2012 Physics and Astronomy REU Programs

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around students applying for Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs in physics and related fields. Participants share their application experiences, including the programs they applied to, their research interests, and updates on acceptance or rejection notifications. Many applicants express anxiety over the competitive nature of these programs, with some noting high applicant numbers, such as 250 for certain programs and up to 1600 for others. Several students report receiving acceptances, particularly from institutions like Idaho State and Cornell, while others are still waiting for responses. There are discussions about the timing of notifications, with some programs synchronizing their acceptance offers around early March. Participants also share insights on the application process, including the importance of recommendation letters and the varying competitiveness of different programs. Overall, the thread serves as a support network for students navigating the REU application process, providing encouragement and sharing valuable information about deadlines and acceptance trends.
Stengah
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I'd like to make a thread for those who are applying to REU programs in physics and the like this summer.

Please post where you have applied, what your research interests are, and post when you hear from specific programs to help others make their decisions.

Also feel free to discuss any specific projects and schools etc, so we can all help each other out.
 
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As for me, I've applied to a variety of physics and some astrophysics programs. I'm really hoping for something in nuclear, biophysics or optics, although I'll be happy with anything.

I've applied to or am applying to:

Purdue
Idaho State
Bucknell
Montana State
UC Davis
University of Wyoming
University of Oregon
Kansas State
University of Idaho
 
For all my applications I've put down an emphasis on high energy theory or analysis coming out of the LHC. Also said I was interested in CMT.

Minnestoa
Purdue
Indiana
Michigan state
UM-CERN
Columbia
Rochester
UCD
Perimeter
SULI
Texas A&M
UIUC
Colorado
 
I applied to:

Kitt Peak Observatory
Northern Arizona
Notre Dame
LSU
BYU
Colorado
Texas A&M
UCDavis
Washington
Rochester
CERN-UM Already denied. They said they had over 250 applicants.
Cornell
PPPL
Michigan State

Trying for HEP or astronomy. I'm only a sophomore, so I don't expect much. However, hopefully, I'll at least get into a couple.
 
ktb said:
CERN-UM Already denied. They said they had over 250 applicants.

Ah that's too bad. Probably one of the most difficult programs to get into.

Has anyone else heard back from any programs?
 
I went to Michigan State last summer (between sophomore and junior year). Applying to more nuclear physics and some nuclear physics for this summer:

University of Washington
Notre Dame
Indiana
UC Davis
Cornell
Old Dominion
 
Last edited:
I'm applying to:
SURF (LIGO)
Cornell
UC Boulder
UC Davis
Teng
UCLA
Stony Brook
Columbia
Purdue
Michigan State (maybe)
Experimental and Theoretical HEP, mostly.
 
Stengah said:
Ah that's too bad. Probably one of the most difficult programs to get into.

Has anyone else heard back from any programs?

Is 250 a lot of applicants then?

It would be nice if we had some data on application numbers.
 
Yeah I think it's up there. For my school's astronomy program, we had 130 applicants, and the professor who runs it said that was about average. Maybe it's a little more for physics though. And I would assume that if someone got an offer from cern, they would accept it over most other programs, so UM doesn't need to give out too many offers before they are full.
 
  • #10
Stengah said:
Yeah I think it's up there. For my school's astronomy program, we had 130 applicants, and the professor who runs it said that was about average. Maybe it's a little more for physics though. And I would assume that if someone got an offer from cern, they would accept it over most other programs, so UM doesn't need to give out too many offers before they are full.

I kind of want to email around for some more data on the size of applicant pools, but I'm not sure how far I would get.

Hear back from anywhere yet?
 
  • #11
Elwin.Martin said:
Hear back from anywhere yet?

I haven't heard back from anywhere. Most of my deadlines just passed in the last 5 days, so hopefully it will be somewhat soon. The wait is killing me.
 
  • #12
I heard back from Minnesota, got into a theory/computational project there. Their deadline was very early, January 15th. Most of mine have been due this week, with same the last week in february or the first week in march. Its kind of annoying how they stagger the deadlines...
 
  • #13
LBloom said:
I heard back from Minnesota, got into a theory/computational project there. Their deadline was very early, January 15th. Most of mine have been due this week, with same the last week in february or the first week in march. Its kind of annoying how they stagger the deadlines...

