Got rejected by REUs now what should I do?

[PieceOfPi]

Hi,

I am a junior and a math major, and I applied for 8 REU programs, and it looks like I will be rejected by all of them (I'm already rejected by 7, and I'm still waiting to hear back from UW, but the chance of getting in there seems very low). Now I have no idea what to do over this summer... I know I will be talking to a professor at my home institution to begin my senior thesis project, but I was wondering if there is still any exciting and productive opportunity that I might be interested in doing over the summer. I am interested in studying analysis, but I guess I don't have to limit myself to that field. I do realize it seems a little too late to think about what to do this summer, but who knows, there might be something that is left for me yet.

Thanks

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

Self study.

 

[PieceOfPi]

Well... that will happen no matter what :) I will probably spend a lot of time in my home university's library if there is nothing else to do. I was looking for something that is a bit more exciting, but I guess it's a little too late to find any good opportunity...

 

[Serpa]

Some universities have a sort of "self-study/self-research" class that you sign up for. Basically you meet with a professor, discuss a project or area of interest to you, and work it on your own for credit.

It won't really help you much on a transcript, but if you do well that professor will probably write a letter of recommendation for you.

 

[diggy]

Start studying up for your GRE -- you'll have plenty of time to do research in the future, and mastering your basic undergrad material will be time well spent. Oh yeah, it will be summer, have some fun :)

 

[zpconn]

Well, I don't really have any suggestions beyond those here, but I'd just like to say I'm sorry you didn't get in any and I hope everything works out for you this summer.

Are there any classes you could take this summer? Depending on when your school gets out, it may be too late, but you could even consider studying abroad for the summer.

 

[PieceOfPi]

Start studying up for your GRE -- you'll have plenty of time to do research in the future, and mastering your basic undergrad material will be time well spent. Oh yeah, it will be summer, have some fun :)

GRE sounds like a good plan, especially because I need to make up for not getting into any REU...

And of course, I will have fun over the summer in some way :)

Well, I don't really have any suggestions beyond those here, but I'd just like to say I'm sorry you didn't get in any and I hope everything works out for you this summer.

Yeah, it kind of sucks... I wish I could apply for it again because I feel like I can get better letters of recommendations and write a better statement of purpose, but next year will be my senior year, and I am not planning to be an undergraduate for an extra year unless if there is a good reason to it.

Are there any classes you could take this summer? Depending on when your school gets out, it may be too late, but you could even consider studying abroad for the summer.

Not really. I've already satisfied most of my requirements for graduation, and I don't really see a lot of interesting-sounding classes. I guess I could try foreign language, since graduate schools in math might want me to be able to read either French, German, or Russian, but I'm not so sure if I really want to do it.