Check out this opportunity to participate in research this summer at Cornell. Will beef up your resume whether you are thinking of grad school or a career in industry.
http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/diversity/office-diversity-programs/summer-programs/LSAMP.cfm
Planning on attending the etiquette dinner? Can’t come but want to hone your skills anyway? These tips will help you enhance your professionalism when dining.
I found this on a site that I follow and thought it might be helpful to you . . .
http://www.ilostmyjob.com/Interviews/4-Tips-for-a-Post-Interview-Thank-You-Letter-by-Email
January 22, 1999
While many undergraduates spend their summers parking cars,lending a
hand in family businesses, or trekking across Europe, others are heading
back to college campuses to tackle mathematical problems, working
alongside academic mathematicians who believe that, contrary to
conventional wisdom, undergraduates are more than capable of making
high-quality contributions to mathematical research.
Thanks to specialized programs known as Research Experiences for
Undergraduates (funded primarily by the National Science Foundation with
support from educational organizations and institutions), these
students can learn to focus their talents on various fields in the
mathematical sciences-in some cases coming away from the experience with
published papers or completed projects that they can add to their
college resumes.
Since 1977, Joseph A. Gallian has run such a program at the
University of Minnesota, Duluth. Gallian spends the year searching for
problems that will interest students, takes special care to match
students with problems that suit their talents and interests, and then
encourages them to get right down to work.
“REU programs offer multiple benefits to students,” says Gallian.
“First and research experience in which they develop their ability to
plan and carry out research in mathematics. This entails finding
problems, solving problems, posing problems, learning existing
techniques, adapting methods and, in some cases, developing new
approaches.
“In a successful research experience,” Gallian continues, “students
learn how to work independently, how to cope with frustration, and how
to overcome failure. They learn how to present their research to others
and how to write a mathematics research paper in a form suitable for
publication. Some students even have their work published in leading
professional journals.”
REU students can expect to live and work with other students who love
mathematics and excel at it, Gallian points out; the program gives them
the chance to network with people who are likely to be significant
contributors to the mathematics profession in the future. And, because
REU programs are widely recognized by the mathematics community for
identifying talented students and for helping students to develop their
talent, Gallian believes that participants in these programs enhance
their chances of getting into the graduate schools of their choice and
of receiving graduate fellowships.
Finally, since most REU programs offer organized recreational and
social activities, Gallian says, “students who participate in an REU can
expect to have fun!”
Gallian offers students applying to REU programs the following helpful hints:
Learning to Communicate
Approaches to student research
opportunities can differ from program to program. At Worcester
Polytechnic Institute, for example, REU participants benefit from
lessons learned in the institute’s project-based approach to its
undergraduate program—an approach that WPI has used for 25 years to
provide a capstone experience for students in their major fields of
study. Local business and industry sponsor many of the projects.
According to Arthur C. Heinricher, organizer of the projects program,
interest in these projects from business and industry has exceeded
WPI’s expectations. “We have many more companies interested in
sponsoring student projects than we have students to undertake
projects,” he explains. “The REU program provides us with an opportunity
to work on projects in the summer, brings in very talented
undergraduates, and helps us promote our project program with local
companies.
“We have learned a lot about how to communicate with companies, to
identify a project that has significant mathematical content which will
be accessible to undergraduates, and to guide students in attacking an
open-ended problem,” he adds. “The students get access to decision
makers at the companies; it is very clear that the company is going to
use a student’s work to help make a decision (maybe even a very
expensive one), and this has an impact on students that no amount of red
ink on a test or homework can ever have.”
One WPI student described four aspects of the project experience this
way: (1) Problem formation is the hardest part of the project; (2)
problem solving is the most exciting part; (3) computation is the most
frustrating part; and (4) presentation is the most valuable part.
“Participants can learn a lot about how difficult it can be to
communicate outside the discipline,” Heinricher says. “They learn about
how the focus for a project can evolve and change in a very short time
and how important it is to communicate their mathematical results in a
way a company can understand and use.”
Opportunities in the Classroom
Not all summer opportunities
for undergraduates involve research. For example, in an effort to
encourage and inspire young women who are interested in careers in
mathematics, Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges, in Northfield, Minnesota,
offer a Summer Mathematics Program consisting of coursework, colloquia,
and panel discussions geared to women students.
Reactions to the program, which began in the mid-1990s and is open to
women who are finishing their first or second years in college, have
been extremely positive. Participants have called the experience
“awesome,” “informative,” “rigorous,” “challenging,” and “inspiring.”
Some participants have gone on to consider graduate programs in
mathematics; others have used the experience to build their confidence
and enhance their ability to succeed in other fields. Program organizers
do have one regret: Each year, say Deanna Haunsperger and Stephen
Kennedy, two of the organizers at Carleton, the program turns away more
than a hundred talented young women. If more women could participate in
this and other programs of its kind, Haunsperger and Kennedy believe,
the chances that more women would complete advanced degrees in
mathematics could only improve.