Congrats! Will you be accepting the offer?
 
  • #14
Congrats! Will you be accepting the offer?

Good question! I've been thinking about it myself. I've tentatively accepted. They want to hear back by the 20th, which is hopefully when I'll hear back from some other schools so I can make a proper decision. Once again, it would be so much easier if we heard back from the schools around the same time.
 
  • #16
Anyone know if schools typically call or email when offering acceptances? Or regular old mail?
 
  • #17
Anyone know if schools typically call or email when offering acceptances? Or regular old mail?

Although some schools may mail out acceptances, its typically done by email. The only reason anyone would call is for an interview, and I don't think those are ever usually done.
 
  • #18
Old Dominion does phone interviews.
 
  • #19
Did anyone apply/heard back to/from the Columbia Nevis one?
 
  • #20
Did anyone apply/heard back to/from the Columbia Nevis one?
\

Yes to the applied, no about hearing back. The only people hearing back will be those that got in. When the positions are full they're going to post it on the webpage. Columbia was my top choice and some of my offers expire beginning of next week, so I might send an email inquiring about my position and/or the timeline for hearing back this week.
 
  • #21
Let me know what they say please ;).
 
  • #22
Well I emailed nevis labs asking about when they expect to be sending out acceptances. I mentioned how I had other offers (which is why I was asking because I didn't want to accept anything before finding out about columbia). All he said was that they had ~300 applicants for <10 spots so if I had other offers I should accept those. Right now it comes down to particle theory at Indianaor particle experiment at Fermilab. I want to do graduate school in particle theory but I'm torn.

Anyway I'm still waiting on Texas, UCD, UIUC, Rochester, Michigan state, Purdue and Perimeter. If anyone hears back from them feel free to let me know...
 
  • #23
Oh wow. I thought they had 11 spots like they said on the www. But anyway. Thanks for letting me know and good luck!
 
  • #24
I applied to

UChicago
USeattle Washington
UC Davis
UC LA
UNLV
Colorado Sate
Duke/TUNL
Kansas State (after deadline)
Notre Dame (after deadline)

Also applied to the Lee Teng internship at Fermi and a research assistant at Argonne.

Haven't heard back from anything, so I'm a bit worried :/ I feel like maybe I should have applied to a few more.
 
  • #25
LBloom said:
\

Yes to the applied, no about hearing back. The only people hearing back will be those that got in. When the positions are full they're going to post it on the webpage. Columbia was my top choice and some of my offers expire beginning of next week, so I might send an email inquiring about my position and/or the timeline for hearing back this week.

I applied to the Columbia Nevis REU last year and got a phone interview but didn't get the job. The interviewer said it was down to me and one other person, who I can only assume was a better interviewee than I. Just letting you know there may be an interview involved.

Best of luck!
 
  • #26
d3nat said:
I applied to

UChicago
USeattle Washington
UC Davis
UC LA
UNLV
Colorado Sate
Duke/TUNL
Kansas State (after deadline)
Notre Dame (after deadline)

Also applied to the Lee Teng internship at Fermi and a research assistant at Argonne.

Haven't heard back from anything, so I'm a bit worried :/ I feel like maybe I should have applied to a few more.

You might not hear anything until around the end of March. Some places will still be handing out acceptances in April. No need to be worried yet.
 
  • #27
Stengah said:
You might not hear anything until around the end of March. Some places will still be handing out acceptances in April. No need to be worried yet.

Really? Okay. I heard that if you didn't start hearing anything during the last week of February/first week of March, you probably didn't get a spot. Maybe I should tone down the panic :wink:
 
  • #28
I_wonder_why said:
I applied to the Columbia Nevis REU last year and got a phone interview but didn't get the job. The interviewer said it was down to me and one other person, who I can only assume was a better interviewee than I. Just letting you know there may be an interview involved.

Best of luck!

Hey! Around what date did you hear back from them?
 
  • #29
Just got a call from Idaho State, they've accepted me for their nuclear physics program! I have to tell them by Friday. Probably going to accept, it was one of my top choices.

Also the director of my school's astronomy REU told me that all astronomy REUs make their first offers March 1st, so that everything is synchronized. Not sure if that is widely known.
 
  • #30
Stengah said:
Just got a call from Idaho State, they've accepted me for their nuclear physics program! I have to tell them by Friday. Probably going to accept, it was one of my top choices.

