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

[medicalmnt]

I applied to NIH. They don't have a centralized selection process (unless you applied to their new AMGEN or community college programs), so you;re responsible for finding a PI willing to take you. As far as I know there is no separate thread here for the SIP.

I'm hoping to get placed in NIMH, NINDS, or NCATS

Have you heard from NCATS?

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[BoDiddley]

Have you heard from NCATS?

I never heard from NCATS, but I only ended up emailing one PI there.

 

[Onedimpleface]

Boston....REU? Boston Uni SURF....?

SURF

 

[Kiyokuro21]

SURF

I got the rejection email from Boston Uni SURF on April 15. It said they received over 800 apps for 10 positions.

 

[biochemgirl67]

Yesterday I received a rejection from Colorado State University Molecular Bioscience REU. 1000+ applicants for 10 positions. NOTE TO FUTURE APPLICANTS: it said that they made the decision based on GPA (with the average participant being 3.6), interest in a scientific research career, and if the person attended an institution with no research. (That's where I probably got cut.) Just so you know, if you go to a big school, apply to different types of programs; REUs, SURPs, Amgen, etc. Just because you have a perfect GPA or something does not mean you'll get in anywhere. You've got to be a fit for the program.

 

[Tina546]

So has anyone heard from UCI Surf? Have they sent out acceptances already?

 

[Onedimpleface]

I got the rejection email from Boston Uni SURF on April 15. It said they received over 800 apps for 10 positions.

So I am going to assume that I got a rejection too. I checked my e-mail and I didn't receive anything.

 

[Edotdl]

For anyone doing the UCSF SRTP, did you guys get your lab placements yet? I believe they said it'd be done in April, but still no word.

 

[revenge101]

Does anyone know if there is anything specific about the lab attire for these programs? Should I dress business casual but with sneakers and a lab coat, or am I missing something?

 

[Ken Me A River]

Does anyone know if there is anything specific about the lab attire for these programs? Should I dress business casual but with sneakers and a lab coat, or am I missing something?

I would assume the traditional lab dress code like no open toe shoes.

 

[TheAmbitiousGirl]

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.

I applied to about 13 or so programs Harvard msrp, mit, Nebraska, etc.,(I honestly can't remember them all.

I got into NIH Amgen,(woot woot!) Nebraska surf, ucinni, and I believe that was it. I got wait listed at HARVARD( so I'm putting that on my resume lol)

And you know as I am writing this reply it would seem like I faired really well this year when actually I personally think I did a lot better last year. I got into Mayo last year. Mcw, Nebraska, Virginia, Marquette, and umass surf. I believe I applied to like 10 programs last year and was rejected by like 3 vs. this year being rejected to what seemed like 10 programs

Maybe it was due to a drop in my gpa but one thing I do think are my strengths are the essay base questions they ask. I'm a really passionate person and I think that reflects in my personal statement. Also this year I think my LOR's could have been a lot weaker then previous years even though I used the same writers (attributed to lack of time presumably)


I am a rising senior! (Thank God!) I had a 3.6 gpa last year and now I have a 3.5 gpa. Also I'm a urm which I think gives me a slight uniqueness and according to sdn folklore "advantage" lol

 

[Pheonix93]

They finally gave me my lab placement!!! 😀 Also, for whoever asked about lab attire, I was told that jeans and a T-shirt are fine for everyday wear, just to bring a few business casual outfits for the concluding symposium. Obviously I can't speak for all programs but hopefully that helps give you an idea.

 

[atbio79]

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[soporific]

Is it generally accepted that we shouldn't wear shorts or capris in the lab? I've always worn them in the lab I work in at my school, but everyone's really relaxed there

Probably better not to - for safety reasons as well it is always better to have long pants and closed shoes.

 

[notascience]

How should one prepare for research? I'm going to be at a top program in my field. Should I become familiar with faculty's work other than my mentor (especially those in my specialization)?

 

[chemist16]

Is it generally accepted that we shouldn't wear shorts or capris in the lab? I've always worn them in the lab I work in at my school, but everyone's really relaxed there

It really depends on what kind of lab you're in. In most chemistry labs, it's explicitly forbidden (save some purely computational labs but those are not that common) for obvious reasons. Acid eats through clothing pretty quickly and the more you have on, the better - so everything has to be covered. In bio labs I've been in, the same rule applied, but some friends in other bio labs haven't had a problem with shorts/skirts.

