Summer Research Application Thread (REU, SURF, SURP, SIP, etc.) 2013

Just to toss it out there, here is a huge list of programs to apply to.

http://www.fhcrc.org/content/dam/public/education/internships.pdf

Thanks, this is great. I hope to land a good internship after graduation.

I'm going to graduate next may, do you think any REU or SURF programs will still take me?

I did two REU programs when I was an undergrad and they were both fantastic experiences. The best part was meeting people from all different universities and walks of life - really shakes you out of your complacency. Apply as far away from home as you can! Good luck to all of you!

La Presse said:

Can anyone help me answer this question:

I am finalizing a few apps before I send them off. But there is one particular question that I do not know how to answer. It asks me whether I have a disability. Does anyone know how people usually address this?

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Do you have a disability?

Is it worth applying to any of these programs as a freshman?

What programs have deadlines in Nov??? (The earliest I can think of is January)

Are these rolling admissions? I likely will not have access to letters of recommendation until this term is over (mid-December), so would I be at a disadvantage in applying to summer programs over winter break when the deadline is around Jan 31st or Feb 1st?

i hate asking for LOR's..

Hemorrage said:

i hate asking for LOR's..

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Me too! I guess I'll just have to apply over winter break with a lower chance of being accepted ..

MangoPlant said:

Are these rolling admissions? I likely will not have access to letters of recommendation until this term is over (mid-December), so would I be at a disadvantage in applying to summer programs over winter break when the deadline is around Jan 31st or Feb 1st?

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I believe many of the Amgen Scholars and SURF programs update their site with announcements of opportunity come December -- and offers are not usually given out until the spring. From my limited experience, it may even take until mid-January for the AOs/prospective mentors to be finalized.

Application deadlines for Amgen/SURF seem to vary from school to school, but (according to their outdated webpages) most are due sometime during February.

Best of luck to y'all! I'm not looking forward to the long, harrowing LOR-requesting process. -__-

Looking for an opinion...

I'm planning on applying this coming summer but I also want to participate in a summer research program. Do you think it's unreasonable to attempt to do both simultaneously?

Charles Darwin said:

Looking for an opinion...

I'm planning on applying this coming summer but I also want to participate in a summer research program. Do you think it's unreasonable to attempt to do both simultaneously?

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It's doable. They key would be to have AMCAS 100% ready to go before leaving for the program in late May/early June (and have already taken the MCAT). You can write secondaries in the evening/weekend and be fine. Also, some labs have significant down time and the PI would hopefully be okay with you bring your computer and working on them then.

I noticed these applications just ask for the emails of the reccomenders. Does anyone know what they actually ask the recommender to do(like are they asked to fill out a form, write a whole letter and mail it, write a letter online and submit it, etc)? I wanted to know so I can tell my recommenders what to expect.

MangoPlant said:

I noticed these applications just ask for the emails of the reccomenders. Does anyone know what they actually ask the recommender to do(like are they asked to fill out a form, write a whole letter and mail it, write a letter online and submit it, etc)? I wanted to know so I can tell my recommenders what to expect.

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Ahhh I knew this thread would appear soon. So weird that I'm not having to prepare to apply to these anymore haha
Mango- it depends on the program. I think most are online now where the reference can just fill it out online and submit. There still may be some programs that require physical letters mailed to them, but I think they are getting less and less. Almost all of the ones I applied to last year had an online submission system.

Charles Darwin said:

Do you have a disability?

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lmao, exactly what I thought

I'm going to start applying pretty soon here! I did a research internship last summer that was employment, not a program, and it was really rewarding.

Does anyone know if it would look bad to do multiple summer internships at the same institution (in different labs) in your home state / town? I would rather stay home over the summer than live across the country, so I am strongly preferencing research opportunities at my home medical school. Will that come back to bite me?

GoBriightly said:

Ahhh I knew this thread would appear soon. So weird that I'm not having to prepare to apply to these anymore haha
Mango- it depends on the program. I think most are online now where the reference can just fill it out online and submit. There still may be some programs that require physical letters mailed to them, but I think they are getting less and less. Almost all of the ones I applied to last year had an online submission system.

