. The program culminates with a poster session to your peers, professors, and family. This is an amazing group of nice, passionate, and engaging people whom you will make really good connections with. This program was a really rewarding experience and I learned so much!!! I’m also going to miss everyone I met! I can say without a doubt that this was one of the best summers I’ve ever had!!!
Admissions:
Even though ARSIP is relatively new, it’s pretty competitive. The application is a bit different from other internship programs, however. Instead of a general application, candidates apply to three different labs of their choice. The professors then view the applications and accept students accordingly. The process is a rolling admissions system so the level of competitiveness really depends on the lab. Each lab generally only accepts up to 2 students.
This year approx 30+ applicants were accepted into the program. Most accepted people had really good stats: multiple 800s on science/math subject tests, perfect ACT scores and 2200+ Sat scores, previous research experience, 4.0 GPA’s (projected to be valedictorians), good ec’s (capatin of varsity teams, presidents of clubs, science competitions, lots of community service).
The applications isn’t all about stats. Students at the internship are all motivated and well-rounded students. I know some kids who got in with no research experience. These kids in got in through relatively good stats and a real passion for science. Ultimately, you’re being evaluated by a professor who decides if he or she wants you to be in his or her lab for 6 weeks. Most profs have a skype interview before accepting students to get to know you better and determine your eligibility.
A few Students get acknowledgements on papers if they are lucky and have gotten a lot done; some do well in competitions. The psych labs do things a bit differently: students write and (have the chance to) publish papers. At the end of the day, it all depends on the mentors and project, which is why it’s important to talk to the professor about what you’ll be potentially doing for six weeks prior to coming to ARSIP. Most students get paired up with a undergrad/grad student and maybe even a Post Doc (although this is rare). The projects really depend on the lab and the types of project the lab is working on. Most labs have really friendly/helpful mentors.
Social Life
It’s REALLY easy to make friends. The friendships I made during this program were invaluable! Attend a few of the planned social events and you’ll immediately make friends. After spending six weeks with these awesome people (most rising juniors and seniors) you won’t want to leave….By the end of the program everyone established good friendships (some kids even cried when they had to go back home).
Even though the campus seems to be in the middle of nowhere, there are a ton of things to do (granted you may have to walk a little or take a short bus ride to get to these places). There is a beautiful nearby pond called Puffers Pond (comes with a beach and waterfall), nearby boba iced tea shop (it was really good tea), restaurants, a mall, laser tag area, cvs, cinema theaters, walmart, target, best buy, name anything and it’s probably nearby
The PA’s at the dorms were also really nice and easy to talk to!
There were also so many planned events with prizes such as karaoke night, roommate game, scavenger hunt, jeopardy, board games, video game tourneys, watch 4th july fireworks,
There were also unplanned evens like nightly horror movies with fellow researchers, kickboxing classes at the rec centers, or just hanging out with friends.
the program also hosts an sat class/ college counseling.
Some of the facilities include a nearby rec center (free access!!!) with badminton courts, weight rooms, basketball courts, swimming pools etc. (i guess this is expected because i mean Umass is a college campus), also a ton of fields around campus.
Most of the people are incredibly talented, nice, and fun to be around!
Food
I know food may not be a big deal, but at Umass it’s a HUGE deal. The food is unbelievably good. Im pretty sure Princeton Review ranked Umass as #2 for having the best college campus food. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all really good. (In my opinion dinner’s are the best though). Food is gourmet and have an amazing spectrum of foods. The dining commons (there are a few) have sushi bars, asian vietnamese noodle bowl tables, chipotle-type bar, stir fry lines, salad bar, yogurt bar, Italian section, pasta section, Asian section (korean food, etc.) waffle makers, smoothies, desserts (desserts were highlight of my meals, the cakes are a must!!!), and classic English foods like pizza and burgers. Before the program starts you will organize a meal plan for yourself so you can eat at these dining commons, but I’m not going into the specifics of this since you can find out at the website listed at the beginning of this thread. There is also a really good restaurant on campus called Blue Wall that can be a part of the meal plan. FYI dorms are located in the honors college. These dorms are new and really clean. The rooms have two beds, two desks, two cabinets, windows, sheets, and pillows.
Demographics (***may change year to year):
east asian/indian (1/2) and then white (1/2)
Gender ratio was 50/50
Most interns were juniors/rising seniors ( 90%?)
A portion were from Massachusetts
Almost everyone lived on campus in the dorms together (90%?)
this isn’t some small local program either, this program attracted people from around the world and US. kids from taiwan, kansas, california, new york, Texas, new hampshire and from massachusetts.
some of these kids came from EXTREMELY competitive high schools ex.phillips academy andover (#1 boarding school in the United States, about 33% of graduating class every year accepted to ivy leagues, stanford, mit, uchig, duke, georgetown, etc), lexington high (extremely competitive public high school in MA multiple simr winners from this school)
palo alto high school ( extremely good public high school in Cali, some people say this high school is harder than stanford),
Please bump if you can, and if other people who were in this program can contribute to this thread telling about their lab, experiences, advice, favorite moments, etc., that would be much appreciated!!! 