 

[chemist16]

How should one prepare for research? I'm going to be at a top program in my field. Should I become familiar with faculty's work other than my mentor (especially those in my specialization)?

Do you have any idea what your project will be on? If you know the subfield, you should be familiar with the PI's recent work and if you have time, read Nature or Science for recent articles on your subfield. Make sure the paper relates directly to what your PI's lab is currently doing - otherwise, you might just get overwhelmed by the sheer number of articles that scientists are cranking out.

 

[biochemgirl67]

Is it generally accepted that we shouldn't wear shorts or capris in the lab? I've always worn them in the lab I work in at my school, but everyone's really relaxed there

Just email your PI or grad student mentor or program coordinator and ask. Every lab is different. Some labs don't care because you have to wear a lab coat. Others don't want anything above the knee. The people in charge of the program/lab will understand this and be happy to answer that question.

 

[biochemgirl67]

How should one prepare for research? I'm going to be at a top program in my field. Should I become familiar with faculty's work other than my mentor (especially those in my specialization)?

Don't overdo it. It would be okay to go through landmark papers in the field, but don't try and wade through all of them. More than likely if your mentor wants you to have an in depth understanding of a paper, they will assign it. And don't, for the love of all that's holy, try and read through multiple Cell articles. You will hate yourself.

It would be impressive to have a working knowledge of the topic, but don't murder yourself doing it.

 

[chemist16]

And don't, for the love of all that's holy, try and read through multiple Cell articles. You will hate yourself.

Just a side note - I actually love the layout of Cell articles. The figures are usually laid out very logically and convey singular points (which makes the paper longer, but easier to read for me). I hate Science articles in particular because they have huge figures with many many panels and sometimes the panels don't all relate to the same point, which makes me have to read the text to figure out what they're arguing. I like to skim the figures first to come to my own conclusions about what the data is actually representing before reading the authors' own spin on it.

 

[PleaseCallMeDoc]

Email your mentor and ask for articles if you want a jump start.
But be cautious, I asked and got 35+ to read. I'll have a very solid background going in but I'm going to have to spend a couple of days before reading em.

 

[chemist16]

^Well you must have gotten quite a lesson in learning to read research articles 🙂 You really only have to read the abstract, then examine the figures closely and read their captions. If you're really good, reading the text of the paper doesn't add much beyond that (in fact, I prefer not to read the text until very end if I have to because I like to analyze the data for myself before the author puts his/her own spin on it).

 

[biochemgirl67]

Just a side note - I actually love the layout of Cell articles. The figures are usually laid out very logically and convey singular points (which makes the paper longer, but easier to read for me). I hate Science articles in particular because they have huge figures with many many panels and sometimes the panels don't all relate to the same point, which makes me have to read the text to figure out what they're arguing. I like to skim the figures first to come to my own conclusions about what the data is actually representing before reading the authors' own spin on it.

I just meant that they are long and usually have an enormous amount of figures. Someone who doesn't normally read that type of literature won't be able to easily understand it and the results of the methods. They are incredibly useful for someone who is familiar, but for the purpose of gaining background information, the research articles in that journal will no doubt slow the person down. The reviews are worth it. And although I too read the figures before anything else, it can be confusing if the reader is unfamiliar with the technique, as is usually the case in cellular and molecular biology. *cough*Microscopy*cough*cell lines*cough*ACRONYMS*cough

 

[chemist16]

I just meant that they are long and usually have an enormous amount of figures. Someone who doesn't normally read that type of literature won't be able to easily understand it and the results of the methods. They are incredibly useful for someone who is familiar, but for the purpose of gaining background information, the research articles in that journal will no doubt slow the person down. The reviews are worth it. And although I too read the figures before anything else, it can be confusing if the reader is unfamiliar with the technique, as is usually the case in cellular and molecular biology. *cough*Microscopy*cough*cell lines*cough*ACRONYMS*cough

Yeah, I definitely understand where you're coming from but what I mean is that the figures are organized logically to me. Which I prefer even if there are 10-14 figures as opposed to all that data compressed into 3-4 figures with many panels each. When I go through the figures, I try to get the main gist of the figure (the point it's trying to make) and not so much the methodology. For example, I still have no clue what how an ELISA works but I can tell from the figure/caption what they're using it to show (e.g. expression of something). You'll see a lot of common motifs in molecular biology especially - Western blot, immunocyto, immunohisto, ELISA, Southern blot, etc. - and what's important isn't really how they work (although you should know that for lab purposes) but rather what data they convey. For instance, if someone is trying to show protein colocalization on a cell membrane using immunocytochemistry, you should ask, "do the colors colocalize?" After all, Cell is one of the top and best journals in the world.

