Latest Updates on Mathematics REU Applications

[InbredDummy]

Hey, has anyone heard from REU programs? I applied to the following mathematics REU:

ASU - ?
Calstate Chico - ?
Calstate San Bernardino - ?
Cornell - (no way I am getting in) ?
Grand Valley State - ?
Penn State University Park - ?
University of Wisconsin - ?
Pitzer - ?
Williams College - rejected (i really wanted this one, it had so many cool projects!)

i feel like i should've applied to couple of more schools, oh well. i hope i get into at least one of these programs.

 

[ranger]

Because I want to remain in NYC. I only applied to Polytechnic University REU programs in Computer/Electrical Engineering. I haven't heard from them as yet as I've just sent in my application.

 

[mattmns]

I have yet to hear anything either, but, for the REUs I applied to, the application deadline was only a week ago, so I would think it would take them a little while to review every application they get. I applied to only four programs, so my chances are slim, but I would love the opportunity.

 

[G01]

I applied to about 8 or 9 REUs(its sad when u can't remember). I've only heard back from one but it was a rejection, but one that I was pretty sure I wasnt getting into. O well, 8 more left!

 

[sirwebber]

I've had 5 rejections I think and 2 acceptances. I'm just happy I got into one, they seem quite competitive.

 

[mrjeffy321]

Is it common to apply for so many (5, 8, 9, ….)?
I am only, formally, applying to one and now I am getting somewhat worried about my chances. The school I am applying to is not terribly prestigious so perhaps that will limit the number of other applicants. Also, they have 20 different research programs listed under the possible work areas students will be assigned to…and assuming they accept at least 1 student per program that might give me better odds.

 

[tim_lou]

I have applied to 6 REUs but so far the only email I got (regarding acceptance) is from University of Toledo (I was accepted)

I was so happy that I got into one REU. I got the email 2 days before the deadline... as for the others, I know that a couple of them have deadlines around mid Feb, they say (in their website) that decisions will be made soon after deadlines... so I assumed I haven't gotten in any other REU.

 

[Mororvia]

Is it common to apply for so many (5, 8, 9, ….)?

I applied to 3 back in the day... I should've applied to more. For one, REU spots are limited and get a large number of applicants. Applying to more hopefully should increase you chances of finding a good fit with someone. Second, its free to apply! Unlike grad schools apps that cost $50, you can fill out all the apps you want and only pay for postage (maybe). Really, the limiting factor is probably your profs writing the recommendation letters. So while I wouldn't apply to 20... 10 is probably fair.

 

[Ethyrial]

Applied to six for math; I have had two acceptances and one rejection, and am waiting on the rest...

Just out of curiosity -- for those of you who are picking between multiple programs, how are you deciding where to attend?

 

[tim_lou]

Imagine one day, when people start to send 10+ REUs applications EVERY summer. Just imagine the competitions! the top students will probably get all the REUs while others got sent to the back up lists... that would suck. :\

 

[Sulphagne]

I applied to seven. I got one rejection and was bummed, but then soon after I got offered a position at Columbia's Nevis labs program. I accepted it and withdrew my other applications since I couldn't accept their offer any more and I wouldn't have picked those over Columbia's. I'm rather excited for this summer!

Good luck to those still waiting on replies!

 

[colin.mcenroe]

Question: Why REU's? Why not just try to work at your current university?

For example, here at Davis, undergrads are commonly hired to work with the nuclear physics groups and the high energy group. Furthermore, over the summer, everyone goes home, so work is not hard to come by. I don't know how this is at your university, but this is how it is at mine.

 

[MaGG]

What REU did you apply to at ASU? I'm just curious, as I'm a student there...

 

[jesuslovesu]

I've got a question for you guys, if you apply to all these REUs I would assume that you have to give letters of recommendation. Do you just have your professors copy the letters and send them to each institution?

 

[InbredDummy]

Question: Why REU's? Why not just try to work at your current university?

