Admissions Applying for internships and REUs

[Sheneron]

Hi,
A little background first:
At the end of this school year I will have completed the first two physics courses (mechanics, and E&M), calc 1-3, linear algebra, 2 years of computer science, and astronomy 1 and 2.

This summer I would really like to do an internship somewhere with something involving physics. Ideally I would like to do something astronomy related, but if not I wouldn't mind something related to any kind of physics.

So I was wondering what is the way to go about finding and applying for internships and REUs. Is there a good website to do this, or is it necessary to talk to someone in the department at the school?

Any advice on going about this would be appreciated. Thanks.

Oh also, do you think I would be able to get an internship in physics considering I will have only completed the first two courses?

 

[ytoruno]

I got my first REU at my own school (in math), thus i think its best to start there. Most of the time these things will be announced in department websites. If not, simply start asking professors doing research you would find interesting if they would be interested in giving you research tasks. Sometimes they will have expendable funding and pay you (This is essentially an REU, and I have done this as well.)

If you want to go elsewhere, just plug in REU in google and you will get all sorts of locations (usually for the summer). These will probably pay you more and include travel fees and room and board. Good luck.

 

[G01]

http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm

This is the NSF page listing all REU programs currently running. Good luck! Remember to apply to as many as you can since they are very competitive.

 

[Sheneron]

Thanks for the advice and links

 

[eri]

I did one at a nearby school the first summer, and then applied to pretty much all the REUs on the AAS website ( http://aas.org/education/REU.php ) the next summer - and got into half of them. Experience is always a plus.