<p>@tutydau,
Your figures for the SURF program are not correct.</p>
<p>”SURF Fellows are considered Caltech student employees and will receive $600/week.” Caltech’s schedule indicates that the program runs for 8 weeks, so a student could earn a total of $4,800.
Source: [Summer</a> Undergraduate Research Fellowships … S U R F … <caltech> …](<a href=“http://www.surf.caltech.edu/applicants/index.html]Summer”>http://www.surf.caltech.edu/applicants/index.html)</caltech></p>
<p>MIT’s UROP participants receive an hourly wage, ranging from around $9.50/hour to $12.00 and higher for undergraduates, depending on the role, experience, and so on. The hourly wage can be higher, but assuming this range, working 40 hours per week over the summer would pay between $360 and $480/week. At MIT, students can begin working on a UROP the first week of June and continue right up until classes begin, through August. Thus, it’s possible to work for 12 weeks (and sometimes more). Thus, a student working over the summer in a UROP position could earn somewhere between $4,320 and $5,760. </p>
<p>Also, as I pointed out, it’s possible for upper-class students (juniors and seniors) to earn a higher wage, depending on their experience, the nature of the project, and so on. Admittedly, my evidence for this is anecdotal, drawn from my daugher’s experience in physics UROPs over the past 3 years. And come to think of it, now that I’ve read Piper’s post, it may be that my daughter’s position this year is funded by a research grant through the lab.</p>