Congrats to you! I was hoping to get one there, but doesn't look like it (not really surprised haha). So enjoy it for me as well ;)
 
  • #31
PhysicsGente said:
Hey! Around what date did you hear back from them?

I was contacted March 1st 2011.
 
  • #32
I applied to

UC Davis
UCLA
Notre Dame
Lehigh
William and Mary
UF
CU Boulder

I applied to all of them seeking something in the condensed matter experimental research area. I just got an email today stating my acceptance to William and Mary, so I am pretty stoked about that! I am going to wait it out a bit more, I have a week to decide, so that hopefully one of the UC schools or Colorado accept me since those were my top picks. They also sent a hard copy of the letter to my house. Good luck to those of you who have applied. Anyone apply to and received an acceptance from William and Mary?

Joe
 
  • #33
I'll assume I didn't make it since it seems most places send out decisions on March 1. :(
 
  • #34
PhysicsGente said:
I'll assume I didn't make it since it seems most places send out decisions on March 1. :(

That doesn't mean you haven't made it. Many places have to take until the end of March or early April to fill up, because some of the first round applicants reject offers. Don't lose hope yet!
 
  • #35
Agent M27 said:
I applied to all of them seeking something in the condensed matter experimental research area. I just got an email today stating my acceptance to William and Mary, so I am pretty stoked about that! I am going to wait it out a bit more, I have a week to decide, so that hopefully one of the UC schools or Colorado accept me since those were my top picks. They also sent a hard copy of the letter to my house. Good luck to those of you who have applied. Anyone apply to and received an acceptance from William and Mary?

Congrats! I didn't apply to W&M but I hear good things about the school. Definitely not a bad place to be if you don't get those UC schools or Colorado.
 
  • #36
My lack of response back is beginning to trouble me .-. At least I can be happy knowing I got into some schools for summer transfer ;-; at least I can take classes if I don't hear back soon?
 
  • #37
I wouldn't start worrying yet. Some schools may just start looking over applicants now and won't be sending out stuff just yet. Theres also students who were offered a position, but haven't replied yet or asked for an extension...for multiple internships...

Anyway I know UCD started making offers. I know this bc I found out I was #2 on the list for the project with Carlip and they were waiting on the #1 guy to respond. Unfortunately he accepted. At UCD they do an offer a week and they go down the list so it could take a while.

It looks like I'll be doing some particle theory at Indiana. My deadline is tomorrow and I haven't heard back from any other schools. If anyone else here is going there feel free to message me.
 
  • #38
Congratulations to all who got accepted. Has anyone had trouble with their professor sending out recommendation letter? On one hand I had one professor who never answers their email and is almost impossible to find in their office hours-- and he actually complained about sending them out. On another hand, I had a professor who was very very nice, would answer my emails immediately, and send them enthusiastically-- only to ask if I wanted anything else.

I've applied to:

Purdue
LSU
Stony Brook
University of Idaho
Brookhaven & Fermilab under SULI program
Brookhaven CCI
Toledo
ISU

I've got to say, sometimes applying to internships can be a huge time sink.
 
  • #39
Elwin.Martin said:
My lack of response back is beginning to trouble me .-. At least I can be happy knowing I got into some schools for summer transfer ;-; at least I can take classes if I don't hear back soon?

I've been getting a lack of response also (well I did get one but he chose another applicant), but I should add that my applications were sent late and near the deadline -- though mostly in part of my professor who likes to send everything literally last minute. I would love to get accepted but I'm not getting my hopes up, I've accepted the fact that I'm at a keen disadvantage compared to other applicants. One I'm a community college student who came very late into discovering his love for science, and secondly, I'm only up to Calculus II and Physics II at the moment.

And if I don't get accepted, I can still take summer classes--which I want to take anyways because I have a lot of classes to cram for next fall. Point is, it helps to be a bit positive. :) And at any rate, it is still too early to tell.
 
  • #40
Nano-Passion said:
I've been getting a lack of response also (well I did get one but he chose another applicant), but I should add that my applications were sent late and near the deadline -- though mostly in part of my professor who likes to send everything literally last minute. I would love to get accepted but I'm not getting my hopes up, I've accepted the fact that I'm at a keen disadvantage compared to other applicants. One I'm a community college student who came very late into discovering his love for science, and secondly, I'm only up to Calculus II and Physics II at the moment.

