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.
  • #101
Just got a rejection from Stony Brook, they noted that they had several hundred applicants. Wow. :eek:
 
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  • #102
I just got rejected from colorado boulder. Can't say I'm too surprised or upset because I never actually finished the application. lol. I submitted the online form but never actually submitted the essay because there was nothing i wanted to do there.

I'm going to Indiana but I still haven't heard back from purdue, michigan state, texas, or Illinois. Kinda curious still.

Just got a rejection from Stony Brook, they noted that they had several hundred applicants. Wow.

Yeah that seems to be a general trend. Colorado got 500 applicants, Columbia got ~400 as did UM CERN. These programs are incredibly competitive and I'd be interested in comparing the competitiveness of REUs in comparison to grad schools if anyone has done this.

I imagine REUs are more competitive because there are fewer spots, a greater pressure for minority and gender equality (which is understandable), and less top tier schools offering REU programs, but that's just my opinion.
 
  • #103
LBloom said:
Yeah that seems to be a general trend. Colorado got 500 applicants, Columbia got ~400 as did UM CERN.

Notre Dame told me they had 300 applicants. Wow!
 
  • #104
LBloom said:
I just got rejected from colorado boulder. Can't say I'm too surprised or upset because I never actually finished the application. lol. I submitted the online form but never actually submitted the essay because there was nothing i wanted to do there.

I'm going to Indiana but I still haven't heard back from purdue, michigan state, texas, or Illinois. Kinda curious still.



Yeah that seems to be a general trend. Colorado got 500 applicants, Columbia got ~400 as did UM CERN. These programs are incredibly competitive and I'd be interested in comparing the competitiveness of REUs in comparison to grad schools if anyone has done this.

I imagine REUs are more competitive because there are fewer spots, a greater efor minority and gender equality (which is understandable), and less top tier schools offering REU programs, but that's just my opinion.

I fully applied at Colorado and haven't heard anything. I've accepted an offer, but they don't respond to any inquiries. I also got rejected from from SUNY even though I told them to withdraw my application. Lehigh told me they got 700 applications (how?) when I got their acceptance. According to USNews they don't have a super high-ranked program so I wonder where they get all these people.
 
  • #105
I applied to 4 programs:

SUNY- Stony Brook: rejected
LSU- Waitlist
Oklahoma-received an offer
Idaho- Haven't heard anything.

Haven't made a decision yet, will decide by the end of the week.
 
  • #106
mobilehobo said:
I fully applied at Colorado and haven't heard anything. I've accepted an offer, but they don't respond to any inquiries. I also got rejected from from SUNY even though I told them to withdraw my application. Lehigh told me they got 700 applications (how?) when I got their acceptance. According to USNews they don't have a super high-ranked program so I wonder where they get all these people.

I wonder the same thing. Do you believe Leigh university would skew the numbers for any unknown reason/motivation or?
 
  • #107
I wonder the same thing. Do you believe Leigh university would skew the numbers for any unknown reason/motivation or?

I doubt it. I don't see any reason why they would want to impress someone who they're rejecting unless they don't want you to feel bad.

I fully applied at Colorado and haven't heard anything. I've accepted an offer, but they don't respond to any inquiries. I also got rejected from from SUNY even though I told them to withdraw my application. Lehigh told me they got 700 applications (how?) when I got their acceptance. According to USNews they don't have a super high-ranked program so I wonder where they get all these people.

You're probably waitlisted from Colorado then. I must have been among the first people rejected outright because I had an incomplete application.

As for why Lehigh got so many applicants, I imagine it was a safety program for a lot of people. Columbia got 400 applicants, but anyone who wants to apply to Columbia must know how competitive it is and must have a relatively good profile. Lehigh is not a good school, but it probably looked like a good safety that's on the east coast (as opposed to say Utah or Idaho).

I noticed that a lot of schools that aren't ranked highly have REU programs. I imagine Ivy's don't want to bother with students from lesser ranked programs and have research programs for their students. Columbia and UIUC are the rare exceptions to this rule.

Anyway I still haven't heard back from Purdue, MSU, or Texas, but at this point I'm sticking with Indiana regardless.
 
  • #108
Nano-Passion said:
I wonder the same thing. Do you believe Leigh university would skew the numbers for any unknown reason/motivation or?

they probably just sent out their flyers everywhere and got a lot of exposure.
 
  • #109
I got an e-mail back from Vanderbilt -- they're saying they hope to complete their review of applications by the end of this week.
 
  • #110
I just got a rejection email from Kansas State (even though I withdrew my application over a month ago :confused:) anyways they said they had over 160 applicants.
 
  • #111
I'll be at LSU; I was offered the position on March 18. Anyone else?
 
  • #112
Has anyone heard back from Princeton (PCCM/PRISM) yet?
 
  • #113
Just got rejection from Vanderbilt. 9 positions for over 400 applicants. Apparently I heard back so late because they were waiting to hear back from people and I guess enough people said yes to knock me out lol oh well.
 
  • #114
Colorado's rejection letters went out today.
 
  • #115
Has anyone heard anything from University of Idaho? The University of Idaho and MSU are the only places I haven't heard anything from... I go to MSU and after talking to the REU coordinator here she made it sound like it was full so it's looking like Idaho is my last option!
 
  • #116
erin526 said:
Has anyone heard anything from University of Idaho? The University of Idaho and MSU are the only places I haven't heard anything from... I go to MSU and after talking to the REU coordinator here she made it sound like it was full so it's looking like Idaho is my last option!

No haven't heard from them.
 

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