Summer Research Application and Acceptance Thread (REU, SURF, SURP, SIP, AMGEN etc.) 2015

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soporific said:
Accepted at KyotoU Amgen Scholars! (Rejected from Tokyo Amgen and OIST - only applied to 3). Wasn't sure how it was going to go but I am thrilled!
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Oh my god, I actually did a little happy dance for you. Congratulations! I guess we'll see each other at the Symposium :D
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selkies said:
Just now ;) The email they sent out 3 weeks ago said to expect decisions in "a few weeks", so that'd be.... well, exactly now, by my count. Kind of making me nervous...
Also to be clear, this is the REU put on by the Sensory Biology, Behavior, and Evolution program that I'm talking about.
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I received an offer from UCini about a week, but I declined the offer because I already comitted to another program. So UCini has started sending out their first round of decisions.
Good Luck!!
 
sp45 said:
I received an offer from UCini about a week, but I declined the offer because I already comitted to another program. So UCini has started sending out their first round of decisions.
Good Luck!!
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A week ago? That's strange, I got a reply to my email yesterday (asking whether they'd sent out decisions already), which said they were meeting yesterday and we'd hear soon, but nothing about acceptances already being made...
I suppose he could have been speaking about a second round, but dang that wasn't clear at all. Thanks, regardless!

Edit: Wait, okay, were you talking about the UC SURF?? Because I'm talking about the REU. Nevermind :p
 
Kiyokuro21 said:
Oh my god, I actually did a little happy dance for you. Congratulations! I guess we'll see each other at the Symposium :D
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Thanks so much and congratulations to you too! See you in Tokyo :woot:
 
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selkies said:
A week ago? That's strange, I got a reply to my email yesterday (asking whether they'd sent out decisions already), which said they were meeting yesterday and we'd hear soon, but nothing about acceptances already being made...
I suppose he could have been speaking about a second round, but dang that wasn't clear at all. Thanks, regardless!

Edit: Wait, okay, were you talking about the UC SURF?? Because I'm talking about the REU. Nevermind :p
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Oh sorry! I was talking about the UC SURF
 
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sumptinclaus said:
The application deadlines were March 13
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I think...normally it takes a bit over a month for decision people to review and decide on stuff?
The programs I applied to gave decisions in roughly 4 weeks, 7 weeks, 6 weeks, 5 weeks, and 5 weeks. So roughly 5.4 weeks on average.
Oh, and those were just the programs that sent out a decision email, the other half I got no response.
 
For anyone still looking or starting to get nervous; I was just forwarded the information for the REU at the University of North Texas. Their chemistry program (maybe others too, I haven't checked) is accepting applications till April 15. I assume they have info up on their website if you want more!
 
Rejected from Wake Forest WFIRM and I feel like I'm never going to get into Medical School if I can't make it into a summer program :'(

I only stupidly applied to 2 programs ...
 
ConfusedFulbrightScholar said:
Rejected from Wake Forest WFIRM and I feel like I'm never going to get into Medical School if I can't make it into a summer program :'(

I only stupidly applied to 2 programs ...
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I feel you... I'm pre-PhD rather than med, but I feel like I won't even be able to get into good *masters* programs next year, with how this summer is shaping up. I strongly doubt this will prevent you from going to med school... But at the very least I can say that you're not the only one going through this :dead:
 
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of the four programs i applied to i havent heard back anything so im assuming rejection, except for maybe tufts.
but i was wondering what i could have done to make my application stronger, especially for when i apply next year again or if i manage to find a few more programs that are still taking applications. would anyone who was accepted mind sharing what you think was the stronget aspect of your application or what you wrote about in the personal statement? i dont think i used the personal statement to its full potential to make myself unique among all the other applicants
 
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If it's any consolation to you all, I got accepted for a Fulbright, but didn't make it past my local hospital's summer shadowing program.

What is life?
 
Lifeimitatesart said:
of the four programs i applied to i havent heard back anything so im assuming rejection, except for maybe tufts.
but i was wondering what i could have done to make my application stronger, especially for when i apply next year again or if i manage to find a few more programs that are still taking applications. would anyone who was accepted mind sharing what you think was the stronget aspect of your application or what you wrote about in the personal statement? i dont think i used the personal statement to its full potential to make myself unique among all the other applicants
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Which Tufts program did you apply to? The fact that the REU says decisions will come April 6th at the *earliest* is driving me wild, like exactly how long do I wait after that before I give up hope???

