What Are the Outcomes of 2020 REU Applications?

[Splashcloud]

It might be little early now, but in the next few weeks decisions for REUs should be coming out. So I thought I’d make a thread about what REU offers that people are getting. What different programs are people waiting to hear back from?

I personally applied to:
U of Michigan (Non-CERN)
Purdue
UIUC
Boston University
U of Colorado
U of Miami
Michigan State
Louisiana State U

 

[Dr. Courtney]

Students I mentor have offers from BNL (SULI) and CDC (REU).

 

[Steve-O]

Throughout January-February I applied to these REU locations:

UNM
UC- Santa Barbara
Indiana
NYU
Michigan State
University of South Florida
UT Austin
Texas Christian
U Washington
U Kentucky
Howard University
U Arkansas

Yet to hear back from anyone.

 

[livelaughrun51]

I applied to the following:

University of Minnesota
University of Utah
BU
Michigan State
Northwestern
Northern Illinois
CU Boulder
U of Michigan
BYU (accepted 2/18)
U of New Mexico
UCSB
Notre Dame
UC Davis
Princeton
Purdue

I have only heard back from BYU and am waiting on the rest.

 

[high_energy_]

I applied to the following:

MIT MSRP (accepted 2/21, committed!)
University of Chicago REU
Duke TUNL REU
Northwestern REU
SR-EIP at Stanford, Harvard, and Yale

The MIT MSRP program was my top choice, so I am over the moon!

 

[Dr. Courtney]

The MIT MSRP program was my top choice, so I am over the moon!

Congrats on that. I had some excellent students apply and have to settle for lesser opportunities.

 

[high_energy_]

Congrats on that. I had some excellent students apply and have to settle for lesser opportunities.

Thank you! I'm very excited.

 

[wgamadeus]

Has anyone heard from SLAC SULI or other SULI programs?

 

[Zonai]

Has anyone heard back from UC Davis or UIUC (or know when they sent out first offers in previous years)?

 

[Drokrath]

Has anyone heard back from UC Davis or UIUC (or know when they sent out first offers in previous years)?

I applied to UIUC and also have not heard back yet

 

[Drokrath]

I applied to:

NASA SARP (rejected 2/27)
Michigan State (accepted 2/21, not yet committed)
JLab/ODU
UIUC

Deadline for accepting MSU is March 6th, I'm hoping to get an acceptance from UIUC before then but I'm not going to risk missing my chance at MSU for it.

 

[Zonai]

I applied to:

Purdue (accepted 2/26, not committed)
Leadership Alliance (SR-EIP) (accepted - Brown University - 2/21)
SULI - LNBL (no formal offer yet, but was contacted with potential offer early February)
Cornell Center for Materials Research REU
University of Minnesota
Boston University – PRO
UC Davis
Harvard SEAS
University of Chicago MRSEC and REU
UIUC
University of Washington

 

[livelaughrun51]

Has anyone heard back from UC Davis or UIUC (or know when they sent out first offers in previous years)?

I emailed them earlier this week because I have to make a decision by tomorrow. They're first wave acceptances are already out.

 

[Drokrath]

I emailed them earlier this week because I have to make a decision by tomorrow. They're first wave acceptances are already out.

Davis or UIUC?

 

[livelaughrun51]

Davis or UIUC?

Davis

 

[livelaughrun51]

Throughout January-February I applied to these REU locations:

UNM
UC- Santa Barbara
Indiana
NYU
Michigan State
University of South Florida
UT Austin
Texas Christian
U Washington
U Kentucky
Howard University
U Arkansas

Yet to hear back from anyone.

Have you heard anything from UCSB yet?

 

[Dr. Courtney]

The stronger students I mentor are 11 for 11 getting positive responses (offers) back from their SULI and REU applications. This leads me to think most of the first round of offers have gone out.

The weaker students I mentor are 0 for a bunch hearing back from their SULI and REU applications. No negative responses have been received to date. This leads me to think that the second and subsequent round offers are not yet completed going out.

But some of those offers to stronger students (that were rejected) just occurred in the past week or so, and these students rejected more offers than they accepted. Consequently, I expect offers to keep going out for the next couple of weeks.

Sit tight, and worry more about how to improve the quality of future applications (which you can do something about right now) than the status of current applications (which you cannot do anything about right now). Is that GPA heading up or down this semester? Research accomplishments? GRE scores? Recommendation letters?

Excellent research accomplishments and recommendation letters have been the common theme among students I know who get REU and SULI offers.

 

[Zonai]

I applied to:

Purdue (accepted 2/26, not committed)
Leadership Alliance (SR-EIP) (accepted - Brown University - 2/21)
University of Chicago MRSEC and REU (accepted - 3/6)
SULI - LNBL (no formal offer yet, but was contacted with potential offer early February)
Cornell Center for Materials Research REU
University of Minnesota
Boston University – PRO
UC Davis
Harvard SEAS
UIUC
University of Washington

Just got accepted to University of Chicago MRSEC and REU.

 

[wowie]

Has anyone heard anything from the University of Washington?

 

[Zonai]

Has anyone heard anything from the University of Washington?

Someone over on the "Physics REU thread 2020" in the r/REU subreddit said that they were accepted to U-Washington a few days ago.

 

[Zonai]

Just got accepted to UIUC

 

[Dishsoap]

The program I'm mentoring for (as a grad student) just canceled their summer REU. Just something to watch out for...

 

[Dr. Courtney]

The program I'm mentoring for (as a grad student) just canceled their summer REU. Just something to watch out for...

Thanks for the update. Yes, there is considerable undergrad concern about possible widespread cancellations. And there may be some locations and opportunities where this is unavoidable.

On the other hand, I've mentored a number of student research projects from a distance for students I have never met in person. Many of these projects were high quality, provided great experiences for the students, and yielded publications. For students of REU and SULI caliber, I hope this is something that is given due consideration before programs are cancelled.

When a student accepts an REU, SULI, or other summer research opportunity, they often close doors to a number of other options. Folks who have committed research opportunities to these students need to exercise due diligence exploring options for keeping their commitments. If instruction can be moved online at the drop of a hat for thousands of students over the full range of abilities, certainly folks can figure out distance research opportunities for the best and the brightest given 8-10 weeks notice.

 

[livelaughrun51]

I applied to the following:

University of Minnesota
University of Utah
BU
Michigan State
Northwestern
Northern Illinois
CU Boulder
U of Michigan
BYU (accepted 2/18)
U of New Mexico
UCSB
Notre Dame
UC Davis
Princeton
Purdue

I have only heard back from BYU and am waiting on the rest.

Update:
Accepted: BYU (2/18), Vanderbilt (3/5), BU (3/6 - committed!)
Rejected/Positions Filled - UNM, Northwestern, Purdue
No Updates: U of U, Michigan State, NIU, Boulder, University of Michigan, UNM, UCSB, Notre Dame, UCD - has paused admissions due to covid-19, Princeton
I'm hoping BU doesn't get canceled and I am super excited to go! Hopefully this is helpful! Good luck everyone!

 

[Drokrath]

I applied to:

NASA SARP (rejected 2/27)
Michigan State (accepted 2/21, not yet committed)
JLab/ODU
UIUC

Deadline for accepting MSU is March 6th, I'm hoping to get an acceptance from UIUC before then but I'm not going to risk missing my chance at MSU for it.

Updated:
NASA SARP (rejected 2/27)
Michigan State (accepted 2/21, committed, moved online due to coronavirus)
JLab/ODU (rejected 4/22)
UIUC