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Okay I hope so . I plan on applying to about 5 programs, so I didn't want my LOR writers to have to fill out 2 forms online, write an actual letter, and then something else for another program..

sunflower18 said:

I'm going to start applying pretty soon here! I did a research internship last summer that was employment, not a program, and it was really rewarding.

Does anyone know if it would look bad to do multiple summer internships at the same institution (in different labs) in your home state / town? I would rather stay home over the summer than live across the country, so I am strongly preferencing research opportunities at my home medical school. Will that come back to bite me?

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I don't think it would look bad, but I'm just a fellow pre-med so don't put too much weight on what I say




Do you guys think it's okay to list one professor as the recommender for five seperate summer programs? Will it be too much work to write letters/fill out forms five times? Kind of nervous about asking professors

MangoPlant said:

Okay I hope so . I plan on applying to about 5 programs, so I didn't want my LOR writers to have to fill out 2 forms online, write an actual letter, and then something else for another program..



I don't think it would look bad, but I'm just a fellow pre-med so don't put too much weight on what I say




Do you guys think it's okay to list one professor as the recommender for five seperate summer programs? Will it be too much work to write letters/fill out forms five times? Kind of nervous about asking professors

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Thanks for your advice!!

I am wondering the same thing about the LOR thing. I don't want to ask professors that I later want to submit letters for med school because what if their submitting to these programs annoys them? Aahh!

Does anyone know about how many programs one should apply to for a good chance of getting accepted into at least one? Maybe someone with previous experience would be able to say how many the applied to and how many they were accepted to?

I applied to 10 and got into 1 (very luck). It all depends on your app honestly. I think they look for minorities and those who have research backgrounds from schools that have little research opportunities.

^ I don't remember the exact numbers, but I think I applied to 12 last year and got into 5 with 2 waitlists.

AOK123 said:

I applied to 10 and got into 1 (very luck). It all depends on your app honestly. I think they look for minorities and those who have research backgrounds from schools that have little research opportunities.

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smarts1 said:

^ I don't remember the exact numbers, but I think I applied to 12 last year and got into 5 with 2 waitlists.

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Wow. That's a lot! Were your letter of recommendation writers okay with writing 10 or 12 letters of recommendation?!

I'm not a URM and there are research opportunities at my school so I'm debating about whether to apply at all.. I really don't want to ask my recommenders to fill out 10 letters..

MangoPlant said:

Wow. That's a lot! Were your letter of recommendation writers okay with writing 10 or 12 letters of recommendation?!

I'm not a URM and there are research opportunities at my school so I'm debating about whether to apply at all.. I really don't want to ask my recommenders to fill out 10 letters..

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Same. I'm wondering if I should just study for the MCAT and volunteer this summer instead...

La Presse said:

US Dept of Education is due today and few private ones...


Sent from my iPad using SDN Mobile app.

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This post scared me , the spring deadline passed, but the summer one is on the 10th of January.

MangoPlant said:

Wow. That's a lot! Were your letter of recommendation writers okay with writing 10 or 12 letters of recommendation?!

I'm not a URM and there are research opportunities at my school so I'm debating about whether to apply at all.. I really don't want to ask my recommenders to fill out 10 letters..

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Letter writers will literally send the same letter to every program. Some may be nice enough to address is to the specific program, but most are just going to reuse the exact same thing. Don't worry about it. Just give them an addressed and stamped envelope, they hit print, sign it, and drop it in the mail. (yet surprisingly, this can still take some letter writers over a month )

Also, I applied to 6 programs and luckily got accepted to 1. I did have a research gig in my back pocket at home so applying to a whole ton was not my top priority.

Edit: 1000th post!!

Would it be a significant advantage in getting into medical school if one were to be accepted into one of these summer research programs considering one was already doing research during the academic year? Or are these research programs mainly for people who do not have access to research in their own schools?

How many years of college have you guys and other participants completed before or after applying to these summer programs? Like did you apply and participate in these programs the summer between freshman and sophomore year, sophomore and junior year, etc (and apply during the year before)?

^ I would say the more presitigous programs (ie ones that provide housing and provide a more sizable stipend) generally only accept current sophomores and current juniors since spots are more competitive and they want upperclassmen to have the experience over freshman. From what I know, programs that don't provide housing (or you need to pay for their housing), accept current freshmen because they generally aren't as competitive to get into.

