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

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neurotroph said:
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.
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That is exactly what I thought when I started filling these applications. I applied to programs that were not particularly known or popular among prospective PhD students or MD students. So, I crossed out AMGEN, Mayo, JHU, Sinai 🙁, and a few others; however, I applied to Cornell and Rochester SSP which are fairly competitive. I have not applied to a single state program yet because I ran out of LoR writers.
 
I'm applying to maybe 10 programs that cater to applicants from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (I'm not an URM though), and applicants coming from schools without research opportunities (CC in my case).

Anyone know relatively how competitive REUs are in that respect? I'm thinking about lower-tier ones, like Western Washington State, and relatively unknown schools like that...
 
How important do you think knowing someone is?

Maybe I'm cynical but do you think the majority of applicants get into these competitive REUs by having the right connection or impressing a specific professor by emailing them?
 
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Josh7 said:
How important do you think knowing someone is?

Maybe I'm cynical but do you think the majority of applicants get into these competitive REUs by having the right connection or impressive a specific professor by emailing them?
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I don't know too much, but yeah, I do believe that professor's have a ton on influence on people getting into REUs. I'm not sure about the majority of applicants getting into REUs because of connections though (sure hope not!).
 
andjusticeforal said:
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.
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PM'd you for more info.
 
gettheleadout said:
I don't believe this is a major factor.


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I hope not. I also hope that the rolling admissions aren't taken as seriously as with medical school because I won't be able to get one of my letters until after break because my letter writer was super busy before!

Also, do you think it's important to email professors at the university after submitting the application? I've been reading a few articles to see if the research interests me but I wonder if I should let the professor know that I'm interested
 
Guy1122 said:
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....
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My research mentor also said he wouldn't support me going to an internship when I asked him for a rec. I was quite shocked b/c I thought he was a nice guy and he had previously agreed to support me. He said that although he thought I was a strong candidate, he didn't see the point in these internships. He says that he wants me to work in his lab during the summer. I found this very disappointing because I had worked my butt off in this lab that semester (at least 24 hours per week) and I get nothing in return? He is a nice person when you work for him, but when it comes to doing something in return and supporting my professional aspirations, the fact that he did not suggests that he's not all that nice of a guy. I'm leaving this lab b/c I don't know if he would ever support me for anything and I don't want to take a chance and gamble. He probably won't even write me a rec for med school. I think having a supportive mentor who's invested in your success is very important, so I'm going to find one who is. Good thing my advisor agreed to write me a rec.
 
princessbooty said:
My research mentor also said he wouldn't support me going to an internship when I asked him for a rec. I was quite shocked b/c I thought he was a nice guy and he had previously agreed to support me. He said that although he thought I was a strong candidate, he didn't see the point in these internships. He says that he wants me to work in his lab during the summer. I found this very disappointing because I had worked my butt off in this lab that semester (at least 24 hours per week) and I get nothing in return? He is a nice person when you work for him, but when it comes to doing something in return and supporting my professional aspirations, the fact that he did not suggests that he's not all that nice of a guy. I'm leaving this lab b/c I don't know if he would ever support me for anything and I don't want to take a chance and gamble. He probably won't even write me a rec for med school. I think having a supportive mentor who's invested in your success is very important, so I'm going to find one who is. Good thing my advisor agreed to write me a rec.
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Wow how selfish of your PI.
 
Josh7 said:
I hope not. I also hope that the rolling admissions aren't taken as seriously as with medical school because I won't be able to get one of my letters until after break because my letter writer was super busy before!

Also, do you think it's important to email professors at the university after submitting the application? I've been reading a few articles to see if the research interests me but I wonder if I should let the professor know that I'm interested
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Depends on the program. Some explicitly forbid professor contact and others encourage it.


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Emailed with a professor about working with one of his colleagues from another university for the summer :xf: (dem connections 😳)

Also going to apply to a Physics REU or two :xf: :xf:
 
I'm worried about my recs. I have 2 or 3 people who I think would write great ones but they would have to email them to so many places -_-
 
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any advice for what i should do if i graduated last year, haven't done research, and would like to do some this summer or next year?
 
Just wanted to say that I'm gonna be reapplying to a program I was accepted to but declined last year (I had already accepted another). I'm only applying there as it's in my hometown and I'd like to stay there this summer.