For example, here at Davis, undergrads are commonly hired to work with the nuclear physics groups and the high energy group. Furthermore, over the summer, everyone goes home, so work is not hard to come by. I don't know how this is at your university, but this is how it is at mine.

its hard to get math jobs as an undergrad :-)

 

[cristo]

Do you just have your professors copy the letters and send them to each institution?

I'd say so, yes. I can't imagine a professor writing seven or so different references for the same person!

 

[tdh]

I applied to 13. I just heard that I was rejected from Williams today.
Haven't heard from
Canisius
James Madison
NC State
Rose Hulman
East Tennessee
Clemson
Lafayette
University of Tennessee
Akron
Cornell
Rochester
Carnegie Mellon (not an REU officially, but similar)

 

[HungryChemist]

Okay, I applied 7 total this year. Mostly medical physics/radiologic science/nuclear related field.
UCLA-Rejected
Havard-MIT HST-Waiting
University of Jena(Germany)-Waiting
University of Indiana-Waiting
AAPM-Waiting
M.D Anderson Cancer Center-Waiting
LLNL-Waiting

I am mad at UCLA for rejecting me. Maybe they knew I rejected UCLA long time ago or something. Being in quarter system school, I don't think I have good chance getting into most of other REUs I applied. The time frame simply don't fit well. At this point, my first choice would be Jena(Germany) or AAPM. Well, if all goes wrong I will continue my senior thesis with my adviser here at my own university which many people advised me to do so. I know REU is just another way of boosting your resume and from the previous year's REU experience I don't have much expectation from REU program. 10 weeks is just not enough to do anything. But they pay me to stay, and frankly that's all that matters. I can't afford to pay for my rent during summer if I stay here...so God please, let me live~

 

[Karatechop]

Well this spring I applied to 6 REU's and last spring I applied to 5. This time around I got accepted to 2 and it looks like I am going to be working at Eastern Tennesse State University but its rather close to home in their astronomy reu. Last Summer I worked in Clemson's physics reu also in astronomy. The sad part is I am not much of an astronomer but for some reason theyre always the ones that give me the best offers.

 

[Brad Barker]

Okay, I applied 7 total this year. Mostly medical physics/radiologic science/nuclear related field.
UCLA-Rejected
Havard-MIT HST-Waiting
University of Jena(Germany)-Waiting
University of Indiana-Waiting
AAPM-Waiting
M.D Anderson Cancer Center-Waiting
LLNL-Waiting

I am mad at UCLA for rejecting me. Maybe they knew I rejected UCLA long time ago or something. Being in quarter system school, I don't think I have good chance getting into most of other REUs I applied. The time frame simply don't fit well. At this point, my first choice would be Jena(Germany) or AAPM. Well, if all goes wrong I will continue my senior thesis with my adviser here at my own university which many people advised me to do so. I know REU is just another way of boosting your resume and from the previous year's REU experience I don't have much expectation from REU program. 10 weeks is just not enough to do anything. But they pay me to stay, and frankly that's all that matters. I can't afford to pay for my rent during summer if I stay here...so God please, let me live~

i went to indiana unversity last summer for the REU program. (and it is indiana university, not the university of indiana! you will be eaten alive by overfed midwesterners if you mispronounce their school. )

lot of fun, but my project had absolutely nothing to do with the cyclotron/proton therapy stuff they have going on.

 

[mrjeffy321]

I mailed off my single application today (dead line is next week). Now I just play the waiting game.

 

[mattmns]

Hmm, 2 weeks past the application deadline and still no rejections for me (or any kind of contact at all). Anybody else get anything?

 

[mrjeffy321]

Do they usually explicitly tell you that you have been rejected?
Seems to me like they might want to always keep the possibility of accepting you open in case one of the people they do accept drops out and they need to fill their space. For example, say you came in #11 out of 10 people they were going to accept. If they outright reject you, then you will go off and make other plans, but if they say nothing and down the line #10 drops out (for whatever reason), all they have to do is send you a “congratulations” letter and not mention anything about the other person they accepted first. I got this impression from another program I applied to a few years ago…they didn’t tell me anything either way until I called them up and asked, and only then did I learn I was at the top of the waitlist and not one of the accepted people.