From my own experiences, I applied to like 8 programs freshman year and got into none of them and they all happened to be pretty compeptive programs. Last year, though I applied more broadly because I really wanted to go to a summer program and I got into 5 and was waitlisted at 2 out of the 12 that I applied to.

One internship that wasn't listed there is at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research. I did it, better than any internship you could imagine. Good pay, housing, tons of free food and seminars all the time, you get your own project, and the money they have is insane. Facilities are futuristic and they have opportunities in a wide variety of field. Definitely apply.

Hey guys, question... Would y'all say that the earlier you apply, the better? Or would getting the apps in before the deadline be just as good?

Thanks.

La Presse said:

Yeah. Some programs like urmc stress that their application cycle is rolling, and thus it would be a benefit for you to submit all supporting materials as early as possible.

By the way, I am officially looking for new letter writers. Mine are currently slow as hell. I sometimes feel as if they are sabotaging me.

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I know how you feel!!!
I asked my research mentor to write me a letter of recommendation.... yeah, he isn't shy about telling me how I am "wasting my time" trying to go MD... he wants me to go phd in his field... so, guess whose letter of rec I'm not using....

hey guys, I did the Indiana University summer research for prospective physican-scientists and loved the program. If anyone has any questions about it, or applying to these programs in general, feel free to PM me.

Good luck!

La Presse said:

This is a massive thread bump to provoke updates from those applying for this summer. Anyone applying to Case?

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I will be applying to REU programs in Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern, Georgetown, University of Chicago, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and the University of Vermont.

I also plan to apply for an internship at the NIH and the SURF program at the Mayo clinic (They have 5 slots reserved for engineering students at my university )

I'll update this thread as I submit applications but I may be completing most of these applications around mid-December because my PI is currently very busy with meeting a publication date.

The UCSD Amgen Scholars Program application for 2013 is open!

We have a new online application system this year and invite U.S. students to apply.

How to Apply:

UCSD students may here: https://ucsd.academicworks.com/

Non-UCSD students may apply here: https://ucsd-amgen.academicworks.com/

The UCSD Amgen Scholars Program is a ten-week, full-time research experience for undergraduates, supported by the Amgen Foundation. The objectives of the program are: to provide students with the skills to become research scholars; to stimulate students' serious consideration of graduate study; and to increase learning and networking opportunities for students committed to pursuing either a professional or academic research career in biological sciences or bioengineering. The 2013 program dates will be June 24, 2013 through August 30, 2013.

Much more information is available at our website: http://aep.ucsd.edu/amgen

Write me at [email protected] with any questions. Thanks, Tonya.

If this forum is read worldwide, please note there are three Amgen centers in Europe, for which non-U.S. citizens may apply:

Cambridge: [email protected]

Munich: [email protected]

Karolinksa Institute: [email protected]

Agent B said:

OP, way to steal gettheleadout's spot, who usually handle these topics.

Anyways, thanks for posting this and keeping it updated.

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La Presse said:

No. I do not have a disability...I think.

Thanks Agent B. I really want to get into one of these programs.this upcoming summer so I am starting super early. In addition, I loved GTLO's research info for last year's session. I recently browsed it and it is so useful.

I am about to submit UVM Neuroscience. These programs are extremely competitive, so I am trying NOT to waste time with several programs, such as Mayo, Sackler, the Amgen Schiolars Program, etc. I will also apply to some instate schools.and maybe a few reaches like Yale surf, Harvard surf, UPenn, Sinai, etc. I am also a 2nd year, so I will cut down on programs that give a requirement based on classification. (i.e. freshman, sophomore, etc.).

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Thanks for getting this thread started Presse, I've been a bit absent this semester.

I'm glad people are finding the data from last year useful; for anyone interested, the link is in my signature below!

gettheleadout said:

Thanks for getting this thread started Presse, I've been a bit absent this semester.

I'm glad people are finding the data from last year useful; for anyone interested, the link is in my signature below!

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Thanks gettheleadout

Anyone home? I'm just now starting apps. I have ~15 of the more competitive programs lined up. I'm not too worried about the results since I have my lab at school to fall back on. It'd be nice to be in a new city and network with new people though.