Not that anyone cares haha. But yeah, I've had my fill of applying to SURF's after my ~dozen applications last year. 🙂
 
If your spring classes overlapped with the first week or two of the summer research program, would SURFs and Amgen (particularly the ones that start in late May or early June) allow you to delay the start of the program? Has anyone had experience with this?
 
katymalady said:
If your spring classes overlapped with the first week or two of the summer research program, would SURFs and Amgen (particularly the ones that start in late May or early June) allow you to delay the start of the program? Has anyone had experience with this?
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It depends on the program. It might even depend on the Amgen site, I can't remember for sure.


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gettheleadout said:
Just wanted to say that I'm gonna be reapplying to a program I was accepted to but declined last year (I had already accepted another). I'm only applying there as it's in my hometown and I'd like to stay there this summer.

Not that anyone cares haha. But yeah, I've had my fill of applying to SURF's after my ~dozen applications last year. 🙂
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Good luck, man 😀

katymalady said:
If your spring classes overlapped with the first week or two of the summer research program, would SURFs and Amgen (particularly the ones that start in late May or early June) allow you to delay the start of the program? Has anyone had experience with this?
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I know a lot of REUs say on their site that they'd be willing to delay a little (it probably depends on the program though), but you might have to check for SURFs/Amgen.
 
katymalady said:
If your spring classes overlapped with the first week or two of the summer research program, would SURFs and Amgen (particularly the ones that start in late May or early June) allow you to delay the start of the program? Has anyone had experience with this?
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One of the SURF programs I did a couple of summers ago let students delay the start of the program for various reasons (a couple of people had classes that ran into the start, one of my roommates had signed up to take the MCAT so she showed up a couple of days late). I think most programs are pretty flexible with this, except a couple of the Amgen programs (I can't remember which ones off the top of my head). Usually if they aren't flexible, they will say it somewhere on the program website, but you can always call and ask if you are worried.

And if anyone has any specific questions, feel free to PM me! I'm not doing any this year since I'm graduating 😱, but I did a program every summer since freshman year... I just can't stay away from this thread hehehe.
 
katymalady said:
If your spring classes overlapped with the first week or two of the summer research program, would SURFs and Amgen (particularly the ones that start in late May or early June) allow you to delay the start of the program? Has anyone had experience with this?
Click to expand...

Some have said that you have to be there for the full time.
 
I do not know whether this has been posted or not, but this is what I used last summer to choose the programs I applied to. It is a consolidated list of research and premed internships. However, I checked back today and they updated the page with the ones for 2013. It may be very useful for someone here.

http://goo.gl/HoJbi
 
Hi guys,
so if you are applying to like 10+ programs and each asks for 2 rec letters, how do you divide which professor's recs to send to what program? and how many ppl do you ask in total? (bc asking 2 ppl to submit to 10 programs would tick them off obviously lol)
 
Neuronette said:
Hi guys,
so if you are applying to like 10+ programs and each asks for 2 rec letters, how do you divide which professor's recs to send to what program? and how many ppl do you ask in total? (bc asking 2 ppl to submit to 10 programs would tick them off obviously lol)
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Whoops, well that's what I did 😳

It may not tick them off, as a lot of programs will let the writer simply email a letter of rec (so the writer could likely copy/paste the same letter for a few programs at least).
 
been doing a little research, and i noticed most of these programs are more tailored towards Ph.D or M.D/Ph.D applicants. is there any that are more for M.D?
 
Stumpyman said:
Whoops, well that's what I did 😳

It may not tick them off, as a lot of programs will let the writer simply email a letter of rec (so the writer could likely copy/paste the same letter for a few programs at least).
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That's what I did too, but I think one of my writers actually wrote 10+ different letters... 😱 I didn't want her to though, and she seemed pretty annoyed with it afterward... Oh well, I thanked her and apologized. What can you do?


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gettheleadout said:
Few.


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:/ Maybe i have the wrong idea of these programs. Isn't it to expose you to research rather than to recruit to long term projects? because I really can say whether or not I like research because I never done it.
 
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pharmolu said:
:/ Maybe i have the wrong idea of these programs. Isn't it to expose you to research rather than to recruit to long term projects? because I really can say whether or not I like research because I never done it.
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You're impression of the programs and their goals is correct, but the programs tend to feel (it seems to me) that anyone not open to or perhaps preferring the idea of getting a PhD isn't serious enough about considering research in their career to be worth giving a spot to. Maybe the perception is that MD-only applicants just want research experience to pad their apps, who knows. I think it's a bit of a broken system, since many students who don't desire a primarily-research career or can't make that call yet can greatly benefit from the experience and still go on to do research.