And if I don't get accepted, I can still take summer classes--which I want to take anyways because I have a lot of classes to cram for next fall. Point is, it helps to be a bit positive. :) And at any rate, it is still too early to tell.

I had someone tell me I was too early in my college career for one of my applications and I was kind of offended. He didn't even look at my transcript, which would have showed that I was already doing work at the level he had requested for preparation and he didn't look at my recommendation either, again simply because he saw that I had only been in college for a year... so much sigh.
 
  • #41
I got offers from Notre Dame and Old Dominion on 2/26 and 2/27. Turned down ODU, took ND. Other people in my department got offers at Michigan State (2/20) and Indiana University (2/15?). All three of us did research the previous summer and are currently juniors.
 
  • #42
Elwin.Martin said:
I had someone tell me I was too early in my college career for one of my applications and I was kind of offended. He didn't even look at my transcript, which would have showed that I was already doing work at the level he had requested for preparation and he didn't look at my recommendation either, again simply because he saw that I had only been in college for a year... so much sigh.

Oh wow haha. By the way, your up to Calc II and Physics II right?

My professors for some reason tried reassuring me that others aren't looking for people with lots of experience but to help raise future scientists. This obviously isn't the sole case and mentors are looking for someone who can be a useful contribution. Some won't consider people that have only had 1 year of college classes, which I expected. And its a good thing I didn't listen to their over-optimistic claims or I would have only applied to one internship.
 
  • #43
Concerning REUs wanting students who are in the earlier parts of their college career, I do remember seeing a math REU last year that explicitly didn't want people with a lot of courses past calculus. Not sure about physics.

I've been accepted to RPI and U Toledo's programs so far. I'll probably end up going with RPI since they let you know who your advisor is, and I received the person I mentioned in my statement, which is nicely situated in an area of physics to which I'd like to be exposed in a meaningful way. Applied to 5 other programs as well (would have been 7 more if not for the acceptance the day I was going to finish two apps), but have yet to hear back.
 
  • #44
Cider said:
Concerning REUs wanting students who are in the earlier parts of their college career, I do remember seeing a math REU last year that explicitly didn't want people with a lot of courses past calculus. Not sure about physics.

Really? I actually wanted to do a math internship but I lost all hope in applying to one. But since then I've started taking a liking more to physics anyways. I don't have much experience in math but I'm a bit bored of the plug and chug nature of calculus.
 
  • #45
Cider said:
Concerning REUs wanting students who are in the earlier parts of their college career, I do remember seeing a math REU last year that explicitly didn't want people with a lot of courses past calculus. Not sure about physics.

I noticed a couple of programs that said they had projects suitable for freshman, but that seems fairly rare.
 
  • #46
Stengah said:
I noticed a couple of programs that said they had projects suitable for freshman, but that seems fairly rare.

I second that observation.
 
  • #47
Apparently UC Davis had 550 applicants and LIGO (Caltech) had 1600. I got an offer from University of Michigan, so I'll probably take it. Anyone else going there?
 
  • #48
I_wonder_why said:
Apparently UC Davis had 550 applicants and LIGO (Caltech) had 1600.
...sigh... I doubt they'll even look at sophomore's applications with that many applicants...
 
  • #49
I applied to:

Rochester
Brookhaven (through SULI)
Cornell
Kansas State
Rice
Duke

By a divine occurrence I was already accepted to Cornell's program, and accepted immediately (if anyone else has gotten in there I would be glad to speak to you!). Being a "name school" I feel like they have to have had a great deal of applicants. Since I go to a school you are probably...unfamiliar with, I was totally shocked I actually seem to have gotten a first-round offer.
 
  • #50
Dirac_Man said:
I applied to:

Rochester
Brookhaven (through SULI)
Cornell
Kansas State
Rice
Duke

By a divine occurrence I was already accepted to Cornell's program, and accepted immediately (if anyone else has gotten in there I would be glad to speak to you!). Being a "name school" I feel like they have to have had a great deal of applicants. Since I go to a school you are probably...unfamiliar with, I was totally shocked I actually seem to have gotten a first-round offer.

Congratulations! Out of curiosity, what is your background, what type of research did you apply for, and what research will you be working on?
 

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