Sophomore Torn Between Two REUs for Summer

[cfreddy]

Hey everyone, I'm here looking for some advice. I have been working at my current institution for the past 2 years, including summers. I'm currently a sophomore, and am stuck as to what I want to work on this coming summer. At this point I have worked on two projects with the same equipment and have my name on two papers (not the primary author).

Option 1 is staying at my home college. I already am very established here and have a good relationship with the professor I work for. I'm hoping that my experience working with our equipment could help me do more advanced work, and possibly work on another paper and eventually first author, which would be a benefit for graduate school applications. My boss has suggested several times that if I stick with this group I will have a good shot of eventually writing my own paper, which would be amazing for graduate school applications. The field I’m working in I've now realized is not my favorite field. I currently enjoy my work somewhat, but I definitely feel like I could find a more rewarding position. Also, while I like my professor, I feel that he is not the best fit for me and he can be very harsh and even hostile at times. It's not to the level where I would report it, but it is at a point where working for him is not an ideal experience.

Option 2 is doing an REU at Michigan State. I am very interested in trying out research in other fields in physics, particularly particle physics and astrophysics (my home institution is small and doesn't offer other physics research that I would like). This could also diversify my undergraduate experience and strengthen my applications into graduate school. I understand that this is a risk, I could have an awful professor or and outstanding one. I also know that the level of work I do at my current job is pretty good, I definitely feel challenged, where as at Michigan State I could just be doing extremely basic work. As an added benefit, this job pays significantly more, and my girlfriend will be at Michigan State this summer (while I would love to be near her for the summer, we both are alright with a summer apart and have done long distance before).

I'm torn between these two options. For some background, I have a GPA of 3.96, am majoring in math and physics. I also have been a TA/grader for 3 classes and am the vice president of SPS. I (hopefully) want to go to an ivy league for graduate school, or at least a really good program. I'm nervous how this decision will affect my application.

 

[Vanadium 50]

which would be amazing for graduate school applications

It's a positive, but probably not "amazing".

my girlfriend will be at Michigan State this summer

Well, that's a reason.

 

[Choppy]

That's a tough call, and really there's no "right" answer.

Do you have a letter of offer in hand from Michigan, or is this just somewhere you have the option of applying to? Remember, just because it's open for competition doesn't necessarily mean that you'll get it. You could just apply and see if you get in, and then make your decision. I realize that this might put you in an awkward position in asking your current mentor for a reference letter, but in most cases professors are well aware that undergraduates need to explore their options and should be happy to provide a reference for you. That said, you know this person's personality, so you might have to make a judgement call on that one.

Getting your name on papers and potentially putting out a first author paper can be a big thing. Sure it's not going to guarantee you admission anywhere, but on reference letters where your referees will have to write something about your research potential, having already authored a paper that gets into a respected, and high-impact journal will give them a concrete, tangible example of what you can do.

 

[cfreddy]

That's a tough call, and really there's no "right" answer.

Do you have a letter of offer in hand from Michigan, or is this just somewhere you have the option of applying to? Remember, just because it's open for competition doesn't necessarily mean that you'll get it. You could just apply and see if you get in, and then make your decision. I realize that this might put you in an awkward position in asking your current mentor for a reference letter, but in most cases professors are well aware that undergraduates need to explore their options and should be happy to provide a reference for you. That said, you know this person's personality, so you might have to make a judgement call on that one.

Getting your name on papers and potentially putting out a first author paper can be a big thing. Sure it's not going to guarantee you admission anywhere, but on reference letters where your referees will have to write something about your research potential, having already authored a paper that gets into a respected, and high-impact journal will give them a concrete, tangible example of what you can do.

That's a good point. What I'm leaning toward right now is applying to both positions and seeing if I can get into Michigan State and if it's a position that I want.

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[gleem]

Consider this. At your current institution you have two years experience in a research area, good relationship? (harshness and hostility aside?) with the prof. and probably are appreciated by him and you might get a good chance at being a primary author.

The alternative is the bottom man on the totem pole at a large institution doing team physics with the likelihood of making a significant contribution will be near zero. You will probably work with a grad student of maybe a post doc. Now having said that your mere association with a research group on the frontiers of physics might be exciting and be valuable to making a career decision.

You should interview the MSU department to see if it is as good as you think it might be for you. If it looks good then apply. But do be up front with your current prof. If you end up taking a hiatus from your current research and return at the end of the summer you may find someone has taken you place especially if he was depending on your remaining there over the summer. It is a possibility.

 

[Dishsoap]

Apply everywhere. Your decision might be made for you.

 

[Vanadium 50]

What I'm leaning toward right now is applying to both positions

Yes, apply. You might get an odd number of offers.

 

[jtbell]

The field I’m working in I've now realized is not my favorite field.
[...]
I am very interested in trying out research in other fields in physics, particularly particle physics and astrophysics (my home institution is small and doesn't offer other physics research that I would like).

To me, this strongly suggests at least applying to other schools' REUs and seeing what you can come up with. I think it's very helpful to expose yourself to various fields before deciding what you want to (potentially) make your life's work out of. Especially since you're not enthusiastic about the field you're currently in.

 

[radium]

I think it’s good to go somewhere else for a summer just to experience another institution and make new connections. If it goes well you will get another good recommendation letter and you will have an advantage if you apply to grad school at your REU institution. I did this the summer before my senior year it worked wel for me. However, in your case I think it may be better to spend another summer at your home institution before going somewhere else as you will likely not get much done during an REU since it is only ten weeks.

REUs actually have very low acceptance rates so you should definitely not assume that you will get into a particular one or any at all. In addition to academic merit there are some factors which can play a big role in REU admissions that would not be considered as much or at all in grad school admissions. For example, REUs tend to take students from smaller schools since they don’t usually have as many opportunities at their home institution. So the fact that you have a good amount of research experience could work against you. I was actually rejected to an REU at an institution that later offered me a fellowship when I applied for grad school.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

I'd give more careful consideration to how powerful your current research adviser's letter of recommendation is likely to be. Not all letters of recommendation have equal weight, even if they say exactly the same things about you. Two publications so far is pretty good, and given that you expect to be in your home research group two full academic years ahead of you (9 months each), one summer at your home institution is not a really big opportunity cost.

But you do have a chance to add another letter of recommendation to your application through the REU. When it comes time to decide, ASSUME that the REU adviser will write good things about you, because your smart and will work very hard to earn that. Then compare the two advisers in terms of the likely weight their recommendation letters will receive. Look each up on Google scholar and see how many citations each has. Recommendation letters from physicists with 100,000 citations weigh more than those with 10,000 weigh more than those with 1000. Unless he's very early in his career, a physicist with closer to 100 citations (lifetime) probably won't even be considered a serious researcher, so their letter may not even be taken as a serious evaluation of your research potential.

 

[Vanadium 50]

To me, this strongly suggests at least applying to other schools' REUs and seeing what you can come up with

This. When starting this thread, there wasn't much indication that there was some serious pre-hatching chicken counting going on.