If you select MD only on the relevant application section you may face difficulty gaining acceptance at some programs, but if you would never consider a PhD as well then the other option is lying (which is bad). That said, a lot of people just lie and put MD/PhD to get accepted to the summer programs (this according to people I've talked to both on SDN and at the program I attended).

It a weird situation. Personally I was interested in seeing what MD/PhD would be like, so I put that and worked with an MD/PhD student during the program. I thought it was a great experience even though I learned that I would prefer MD only. The "rank your degree preference" question is especially hard if you don't know, so I would just go by interest in terms of what you want to learn the most about as a career path.


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gettheleadout said:
You're impression of the programs and their goals is correct, but the programs tend to feel (it seems to me) that anyone not open to or perhaps preferring the idea of getting a PhD isn't serious enough about considering research in their career to be worth giving a spot to. Maybe the perception is that MD-only applicants just want research experience to pad their apps, who knows. I think it's a bit of a broken system, since many students who don't desire a primarily-research career or can't make that call yet can greatly benefit from the experience and still go on to do research.

If you select MD only on the relevant application section you may face difficulty gaining acceptance at some programs, but if you would never consider a PhD as well then the other option is lying (which is bad). That said, a lot of people just lie and put MD/PhD to get accepted to the summer programs (this according to people I've talked to both on SDN and at the program I attended).

It a weird situation. Personally I was interested in seeing what MD/PhD would be like, so I put that and worked with an MD/PhD student during the program. I thought it was a great experience even though I learned that I would prefer MD only. The "rank your degree preference" question is especially hard if you don't know, so I would just go by interest in terms of what you want to learn the most about as a career path.


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Sometimes, I just put PhD. :meanie:

It is genuine, however.


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gettheleadout said:
You're impression of the programs and their goals is correct, but the programs tend to feel (it seems to me) that anyone not open to or perhaps preferring the idea of getting a PhD isn't serious enough about considering research in their career to be worth giving a spot to. Maybe the perception is that MD-only applicants just want research experience to pad their apps, who knows. I think it's a bit of a broken system, since many students who don't desire a primarily-research career or can't make that call yet can greatly benefit from the experience and still go on to do research.

If you select MD only on the relevant application section you may face difficulty gaining acceptance at some programs, but if you would never consider a PhD as well then the other option is lying (which is bad). That said, a lot of people just lie and put MD/PhD to get accepted to the summer programs (this according to people I've talked to both on SDN and at the program I attended).

It a weird situation. Personally I was interested in seeing what MD/PhD would be like, so I put that and worked with an MD/PhD student during the program. I thought it was a great experience even though I learned that I would prefer MD only. The "rank your degree preference" question is especially hard if you don't know, so I would just go by interest in terms of what you want to learn the most about as a career path.


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Click to expand...

yea, its really not to pad my app more so to get exposure to research, as my uni is 1) not very research based and 2) I'm a math major, so i think i'd be hard pressed to find teachers willing to give me a chance. i may just apply to a few ( 3 or 4) ones and expect to get a hospital volunteer job at home this summer :/

Thanks for the help GTLO!
 
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What are the chances of a person with a 3.65 GPA getting into one of these programs? I'm guessing GPA is a huge factor in these since that's pretty much the only number they have to judge us numerically on, and I'm kind of worried that a 3.65 will be way to low.

Anyone get accepted into one of these before with a less than 3.7 GPA?
 
Is it better to do research at my school university than do these? The uni that I'm going to be attending has a few research labs that I can work in. Is it better to do research for these SURF programs or should I stick to my university's labs?
 
Eon said:
Is it better to do research at my school university than do these? The uni that I'm going to be attending has a few research labs that I can work in. Is it better to do research for these SURF programs or should I stick to my university's labs?
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LizzyM said that it doesn't matter. I'd imagine that you make more money doing research through an REU, though.
 
Josh7 said:
LizzyM said that it doesn't matter. I'd imagine that you make more money doing research through an REU, though.
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But if I research at the same uni for a number of years, showing obviously faithfulness, wouldn't it look better? Again, I'm just getting prepped so that I can finally reach the "Med School Gunner" status.
 
Eon said:
But if I research at the same uni for a number of years, showing obviously faithfulness, wouldn't it look better? Again, I'm just getting prepped so that I can finally reach the "Med School Gunner" status.
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I'd guess that the difference between 2.5 and 3 years research with the same group is negligible in the eyes of an adcom.