 

[G01]

Question: Why REU's? Why not just try to work at your current university?

For example, here at Davis, undergrads are commonly hired to work with the nuclear physics groups and the high energy group. Furthermore, over the summer, everyone goes home, so work is not hard to come by. I don't know how this is at your university, but this is how it is at mine.

I'm looking forward to being able to go to a different university. See some other parts of the country, working with new people, making connections, etc. There are tons of good reasons to get an REU somewhere other than your own university.

 

[Jack1064]

I know this is a math REU thing, but perhaps there are some math people that applied to physics REUs

I got in University of Chicago, and Texas A&M,
rejected from Caltech, ~I guess waitlisted from University of Maryland...
I still have not heard from a lot of other schools.

oh and yeah Caltech sent me a rejection email.

 

[eok20]

Hey, has anyone heard from REU programs? I applied to the following mathematics REU:

ASU - ?
Calstate Chico - ?
Calstate San Bernardino - ?
Cornell - (no way I am getting in) ?
Grand Valley State - ?
Penn State University Park - ?
University of Wisconsin - ?
Pitzer - ?
Williams College - rejected (i really wanted this one, it had so many cool projects!)

i feel like i should've applied to couple of more schools, oh well. i hope i get into at least one of these programs.

which Cornell one? SMI or this one: http://www.math.cornell.edu/Undergraduate/REU/REU.htm ? I got into SMI but haven't heard from the other.

 

[InbredDummy]

which Cornell one? SMI or this one: http://www.math.cornell.edu/Undergraduate/REU/REU.htm ? I got into SMI but haven't heard from the other.

yeah not the SMI, but the REU on dynamics, chaos, fractals, etc.

I haven't heard from any of the schools except for my Williams College rejections.

and I would also love to hear from Physics, Engineering or any other types of REU acceptances!

 

[mattmns]

I just got an acceptance e-mail from Cal State San Bernardino (for Math)

 

[Jack1064]

This is my physics REU list
Caltech - rejected
Cornell - waiting (probably rejected)
Duke - rejected
Kansas State - accepted
Michigan State - waiting
Rice University - waiting
Texas A&M - accepted
Texas Christian University - waiting
College of William and Mary Virginia - waiting
University of Chicago - accepted
UColorado - waiting
Maryland - waitlisted
New Mexico - waiting
Washigton Institute for Nuclear theory - waiting
Los Alamos - waiting
Lincoln Labs - waiting

 

[InbredDummy]

I just got an acceptance e-mail from Cal State San Bernardino (for Math)

that means i probably got rejected

 

[Cyrus]

What exactly is an REU, and how is it different from an internship or doing research with a professor?

 

[HungryChemist]

What exactly is an REU, and how is it different from an internship or doing research with a professor?

You can find a lot about what exactly REU is by visiting NSF website. REU is research opportunity given to undergraduate students during summer. It is no different than doing research with a professor, in fact, that is precisely what you do through REU program. However, it has some advantage over doing research with a professor at your own institution. First, it can get you out of your school and let you experience how other schools are like. In fact, most university does not encourage their own students to apply REU offered through their own institution. Secondly, financial support is available that includes travel,housing, and meal(but I know this slightly varies school to school). Lastly, REU is well established program and therefore competitive to join and this will later help build one's resume.

I guess above is general belief(at list that's what NSF want you to think!) but some professors(I know a few personally) think REU is a joke and not very much impressed with it. Having done one such REU myself, I must agree with them to some extent. Duration of REU is just about 10 weeks and unless you're an expert of project you're given this time is too short to meaningfully contribute. But if you work with a professor at your institution, and stick to it, you could do it until you graduate. The rare occasions of which I hear my friends(undergraduate) putting there name on paper most frequently occurred from those who worked in one lab more than an year or two.

 

[HungryChemist]

By the way, here's my update...
Havard-MIT-Waitlist...(e-mail)
Jena(Germany)..Accepted

 

[alex caps]

I got into the only one I applied to:

UNM REU: University of New Mexico's Center for Micro-Engineered Materials.


