BU RISE Program 2014

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>Hello all, </p>

<p>As a RISE participant from last summer, 2013, I found it very difficult to find any information from past students about their opinions on this program. With that in mind, here are my thoughts on the program based on my experience last summer. Feel free to message/ respond with any questions:</p>

<p>Overall, I think that the program was a valuable experience for me. I made a lot of new friends, gained what I considered to be good lab experience, was able to continue my research project back home, and got to explore one of the greatest cities in the United States. ( I really, REALLY, love Boston :). </p>

<p>That being said, in my opinion, there are definitely some factors of the program not necessarily advertised on the web site that I think should be considered:</p>

<ol>
<li>Selectivity: BU may update this information when it releases details about its 2014 program. I am a little unsure about how selective this program truly was, simply based on the number of students who attended during my year( we had nearly 100), and by reading posts by people on this website who received an admission decision several days after applying. </li>
</ol>

<p>If selectivity is a very important factor to you, I would suggest that you contact the program and ask for more information regarding their selectivity and statistics. </p>

<ol>
<li>Quality of Research Experience: Honestly, this component of this program - which I think would be one of the most, if the most, significant aspect of the internship- is sort of hit and miss. What I mean is that the quality of your research project is very dependent on who you receive as a mentor. I knew students whose projects qualified them to be Siemen’s semifinalists, and I knew students who did little more than assist their mentors with their experiments and clean glassware, etc.<br></li>
</ol>

<p>Personally, I had a good research experience. I found my project pretty interesting, and my mentors were extremely, extremely, kind and helpful. I’m still in contact with them now, continuing my project from over the summer back home. However, I knew other students who would probably say the opposite about their own research. It all depends on the project and mentor you are assigned to. </p>

<p>Bottom line: understand that you can’t EXPECT a paper or very high quality research out of this program. You may very well get them, BUT if either are your end goal, rather than gaining experience working in a lab, maybe either 1) carefully consider whether another program will give you a better chance at a quality end-product or 2) maybe email your mentor as soon as you get your assignment and learn more about your potential project (this would give you an idea of what your research would be like before you have to actually commit to the program.)</p>

<ol>
<li>Organization: Based on my experiences, to be frank, the organization of this program left a lot to be desired. From the beginning - (the program told me I hadn’t sent in my guidance counselor recommendation, only to later inform me that they had misplaced it.)- to the middle- (Many mentors were not fully aware of what RISE was, and had to ask their students what the expectations, duration, etc. of the program were)-to the end (the RISE poster symposium was very poorly structured. There was very little room for everyone’s posters, and not enough large boards to hang them on.), I felt that RISE could have greatly improved on their organization and communication. </li>
</ol>

<p>I think that this sentiment was echoed by many participants, so the program has probably taken this feedback into account ( I hope) and made some improvements. </p>

<p>With all of that in mind, I still gained a lot from the program. If you do decide to attend, you will undoubtedly gain a lot of independence and experience and be exposed to plenty of interesting, intelligent people from all around the US and world. Also, we had plenty, PLENTY of freedom and time to explore Boston and hang out with friends (and work on college apps…) during the six weeks. I didn’t want my RISE program experience to end when the six weeks were over.</p>

<p>So, to conclude this absurdly long post: There are definitely, DEFINITELY, some great things about the RISE program. Just make sure that you carefully consider whether the relatively steep price and other potential drawbacks are worth it for you, personally. Ultimately, if you attend RISE, you will most likely have a great time. I don’t think I met anyone who didn’t enjoy their experience. Just make sure you look around at other programs, and keep your options open ( but that’s just common sense :slight_smile: Again, feel free to ask any questions. Good luck!!</p>

2

<p>Hi harrypotter77-
I’m currently applying to this program for this summer and I had some questions if you wouldn’t mind :)</p>

<p>1) Are all the research projects conducted at BU, or are mentors in other universities in Boston possible (i.e MIT)?
2) Were some projects conducted in groups or were they all individual? Can you choose a preference?
3) Can you get letters of rec (for college) from your mentors?</p>

<p>By the way, on their website they said they chose 97 out of more than 500 applicants, so about a 19% acceptance rate if anyone else wanted to know!</p>

<p>thank you in advance! :D</p>

3

<p>Chocolatecat67:</p>

<p>1) Most of the mentors are from BU, but I know of students who had mentors at Harvard and MIT as well!</p>