Working in your usual lab group would probably increase your chance of a publication though, right?
 
Stumpyman said:
Whoops, well that's what I did 😳

It may not tick them off, as a lot of programs will let the writer simply email a letter of rec (so the writer could likely copy/paste the same letter for a few programs at least).
Click to expand...
Aha, I think that is what I will do! bc there are two ppl that come to mind that would write great letters.
I just hope they aren't too annoyed or anything... I guess I'll give them 3 weeks notice so they have plenty of time to submit. I know for a fact one of them has one written already from last year!
Btw, which program did you end up participating in? 🙂
 
Question: Do most of these require LOR? I go to a big public University and don't feel that comfortable asking for recommendations from my professors because most of the classes I have taken have had 300+ people in them. Are there some that do not require LORs?
 
Neuronette said:
Aha, I think that is what I will do! bc there are two ppl that come to mind that would write great letters.
I just hope they aren't too annoyed or anything... I guess I'll give them 3 weeks notice so they have plenty of time to submit. I know for a fact one of them has one written already from last year!
Btw, which program did you end up participating in? 🙂
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Actually applying for next summer :xf: (just completed all of my apps though). I applied to about 10 REUs and 2 SURP/SURFs
 
pharmolu said:
yea, its really not to pad my app more so to get exposure to research, as my uni is 1) not very research based and 2) I'm a math major, so i think i'd be hard pressed to find teachers willing to give me a chance. i may just apply to a few ( 3 or 4) ones and expect to get a hospital volunteer job at home this summer :/

Thanks for the help GTLO!
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Oh no I understand, I didn't mean to imply that you in particular would just be looking to build your resume. I can sympathize with a lack of research opportunity at your school, and be sure to mention that in your applications! Some programs take that into consideration in choosing participants.


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Juxxtaposition said:
Question: Do most of these require LOR? I go to a big public University and don't feel that comfortable asking for recommendations from my professors because most of the classes I have taken have had 300+ people in them. Are there some that do not require LORs?
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One of my LOR's last year was from an academic advisor whom I have never taken a course with but knew well. If that's an option you have, consider that. If not, you're expected to make a sufficient effort (however much that is) to get to know professors even if all of your classes are very large. I've done it and other people have done it, you're expected to too.

I have also never heard of a program not requiring LOR's.


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Is it to early for freshman to be applying to these programs? I'm freaking out that i have no research yet (large research state school and I'm not a hard sciences major ) and my E.C's next semester consist of 2 clubs, volunteering at a local hospital and possibly tutoring for General Chemistry within my college.
 
Kishan93 said:
Is it to early for freshman to be applying to these programs? I'm freaking out that i have no research yet (large research state school and I'm not a hard sciences major ) and my E.C's next semester consist of 2 clubs, volunteering at a local hospital and possibly tutoring for General Chemistry within my college.
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These programs are typically populated by rising juniors and seniors, but sometimes freshman are admitted. However, it is probably a good idea to have a solid back-up plan, like summer volunteering, summer classes, or a pre-medical enrichment program.
 
Eon said:
Is it better to do research at my school university than do these? The uni that I'm going to be attending has a few research labs that I can work in. Is it better to do research for these SURF programs or should I stick to my university's labs?
Click to expand...

Just want to throw this out there, not sure if I mentioned it before on this thread -- I found my research opportunity for last summer by cold calling a lab that I thought looked interesting, despite no mention of summer undergrads, and they hired me, gave me my own project, and paid me.

Did the same thing for a different lab this summer, although it will be volunteer this time (what I wanted since I don't want a full time gig while studying for the MCAT).

No applications or LORs for either -- just a resume and interest. I probably just got lucky, but don't rule this option out. These labs weren't at my school, but at a local med school. I think that SURFs and REUs and Amgens would be amazing experiences, and are obviously designed for students, but if you don't get in / don't want to apply / don't have LORs or whatever.. I would encourage just cold calling or emailing interesting labs to see if you can get anything set up there.

Good luck everyone! 🙂

Edit: Oh, and I am a sophomore now so my experience last summer was after freshman year.
 
Sorry for all the random questions but...

Is there any website that has listings of local labs? I go to school in-state (UIUC) but live in the Chicago area and i have no idea of the labs up there that i can give a call to. Theres plenty of labs in Champaign/Urbana but i would prefer to stay close to home for the summer (at least during my Freshman summer)

Are these labs generally restricted to certain majors? I'm a Health Sciences major and I'm planning to minor in Chemistry.
 
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