Anyone else here doing this one?

 

[tdh]

I just got accepted in graph theory to Rochester Institute of Technology!

 

[Moonbear]

I guess above is general belief(at list that's what NSF want you to think!) but some professors(I know a few personally) think REU is a joke and not very much impressed with it. Having done one such REU myself, I must agree with them to some extent. Duration of REU is just about 10 weeks and unless you're an expert of project you're given this time is too short to meaningfully contribute.

I disagree about the time being too short to meaningfully contribute to a project, but I do agree it probably doesn't happen often enough. It really depends on who you work with. Some people treat these programs as just a source of free labor for grunt work, or have someone just follow them around to do stuff, and then, no, you don't get a very good experience. Some of us do put careful thought into the projects we will have a student do, and ensure there is something they can make substantial progress on and that they will learn enough about in a 10 week period of time to make a meaningful contribution. The project may not be totally completed, but it's possible to do quite a lot in that time, and for the student to see enough to get the idea of how the project progresses from beginning to end.

Of course, what gets accomplished also depends on the motivation of the student, and their level of competence. Some can be shown how to do things once and can then keep doing it and get a lot done, and others need to have someone stand over their shoulder all day, in which case, they get a lot less done. Some just want to show up and work for 8 hours then go home and have fun, and that will limit how much they can learn. Others are willing to take home journal articles and read them in the evenings and discuss them and really learn the concepts behind what they are doing, and they really get a lot out of it.

 

[InbredDummy]

got rejected from Arizona State Math REU

 

[leright]

or have someone just follow them around to do stuff

that's basically what I am doing at my REU. I just follow my advisor around and watch him do stuff and he explains stuff to me, or I read the literature or textbooks in my office.

However, right now I am only part-time (10 hrs a week). When the summer starts I will work full-time (through the entire 13 week summer break) and I will also continue to work part-time in the Fall. So, this is a longer term REU and I have more time to thoroughly learn the background information. I am sure that when I start full-time in the summer I will have some sort of research project.

However, I am going to give a presentation on a topic that I have been studying to the department, but it's not going to be on original research.

 

[InbredDummy]

ASU - Rejected
Calstate Chico - Haven't heard from
Calstate San Bernardino - Haven't heard from
Cornell - (no way I am getting in) - REJECTED
Grand Valley State - didn't get my transcript on time
Penn State University Park - haven't heard from
University of Wisconsin - Accepted
Pitzer - haven't heard from
Williams College - rejected (i really wanted this one, it had so many cool projects!)


i already accepted the Wisconsin offer even though I haven't heard back from other schools, really because they wanted a decision by today. Either way, I'm happy that I got into one of them. I will be researching on non-standard analysis, I'm very satisfied.

 

[sjvinay]

I am a senior graduate student. Trust me, if you are serious about grad school, REU is a must. You may not do some mind boggling research, but just getting a taste of research is important to understand what you want to do in the future.

 

[Brad Barker]

i only applied to one REU, the one at UF. and i got in.

 

[G01]

Well, here's my update:

Lehigh University(PA)-Rejected
MIT-Rejected
Univ. of Rochester-Rejected

Waiting on the rest. I have a pretty good GPA and, as far as I know good references, but the fact that I'm only a sophomore is working against me I think.

 

[mattmns]

I have been officially rejected from the other three I applied to:

Cal State SB - Accepted
ETSU - Rejected
Clarkson/Potsdam - Rejected
Trinity - Rejected

 

[mrjeffy321]

I was getting worried that I had not heard back from the one REU I applied to so I sent them an email inquiring about the status of my acceptance….and it is a good thing I did.
I found out that one of my letters of recommendation which was sent in (by the professor who wrote it) never arrived and my application was still marked as ‘incomplete’ and could therefore not be considered.
The problem has now been corrected, but with less than 2 weeks left before the decision deadline, it does not fill me with confidence that I am just now officially applying.