Participants in the Summer Mathematics Program at Carleton and St. Olaf
Colleges
take advantage of coursework, colloquia, and activities designed to
encourage their interest in mathematics. (Photograph courtesy of Deanna
Haunsperger, Carleton College).
http://ponderingblather.blogspot.com/2009/03/applying-to-nsf-reu-site.html
A
summer spent at an REU site can be a wonderful experience that can help
you decide whether a career in scientific research is for you. Or a
career in science in general. That’s what the REU program is all about.
It’s not for padding your CV. Only apply if you’re serious about working
through the Summer. Working hard. At the end you will have learned a
lot. And maybe earned a stellar reference letter or two that will help
get you into grad school or where-ever you want to be next.
Keep in mind these sites get a lot of very good applications. It’s very competitive. Here the acceptance rate is below 10%.
Choice of Sites
There are oh so many sites to choose from. Choose carefully. Don’t spam them with applications. We can see right through that kind of thing.
Apply
only to those sites you are truly interested in. And have the
background for. Majoring in mediaeval music probably won’t be seen as a
big plus at that physics site you’ve applied to.
And don’t think
you need to attend a site at an Ivy league school. I’m at a state
school. Former participants from the site I run have ended up grad
students at some of the best schools in the country.
Criteria Used
First, you MUST
be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. That’s an NSF rule. Can’t be
bent or broken. Don’t bother applying just because you have work
authorization. It’s not enough. If you’re not a citizen you need a green
card. Nothing else will do.
Have a decent GPA. I’m afraid
anything under 3.0 just isn’t looked at. If you’re below 3.2 you need a
really good explanation for why this doesn’t reflect your true
potential. We get a lot of applications with GPA’s greater than 3.8.
It’s very, very competitive.
That pesky personal statement essay
thingy needs to be good. Truth is, if everything else is stellar you
might get away with a poor essay. But by stellar I mean so good every
site you apply to calls to offer you a slot with double the stipend of
everyone else. Plus accommodations in a five star hotel. That good.
You’re best bet here is to a) avoid the long list of relatives who have
died of assorted diseases you wish to cure, b) avoid the cutsey story
about falling in love with the chemistry set you got on your third
birthday, and c) tailor your letter to the site you’re applying to. Tell
us why you want to spend your summer HERE. And read Isis’s advice.
Prior
research experience. Had a whole bunch? Great! Good for you. Too bad we
probably won’t take you. The REU program is aimed at giving research
experiences to students who have few, if any, opportunities to do
research. A little prior research experience is okay. A lot means you
might not get an offer. Not all sites conform to this approach, but I
have been assured by other REU PI’s that not doing so can have serious
consequences for the site. For example, not getting the grant that
supports it renewed…
And then there are the…
Letters of Recommendation
I
cannot overemphasize the importance of your letters of recommendation.
These can easily make or break your application. They need to be good.
They need to be sent on time (this year I received one a month to the
day after the deadline – way after we had sent out offers). They need to
be good (did I say that already?). They need to be substantial – two
sentences saying you’re the best student since the last one they wrote a
letter for won’t cut it. And they need to be from people who can really
say something about your potential in science. Not from relatives (yes,
had one of those… Mom was very proud of her little boy). Not from
your favorite English professor (I’ve received many – they’re mostly
useless*). Not from the manager of the store you’ve been working in
part-time (okay, those are a bit better than useless, but still not
great). You will be accepted into an REU site based on your scientific potential. That is what these letters must address. And most of all, they need to be good.
[Update] How We Choose
I forgot to talk about this bit. It’s kind of important.
So
given the above, how do we choose which applicants to make offers to? I
can’t speak for other REU sites, but here we try to take a balanced
approach. Setting aside criteria like belonging to an under-represented
group (a big deal for the NSF), our perfect candidate would be the
following: someone with a 4.0 GPA, from a small college, no research
experience, professing a unquenchable desire to attend grad school, with
stellar letters of recommendation.
We’ve only ever had a few
applicants like that (we’ve had many come very close). So how do we
choose? Well, someone with a 3.8 GPA from a small college would be
ranked higher than a 4.0 from an R1 institution (plenty of potential
research opportunities). High grades in science courses are more
important than high grades in non-science courses. Stellar
recommendation letters will trump GPA’s to a point. Lack of research
opportunities will also trump GPA’s to a point. A clearly expressed
desire to pursue a scientific career (research or otherwise) ranks high.
In the end, it’s somewhat subjective. It has to be.
Contacting the Site
It
is perfectly okay to contact the REU site you’ve applied to to make
sure all your materials have arrived. Or to find out where they are in
the sorting/ranking/making offers process. It is not alright
to have someone else contact the site on your behalf. Especially not
your Mom. Trust me, that leaves a very, very bad impression.
