when do most people do UROPs?

intelligentimp · 06-17-2009, 10:43 PM

when do most people do UROPs? during their freshman/sophmore year?

thanks

molliebatmit · 06-17-2009, 10:49 PM

Do them, or start them? Many people keep doing UROPs through the end of their senior years.

It's a little field-specific -- my engineering friends seemed to start earlier than my science friends, because a lot of engineering UROPs can be hours-flexible and some work can be done at home. Science UROPs tend to involve more hours per week and must be done in the lab, so people tend to start a little later, when they're more used to MIT.

I started my (bio) UROP first semester sophomore year, and I felt like I was average or maybe a little early for bio. My husband started his (aero/astro) UROP two weeks after he set foot on campus.

EDIT, later: Which is not to say that many or most engineering students start UROPs first semester freshman year. Just that I think the left tail for engineering UROPs is a little longer than for science -- but the summer after freshman year or sometime during sophomore year is a reasonable time for anybody to start a UROP.

la montagne · 06-18-2009, 03:23 PM

I know a lot of people who didn't start that early at all. I'm starting my UROP now, summer after freshman year. Most of my friends didn't start until second semester, or still haven't had one. People do them when they feel most comfortable with the workload and the amount of time they have.

PiperXP · 06-18-2009, 05:47 PM

What major, la montagne? Any time before sophomore year seems early-ish to me, but that simply may be because bio UROPs generally want lab experience that most freshmen don't get.

As for me, I'm starting my first UROP now, summer after freshman year.

Don't feel that you have to start one right when you get at MIT, or first term, or IAP - some people will, many won't. I think it's wise to make sure classes will be fine first

la montagne · 06-18-2009, 06:45 PM

A bunch of majors. Mostly physics and EECS. I'm a math major, and it's almost impossible to get math UROPs when you've only taken 18.02 and 18.03, so I got a UROP at the Media Lab instead. At the Media Lab, they don't care what you know. =P

LauraN · 06-18-2009, 08:21 PM

It really, really varies.

I do tons of activities during the year, so I did a UROP over the summer after my sophomore year, and I didn't even continue it after that.

Some people jump into a UROP right away and stick with it for years. Some people have a UROP for a semester, don't like it, switch around a couple of times, try some different ones, stick with it, or not....you can do it whenever you can find something you like and think you can handle it. UROPs are like Reese's, there no wrong way. =)

cubism4nerds · 06-19-2009, 05:44 AM

UROPs aren't mandatory right?? Just for those students that would like more experience in a field...?

Thanks~

molliebatmit · 06-19-2009, 06:12 AM

No, of course not. But you'll generally need UROP or other internship experience to get into grad school or to get a science or engineering job after you graduate.

kryptonsa36 · 06-19-2009, 09:46 PM

I started UROPing IAP of freshman year. In general, IAP is a good time to start.

And as has already been mentioned, starting time varies tremendously. One friend had already procured two UROPs before her first semester as a freshman was even over, and another just started - the summer before junior year.

PiperXP · 06-19-2009, 10:04 PM

You can also UROP in different fields, given you have the experience they want (which sometimes isn't much). As montagne mentioned, the Media Lab tends to have space for people with little experience. I know of a decent amount of crossover in 6/20 or 20/7/9, etc etc.

jessiehl · 06-22-2009, 08:46 AM

I started UROPing at the beginning of junior year.

aznxboy1228 · 06-25-2009, 10:34 AM

I started UROPing after my freshman year (during the summer). In general, I highly recommend starting in the summer or IAP so that you can work full time and orient yourself better; it's much harder during the school year.

thekidhere · 06-27-2009, 11:53 PM

depends on what your major is and what you want to do. UROPs are available at all different levels, as are internships. i started after sophomore year, but know plenty of people who start immediatly or opt to not do one at all.

SailTheCurve · 07-03-2009, 09:15 PM

As a freshman, If you do the MAS program, what kind of UROP does the program expect you to get during the spring of sophomore year? Is there a min number of hours a week that they require you to dedicate to UROP because I'd like to play a varsity sport in the spring as well, and was wondering if sports + UROP is even possible

thanks...

DMRenrel · 07-06-2009, 12:04 AM

If you want to UROP during the summer, 1) how difficult is it to find this, 2) how does housing work?