Geometry & Topology REU Programs - Williams, Cornell, Tennessee, Indiana?

[Newtime]

I've got a question that I hadn't really thought of before...

Who do I write my letters of intent to? I mean, I was just sort of thinking that I'm writing to "them," but I never really thought of who'd be reading the letter. Oops.

Who do I address the letter to? Do I address it to the professor that I'd like to work with? Like, "Dear Dr. Johnson., My name is ..." What if I don't know WHO I want to work with?

Do I use business letter format? How about the programs that want you to submit the letter online in a basic text editor box?

aren't they more like short essays rather than letters?

 

[owlpride]

That's a good question. Last year I wrote my personal statements essay-style. It did not occur to me to write them letter-style, but it is an interesting idea. I am sure that could work as well!

That being said, if you do not know who will read your statement, it might be safer to go with the essay format.

 

[union68]

Thanks owlpride and Newtime. I had Googled "Letter of Intent" and it turned up a lot of templates and examples. Most of these emphasized business-letter format and knowing specifically who you were writing to. However, these were letters geared towards grad-school applications.

I think I'll stick with the essay form since that's how I originally wrote these things.

 

[Newtime]

another question: does anyone know about when we will be notified regarding selections? i could email each individual person in charge of each reu but even if i do get a response it will likely be wrong - how many times have we all heard "you'll know next week"? so: a ballpark figure? I'm thinking some of the smaller programs that only get about 100 applications should take no longer than a month or so?

 

[owlpride]

Most programs will start making offers within a week of the application deadline. Then they will go down the list of their preferred candidates as admits decline the offer. This entire process can take a while. Applicants typically get 7-10 days to respond to an offer, and they might ask for an extension if they are waiting for the reply from another program. If a program has to go through several cycles of offers before all spots are filled, it can easily take over a month before you hear back.

 

[Newtime]

Most programs will start making offers within a week of the application deadline. Then they will go down the list of their preferred candidates as admits decline the offer. This entire process can take a while. Applicants typically get 7-10 days to respond to an offer, and they might ask for an extension if they are waiting for the reply from another program. If a program has to go through several cycles of offers before all spots are filled, it can easily take over a month before you hear back.

thanks for the info.

and for what its worth, here's the final 6 I'm applying to:

cornell, james madison, UC santa barbara, north carolina greensboro, north caroline asheville, SUNY potsdam.

my advisor told me to cut the list from 12 to 6. where is everyone else applying?

 

[lilli]

Hey! I'm new here.
I hope to apply to SMALL Williams, Pennstate, Wisconsin, Duluth (way out of my league though) Cornell, North Carolina Asheville, Texas A&M, Michigan, Arizona, Mount Holyoke if I can! Might have to cut down too though.
Best of luck :)

 

[union68]

Anybody have any info on the "NSF renewal pending" that a lot of the REU sites have listed on their pages? What's this mean? Is this just a formality?

If the NSF decides to pull the plug on the REUs with this listed, I'm going to lose like half my applications.

thanks for the info.

and for what its worth, here's the final 6 I'm applying to:

cornell, james madison, UC santa barbara, north carolina greensboro, north caroline asheville, SUNY potsdam.

my advisor told me to cut the list from 12 to 6. where is everyone else applying?

Santa Barbara is absolutely BEAUTIFUL -- right on the coast and perfect weather. If I went to that REU I wouldn't get anything done.

 

[Newtime]

Anybody have any info on the "NSF renewal pending" that a lot of the REU sites have listed on their pages? What's this mean? Is this just a formality?

If the NSF decides to pull the plug on the REUs with this listed, I'm going to lose like half my applications.
Santa Barbara is absolutely BEAUTIFUL -- right on the coast and perfect weather. If I went to that REU I wouldn't get anything done.

I think most sites by now either say they are running one or not. I noticed the "pending renewal" thing a lot a month or two ago but since I've checked back I haven't seen much of it, although your best bet is to email the head of each program and just ask them.

I used google maps to see just how close to the coast it is: one of the dorms can't be more than 50 yards from the sand. That would be a fun place to work for the summer, not to mention I've heard it's an exceptional program.

 

[sutupidmath]

Hi,

This year i am planning on applying to: BYU, SMALL Williams ( i don't really keep my hopes high for this program since i have heard it is hard to get in), Mount Holyoke, and Penn State REU not MASS. I would have applied to a few more, but unfortunately, these were the only ones i found that do accept international students.

 

[zpconn]

I have a quick question.