Declining an Offer
Finally,
let’s say you’re one of the chosen few and receive an offer from one or
more REU sites. But you’ve already committed to another site (or
internship). Please, please, please don’t wait to decline. As noted by FSP recently,
too many (i.e. more than zero) students leave declinations until the
last minute, or worse, “forget” to decline offers. If you do this you
may well be screwing another student. Someone who really, really wanted
to get into site A, but had to accept an offer from their second or
third or fourth choice because the acceptance deadline arrived before
they received an offer from site A. Even if you’re not screwing someone
else (and you’ll never know if you did), it’s just plain common
courtesy.
* The letters, not the English professors.
Prof-like Substance
said…
Odyssey, thanks for insightful post. I’m curious though about the idea
that there are more research opportunities at an R1 for students than at
small colleges. At the SLAC I went to I was able to get involved in
research between my sophomore and junior year and continued to work in
the lab for the rest of the time I was there. The same was true for just
about any other student who wanted to do research in science. There
were opportunities and many of them led to publications.
At an R1
it seems like there are many more students who want to do research than
there are spots in labs for them, making it potentially more difficult
for students to find a lab to work in. I know you can’t take each
university as a separate case, but many students at R1s may not get the
chance to be in a lab, even if they would like to.
Odyssey
said…
I agree that it’s probably a misconception, but it’s one the NSF tends
to buy into. And it does appear (anecdotally) that more of our
applicants from R1′s have research experience than those from SLAC’s. Of
course we do bias against someone who’s had significant research
experience whether they come from an R1 or a SLAC.
Any potential
applicants from R1′s that read this should take home the message that if
they’ve had trouble finding a research spot at their home institution
then they should say that very clearly in their applications to REU
sites.
Whitney
said…
Odyssey, I’d also like to thank you for your post. I wish I had
first-hand advice like this when I was applying to summer undergraduate
research experiences four years ago.
I’d like to make a point, though, because it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.
I
went to a very small liberal arts college that had little to offer in
the way of bench-like research, which is why they encouraged all of us
science majors to apply to summer research programs elsewhere.
Unfortunately, I was not accepted at any of the places I applied. (I had
the 4.0 and the complete lack of research experience that you say is so
rare). I know now that there were very simple things I could have done
to improve my application, but I’d like to make one point:
Reviewers
have to understand that students from small liberal arts colleges will
often ask their English (or other non-science) professors to write
recommendations for them, because by their junior year, they may have
only had 3 or 4 science professors, all of which teach multiple classes
AND are writing recommendations for every science major in the junior
class. (Hence the lack of research opportunities at these schools.) And
one advantage of going to a liberal arts school is the opportunity to
develop relationships with scholars from all disciplines. However, you
say that these non-science recommendations are “useless,” but isn’t an
undergraduate education about learning how to think, reason, and
criticize, no matter what field you’re in? I wouldn’t simply brush off
recommendations from non-science sources if these sources can provide
significant insight into the applicant’s ability to reason and WORK
HARD. And isn’t half of working in a lab knowing how to follow a train
of thought thoroughly and get along well with others?
I’m now in
my second year of a PhD program at an R1 university. I’d like to think
this is because the people who reviewed my grad school application gave
more credit to my English professors than SURE reviewers did.
Odyssey
said…
However, you say that these non-science recommendations are
“useless,” but isn’t an undergraduate education about learning how to
think, reason, and criticize, no matter what field you’re in?Perhaps
“useless” is a little harsh. Certainly a non-science prof can attest to
your character and work ethic, and we don’t ignore such letters. And I
can assure you that a 4.0 student from a SLAC who applies to our REU
program is looked at very favorably, even if both reference letters come
from non-science profs – we are looking for “well-rounded” students.
However, non-science profs can’t give us some crucial pieces of data.
The first is your aptitude for science. Granted a science prof who has
only had you for a couple of classes won’t have a full appreciation of
your aptitude for science, but their judgement will be far better than
that of a non-science prof in this regard.
Secondly, not all
science courses are equal. For example, an A in organic chemistry from
one school is not necessarily equivalent to one from another school. If a
science prof tells us that a student was in the top 5% of all students
who have ever taken their organic chemistry class that means more than
seeing the student has an A on their transcript.
I’m very glad to
hear you were accepted into a good grad program and I hope you’re
having a blast. Keep in mind that grad schools get one piece of data not
available at the REU level – your GRE scores. Decent GRE’s can help
mitigate the lack of information on your science aptitude in your
reference letters. Also science grad programs often (but not always)
interview prospective students, giving them the chance to get to know an
interesting applicant they’re not 100% sure about. At the REU level we
have neither the budget nor the timeframe to be able to do that
(although I have called applicants on more than one occasion when I’ve
had questions).