As someone in your shoes I can't comment on the strengths of my application, of course, but I agree with you on the personal statement bit. I'm a decent writer, but I definitely feel like I didn't justify my need for an REU well enough (considering my background at a research school), and I don't think I demonstrated my interest in the particular research being done at each site well/long enough either (although I did write at least a few sentences per mentor).
 
atbio79 said:
Wake Forest said they took less than 5% of applicants... I think you have a better chance at med school!
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Lol isn't it pretty similar? Medical Schools usually accept about 5% of applicants.

But, I wish this had been a more constructive exercise. I wish I'd put in the effort to apply to ~25 programs, if I'd gotten into a few, maybe that would've bolstered my confidence a bit.
 
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Anyone heard from Mizzou Neuro/Engineering REU? I'm assuming at this point it's a rejection (applied in early February), but I've e-mailed twice and received no response. Can't find a phone number anywhere. Anyone get any sort of word so I can officially put it out of my mind?
 
Does anyone know of any REUs that are still accepting applications other than the University of Kansas?
 
Is the REU at Kansas rolling admissions?

Or maybe a better question would be: has anyone gotten accepted by the REU at Kansas?
 
ConfusedFulbrightScholar said:
Lol isn't it pretty similar? Medical Schools usually accept about 5% of applicants.

But, I wish this had been a more constructive exercise. I wish I'd put in the effort to apply to ~25 programs, if I'd gotten into a few, maybe that would've bolstered my confidence a bit.
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Yes, but I'm sure you'll apply to more than just 2 med schools! Also, if you are a fulbright scholar, I'm sure your application will be competitive.
 
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ConfusedFulbrightScholar said:
Is the REU at Kansas rolling admissions?

Or maybe a better question would be: has anyone gotten accepted by the REU at Kansas?
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Their application didn't come out until early February at the earliest (administrative mess up, I guess), so they changed the deadline. It was supposed to be out earlier, but was very, very late. I would guess that the deadline isn't rolling at this point in time. I applied and haven't heard back yet, but again, the deadline isn't for another 2 weeks.
 
rejected from CUNY yesterday (expected since I don't want to do any wet lab research)
still waiting on all three SR-EIP leadership alliance sites and an NYU psych lab
 
Anybody heard back from the Michael Debakey program at Baylor yet? I'd like to get in, but I hear its pretty competitive. Really just want to know so that I can focus on other opportunities and applications for this summer.
 
Anyone hear from Medical College of Wisconsin? They were suppose to send out notifications by today.
 
Does anyone who has experience with these summer research programs have resources on making a scientific poster? This is my first time in making a poster that would be printed out. Also, which software programs do these programs generally use when students are designing their posters?
 
I wasn't selected for the UT-Houston program. I put a lot of effort into my PS but I guess my GPA tanked it for me. Oh well, time for plan B.
 
Garurumon said:
I wasn't selected for the UT-Houston program. I put a lot of effort into my PS but I guess my GPA tanked it for me. Oh well, time for plan B.
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There were plenty of people with high grades who are rejected; there's a lot of luck. UT Houston was my only acceptance of eight and I had a 3.9.... What seems to be a misfortune may be a blessing in disguise. Regardless, best of luck to your summer endeavors.
 
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Since we are almost at the end of the summer application/decision game. To help future applicants who might stalk this thread (like I did in the past), I think it will be good to answer these questions?

What programs did you apply to? Which ones did you get in? Better than last year? What are your stats? Is this your last summer in undergrad?

I'll go first

Below are the programs I applied to. I know it's a long list, but I'm an international student in an absolutely no research institution (I learned how to use a pipet at a summer internship, yeah it's that bad, we boil water during bio lab lol). Point is I applied widely cause I feel like I'm very disadvantaged, especially with being international.