I'm at one school and my letter writers are at another (quite far away). The plan was that I would send my application materials and they would send their letters separately, and I would just email the programs saying that the letters and my materials would arrive separately.

I just wanted to check if people here thought this was okay. Recently one of my letter writers expressed slight concern about this procedure.

 

[owlpride]

The plan was that I would send my application materials and they would send their letters separately ... Recently one of my letter writers expressed slight concern about this procedure.

Are the programs explicitly asking for all material to arrive in a single envelope? Last year all of my recommendations were sent separately from the main application (except for a single program, which asked for everything to be mailed in a single envelope) and my professors are at the same institution. I don't think it was a problem. I was accepted to ~75% of the programs I was applying to.

 

[union68]

Whew! All my applications are done and mailed. What a nightmare. I'm fairly certain that I sent the wrong letter of intent to the wrong place or mentioned the wrong professor's name in a letter. Ha! Keeping all of THAT stuff strait was the hard part.

I tell you, Nebraska and Cornell have this process nailed. Nice streamlined, user-friendly application systems. Big thumbs up from me to those two programs.

Now I'll just twiddle my thumbs till I hear something. Oh, and for whatever it's worth, my letters of recommendation will arrive in separate envelopes (sent by the prof) from my applications.

 

[lilli]

Oh lucky you, all done!
I've got piles of papers all over my bedroom floor, indeed not easy keeping everything organized. I should be done by the end of the week.
And then the waiting begins...

 

[eri]

The REU program my university offers is still pending NSF renewal - we might not be officially announcing our program for a few months yet. So while I won't say which one it is, keep in mind there might be a few just starting to ask for applications while others are already sending out rejection notices.

 

[owlpride]

So while I won't say which one it is, keep in mind there might be a few just starting to ask for applications while others are already sending out rejection notices.

I hated that. There were one or two programs last year which I might have chosen over the REU I eventually attended, but I did not even apply because they announced their program so late. At that point I was glad that I was done with applications, and I did not want to go bug my letter writers again.

I am curious though why some programs choose to announce their program late. Is there some concern that the "good" applicants have already committed to attend another program? A couple of my REU acceptances last summer were accompanied by a short note asking me to respond asap for exactly that reason.

 

[eri]

We wouldn't be waiting if it wasn't for the delay in NSF funding. We don't want to advertise an REU program and then not be able to fund it (and I'm sure none of the students want that either).

 

[union68]

I'm really hoping the NSF doesn't yank too many of the programs. The program that I think I have the best shot with still has to get funding confirmed.

What's up with all this funding talk anyways? Were there big budget cuts in the NSF or was everybody's grant up for renewal at the same time? I guess I'm sort of ignorant in this respect.

 

[zpconn]

Does anyone know the specific topics that the Cornell Summer Institute in Math is planning on covering? It says it's an advanced course in analysis, but does this mean measure theory, analysis on manifolds, functional analysis, all three, or what?

 

[kuahji]

Whew! All my applications are done and mailed. What a nightmare. I'm fairly certain that I sent the wrong letter of intent to the wrong place or mentioned the wrong professor's name in a letter. Ha! Keeping all of THAT stuff strait was the hard part.

I tell you, Nebraska and Cornell have this process nailed. Nice streamlined, user-friendly application systems. Big thumbs up from me to those two programs.

Now I'll just twiddle my thumbs till I hear something. Oh, and for whatever it's worth, my letters of recommendation will arrive in separate envelopes (sent by the prof) from my applications.

It happens, I did the same thing this year. I applied to ten schools & someone of them had online applications. For whatever, I filled one of the online ones out twice... so hopefully I don't get disqualified for that, but we'll see. I'm just hoping to get accepted into one, as I applied for astrophysics not mathematics.

 

[zpconn]

Am I missing something, or does SMALL really just want their application form, a statement of interest, and letters of recommendation (i.e., no transcript or anything)? If I am not missing anything, should I send a transcript anyway? It just seems somewhat bizarre that they would consider applicants without even knowing their grades or having any verification they've actually taken the classes they claim to take.

 

[owlpride]

The application form asks you to list your math courses and the grades you got. I have heard from several alumni of the program that the SMALL selection process is a bit more involved than for most REUs. At least one of the advisers conducts phone interviews and another professor asks students for a sample of their mathematical work, on a problem that he provides.

 

[zpconn]

Interesting! Thanks for the info.