If you want to go further than background information, i.e. analyzing the data, I agree that knowing the method would be useful. For example, if you're using primary and secondary antibodies to tag something and your secondary antibody coincidentally binds something else, that could be problematic.

 

[chewydog]

To add on to what other people have said, I have found that taking brief notes on papers I read is incredibly useful. Generally, I just write down the title and author names, the result, a quick blurb of what was used to accomplish the result (e.g. methods/materials used, especially when chemistry is involved), and any thoughts that I have regarding the paper. It helps me digest whatever dense reading I have to slog through. Furthermore, with this information, I can easily skim through the list whenever I am trying to look for methods/ideas to help further the project I am working on (e.g. what could I potentially use to fix a noise problem I encountered while collecting data using this particular method?) and quickly figure out which ones to refer to when writing reports/papers.

 

[notascience]

Thank you for the advice everyone!

 

[PleaseCallMeDoc]

For people at Harvard this summer, anyone living@ Leverett? PM me!

 

[ChiNasa511]

Hi Everyone,

I just finished my first year and am participating in the Fungal Genomics and Computational Biology REU at the University of Georgia. I am looking for programs to do next summer and I really have an itch to go abroad. I've found some programs like the Pasteur, UTRIP at UTokyo, and MHIRT programs at other schools. There are few international REUs and for the ones that they have, most of them are not biomedical sciences. Just for reference, I'm a CS major Bio minor with plans to go to grad school in Bionformatics. If anyone knows of any more international research programs please let me know!

 

[deleted642188]

Hi Everyone,

I just finished my first year and am participating in the Fungal Genomics and Computational Biology REU at the University of Georgia. I am looking for programs to do next summer and I really have an itch to go abroad. I've found some programs like the Pasteur, UTRIP at UTokyo, and MHIRT programs at other schools. There are few international REUs and for the ones that they have, most of them are not biomedical sciences. Just for reference, I'm a CS major Bio minor with plans to go to grad school in Bionformatics. If anyone knows of any more international research programs please let me know!

I suggest "EPFL;"

EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne)
http://sv.epfl.ch/summer-research

 

[biochemgirl67]

Hi Everyone,

I just finished my first year and am participating in the Fungal Genomics and Computational Biology REU at the University of Georgia. I am looking for programs to do next summer and I really have an itch to go abroad. I've found some programs like the Pasteur, UTRIP at UTokyo, and MHIRT programs at other schools. There are few international REUs and for the ones that they have, most of them are not biomedical sciences. Just for reference, I'm a CS major Bio minor with plans to go to grad school in Bionformatics. If anyone knows of any more international research programs please let me know!

DAAD Rise Program is in Germany! And bioinformatics is so hot right now, you should have your choice of programs (hopefully).

 

[harsh920]

From what I remember, you fill out the Leadership Alliance application and can only select 3 programs on their list to apply to. The programs will individually contact you either via email or through the online portal with their decisions some time between February-April.

I've participated in two summer programs in the past and had some awesome experiences! Anyone on this thread can feel free to message me if you have any specific questions about certain programs, applying, etc. I would highly recommend applying to as many as you can--applications are free unlike med school apps 😉

Hey how difficult would you say it is to get one of these programs I am thinking of applying to one of these very soon. I attend Binghamton University if that helps to know.

 

[deleted642188]

Hey how difficult would you say it is to get one of these programs I am thinking of applying to one of these very soon. I attend Binghamton University if that helps to know.

They're tough... honestly the only way to get into tehse places is to write a good personal statement and also by chance have done research that is extremely relevant to one of the participating labs

Edit: Wow... I can't believe I just helped you in necro-thread-mancing...

 

[MSUJess18]

delete