Listed in order of when I submitted my application
1) princeton 01/15 - waitlist - accepted
2) wustl biomed rap - ACCEPTED! :) (first acceptance, I was too excited)
3) daad - reject
4) nyu - reject!
5) JHU - waitlisted (never heard back, didn't contact either since I already accepted an offer)
6) Mayo Clinic - reject
7) Gesrstner sloan kettering - REJECT (first reject lol)
8) MIT MSRP - Accepted - MIT bound!!!!!!!!!!
9) upittsburg SURF - rejected (yesterday)
10) UTsouthwestern - waitlisted (asked to be taken off)
11) UPENN Undergrad student scholar - reject (regret spending 20 bucks to express the application)
12) UMadison SROP - rejected off the bat (ignored US citizen requirement)
13) Arkansas INBRE 02/23 - Accepted

This application cycle was so much better for me than last year. I literally had panic attacks while I was writing my personal statement this year because I thought I won't get in any where considering that last year I applied to FIFTEEN and got into ONE! at my home state (hardly any competition). My advisor ended up hooking me up with a program, which I ended up going to. I worked in the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole, MA and trust me that was the best summer everrrr!!!! Everything outside of lab work was spectacular. I had fun lol.
This year I wanted to focus more on doing substantial research work (all work, little play), shooting for a publication. So I'm very grateful I got to choose and reject great programs.

Now to my stats.
Like I said earlier, I'm international student, I'm a junior at a super tiny (less than 700 enroll) HBCU, double majoring in biology and chemistry. Cum 4.0 GPA. I did research last summer but it was environmental science (nothing to do with what I was applying to this year). I did go to an embryo/cancer lab during my free time though. I found a mentor there who ended up being one of my letter writers.
I started volunteering in a lab at the major state medical school in January. I'm doing biochem research on lung cancer stuff (fun things).
I believe I had GREAT recommendation letters. I read one I got from my program coordinator last year and I had tears in my eyes. It was beautiful.

What I did differently?
For my personal statement, I took a totally different approach, to be honest I think my PS sucked last year which is why I did't get in anywhere. My advisor thinks its liability issues (I was 17 last summer).
Also, I used got recommendation letters from diff. people this time, so I had a pool of about 6 letter writers and just varied the depending on program requirement. Last year I stuck to two people. I don't think it mattered though, cause set of different people wrote for all the ones I got in.

Sorry this is long, I just wanted to be as detailed as possible. And yes this is my last summer as an undergrad :(

BTW for anyone trying to register for MAY 2015 MCAT, AAMC just opened a bunch of seats in almost every state.
 
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^I think this is a great idea! I'll try to write a post up with where I applied and stuff, and have it up by tomorrow. Congrats!!
 
I'll try to write one too, though it'll be pretty pitiful, haha!

Just a "quick" question: I recently got a pretty significant leadership position, though not research-related, recently. I was wondering if I should bother updating the final program I'm waiting on. I was accepted to a non-science volunteer program and I emailed them a few weeks ago asking about the status of my application (they said they would release decisions early March and it was mid/late March), letting them know I had another offer I had to accept soon, and they said they are still in committee. The lady emailed me again yesterday asking if I still wanted to be considered for the program since they are still in committee and I let her know that I had been granted an extension in accepting my other offer. Getting to the point of my question, she said there are a lot of strong applicants, so I want to make sure I can represent myself in the best way possible, but at the same time I don't want to bother them with potentially inconsequential information, so I was wondering if you guys think it would be worth it.
 
Garurumon said:
I wasn't selected for the UT-Houston program. I put a lot of effort into my PS but I guess my GPA tanked it for me. Oh well, time for plan B.
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How do you know that you were not selected? Did you get a rejection email or letter? I haven't heard back yet. It still says "Pending" as my status. Unless if they are doing one of those dumb silent rejections??
 
SwimFly12 said:
How do you know that you were not selected? Did you get a rejection email or letter? I haven't heard back yet. It still says "Pending" as my status. Unless if they are doing one of those dumb silent rejections??
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They sent me an email last morning. On the same day I talked with a professor to take on a year-long research project for protein chemistry, so it's all good. I'm sort of bummed about not doing a top-notch summer internship, but as one door closes another one opens. Or as awetmop said earlier, a misfortune may actually be a blessing in disguise. Best of luck to you, wherever you end up going. :)
 
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