Agreed the social stuff does have a lot to do with it. It's nice not being the only person under your advisor and it's nice to see what a lot of other people are actually working on. Actually it made a huge difference - and I got a lot done as a result.
But what you're saying is that I should...
Well, its a large part of the reason why I want to continue research - I really liked the work & the environment. I don't like the place where I regularly go to school because it's dead in comparison - the department has 3 people doing research right now.
Sorry, I wasn't too clear on that - I just edited the sentence to make it clearer (hopefully). I'm not applying to companies - I am applying to physics grad schools only, both the university that hosted the REU program and other universities.
Physics grad school personal statements: Is it okay to say that my summer REU was the best time I remember having in my entire life (literally)?
In particular, for the two separate cases of applying to the REU university and to other places. As a side note, I am fairly outgoing and I expect my...