 

[lilli]

Hello!
I was just wondering, do they send you a rejection email if you are definitely not going to get onto the program? (and so "no news is good news" applies) or do you just come to the conclusion yourself once its end of March or April or something?
Thanks guys

 

[sutupidmath]

My understanding is that the selection commeettee first sends the offers to their first/top candidates, and give them a few days/weeks to respond back (i.e. accept the offer or reject it), so if you are not amongst the top candidates you should not expect to hear back from them soon after the deadline has passed. What i would do(have done in the past) is once a week or so has passed after the deadline send them an email and inquire about your application status.

 

[owlpride]

The programs I was applying to last year either sent out rejection emails (4-6 weeks after the application deadline) or posted a note on their website that all spots have been filled (more than a month after the application deadline as well). The conclusion I drew is that it takes some programs a considerable amount of time to fill all spots. No reason to get nervous if you have not heard back within a week.

I contacted my "first-choice" programs when I got my first offer. At that point I had to decide if I wanted to commit to a so-so program or take my chances. Luckily I got another offer a day before my one-week-deadline to make a decision was up. I declined the first offer when I got my second, and declined the second offer when I was offered a spot at the program I chose to attend.

I was lucky that all my programs had application deadlines within a week of each other. A friend of mine who is applying to REUs this year is in a more difficult position. She has arranged an independent project with a professor at another university, but they cannot confirm her funding until late March. She will probably have to decide whether or not to accept an REU offer before then.

 

[kuahji]

I'm kind of curious about the people that did or have been accepted into these programs. I mean did ya'll have like really high GPA's, come from big colleges, etc.? When I look at the people that participate in these programs, it seems like the majority of them have come from big named colleges. Of course that might be because I'm trying to do mine in astrophysics.

 

[belle]

That got me too. I was looking at lots of programs that tended to accept students from big name schools. I go to a state school, and I'm hoping that doesn't count against me.
I really though carefully about the programs I am applying to, so I'm not just shooting applications out indiscriminately, but I'm wondering what my chances seem to be.
I have a 4.0, but I don't have extensive coursework yet, just the calculus sequence, linear algebra, and discrete mathematics.
Anyways, all I have to do now is write those pesky letters of intent and submit my applications.

 

[kuahji]

That got me too. I was looking at lots of programs that tended to accept students from big name schools. I go to a state school, and I'm hoping that doesn't count against me.
I really though carefully about the programs I am applying to, so I'm not just shooting applications out indiscriminately, but I'm wondering what my chances seem to be.
I have a 4.0, but I don't have extensive coursework yet, just the calculus sequence, linear algebra, and discrete mathematics.
Anyways, all I have to do now is write those pesky letters of intent and submit my applications.

Sounds like you're in the same boat as me. I go to a state school as well, & have a near 4.0 GPA. But this is only my second semester there & I transferred from a community college. I have the same mathematics knocked out & in physics I only have Modern, E&M (& the lower levels of course) done. Though this semester I'm taking abstract algebra, mathematical physics, & quantum mechanics. I applied to 10 programs & tried to choose them wisely, focusing on those that were specifically doing research in areas that I was interested. I think my biggest downfall is I'm just now taking computer science.

 

[owlpride]

I did the REU at Cornell last summer, which is said to be one of the more selective programs (though not quite as selective as Duluth or Wisconsin). While there were a number of students from big-name schools, we also had a number of students from normal state universities: U of Maryland, Florida Atlantic, and Missouri A&T, among others.

 

[belle]

That's good to know. Not all of the programs post alums anyways.

 

[dsb5092]

Just an idea for those seeking an REU this summer:

If your plans fall through and you don't get an offer from any of your first choices keep an eye out for listings in random places well after the normal Feb - Mar deadlines. Places like Monster job boards where you wouldn't expect to see it.

These can sometimes offer a different experience with much less structure. The main ones will have almost each day planned out where these can be much more free formed.

Speaking from experience. I applied to the REU at Penn State Physics Dept my freshman year and was rejected. I found one around April at Utah State in Comm. Theory with an NSA grant and loved it. Got published by IEEE too.

Just to keep in mind

 

[belle]

Thanks for the advice! I will definitely keep on the lookout, though I have a little bit of time before I know about the first round of things.
I saw that other people shared the places they applied to so:
Lafayette
Northern Arizona University
Miami University
Claremont
College of William and Mary

 

[Snitse]

I just got rejected from duluth. Its annoying that the hardest one to get into responded first. It gets your hopes down.

 

[lilli]

Same here :(
Oh well, I don't think I ever really had a shot at it...