Research / Internship Opportunities for folks with BS, not in Grad Program?

[badinthelatin]

This is the second year of grad applications for me and although I've done what I could afford to improve my application (paying for and A-minus-ing a semester of grad level QM), I'm feeling pretty pessimistic about my odds of acceptance again. Frankly, I'm almost 26 and I'm not sure if I can keep getting my hopes up like this, so screw grad school directly, are there merely any research/internship programs out there that'll accept someone not currently enrolled as an undergrad?

Every time I look into that option all I find are programs that explicitly ONLY accept folks enrolled as an undergrad (no one who's graduated). REU does this. Sigh. Are there any alternatives? I live in a city with only one university anywhere near and the department is practically non-existent (and god forbid you're interested in theory), so it's not exactly financially feasible for me to just pop-round a department (closest real one is like 100 miles away) and strike up conversations with professors.

 

[ZapperZ]

You have provided almost no clear information at all here in what you are doing as far as grad application. What exactly are you applying for? How many schools did you apply to? What exactly is your educational background? How good are your grades/GPA? There are so many grad programs that, even with a half-way decent grade, one could get accepted in a smaller, less well-known school, even if just for a Masters degree to shore up one's credentials to apply for a PhD at a better school. So your description of going through a 2nd year of grad application is a bit puzzling.

And yes, you are correct. Most, if not all, of the funded research and internship programs are aimed towards current students.

Zz.