<p>2) Yes, some projects were conducted in groups. As far as choosing a preference, you cannot indicate anywhere on an application whether you would prefer a group project or an individual project. It all depends on your lab/ mentor- many labs only had one student intern.</p>

<p>3) Yes, you can absolutely get letters of rec from your mentors for college! I did, and I think it was beneficial. </p>

<p>IMPORTANT NOTE about the acceptance rate on the website: It says " over 500 applications for 97 PLACEMENTS". I think this may be a bit misleading. This does not necessarily mean that they ACCEPTED only 97 of the 500+ applicants. As colleges do, RISE probably accepted more than the 97 spots (knowing that they would not have 100% yield, because some students would not accept their offer). And i know for a fact that they also accepted some students off of the waiting list. SO the true acceptance rate was likely higher than 19%, but I would contact the program if you wanted more specific information. </p>

<p>Hope that helped!</p>

4

<p>I just wanted to post an update about college early admissions results for RISE participants in my year. Based on what I have heard about other students ( and I am sure there are more acceptances) this is how we have done so far: 3 Dukes, 2 WashU, 1 Princeton, 1 MIT, 3 Northwesterns, 2 UPenns ( 1 For the Life Sciences & Management business & science dual degree Program).</p>

5

<p>Daughter is considering this program for summer 2014 - I am interested in knowing how organized the program is beyond the lab/academics? Are there structured activities for the students or is everyone more on their own? Cornell summer college last summer (6 week program) was great on academics, not so great on social structure/little bit of fun. I’d like a program with both - thoughts as to how BU Rise fits this bill?</p>

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<p>cornell88mom: There are some structured activities, some optional activities, and a LOT of time to explore the city individually or with friends. I think the balance of activities was great, we generally had a lot of freedom to do what we wanted. What I liked about RISE is that there was little work to do outside of the lab, so there was definitely a good mixture of fun and learning. Here was our event schedule from last year: [High</a> School Summer Research Internship in Science &amp Engineering Schedule of Social Events For BU Summer Term](<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/summer/high-school-programs/research-internship/schedule-of-events.shtml]High”>http://www.bu.edu/summer/high-school-programs/research-internship/schedule-of-events.shtml). Let me know if you have any more questions!</p>

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<p>I was considering applying to the BU RISE program this year, and was wondering that on the application form, how specific I needed to get with the “topic of interest”. I’m afraid that if I go too broad like “physics” or too specific like “materials physics”(which they might not have) might negatively affect my application. What did you alumni from the RISE program put for this, and if I wanted to pursue something in physics, how much should I narrow down this subject?</p>

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<p>I would write something like Physics( specifically material physics), etc. etc. that way you still make your individual preference known, but you also are demonstrating that you are interested in a general field as well. </p>

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<p>thanks!</p>

10

<p>Hey harrypotter77- I had one more question that’s more about logistics and things :slight_smile: In terms of dining, they have two options, a 14 meal plan and a 19 meal plan. The 14 meal plan is obviously cheaper, but what would you recommend? Is getting food from around town/buying from places fairly easy/common?</p>

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<p>Are test scores required?</p>

12

<p>Did you guys get a confirmation email after they received all of your material? They sent one to me saying they received my application form and fee but so far nothing to say they got everything. </p>

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<p>Yeah, they send you an email around a week or two after.</p>

<p>Dear _______,</p>

<p>Thank you for your application to the Research Internship in Science & Engineering program. I am writing to inform you that your application is complete and currently under review. An admission decision will be emailed to you within four to six weeks. If we require any additional information, we will let you know. There is no need to reply to this message, but if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at <a href=“mailto:rise@bu.edu”>rise@bu.edu</a> or 617-353-1378.</p>

<p>Did anyone get in yet?</p>

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<p>How long does it usually take for them to reply? Is it true that it takes them less than 2 weeks to get back to you?</p>

15

<p>I have a friend who recieved her acceptance today. did anyone apply for psychology and get it in yet?</p>

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<p>@hazel1234 I have not heard back yet. When did your friend send in her application?</p>

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<p>3 weeks ago, I think</p>

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<p>are there ever any partners in labs? meaning, do 2 people ever get assigned to the same lab?</p>

19

<p>I think people just get assigned to a mentor. so if multiple mentors work in the same lab, maybe two people could work in the same lab?</p>

20

<p>@science2015 – there were two people in my lab (I actually got switched to this lab from a different lab the week before), and there were several other labs like this. We didn’t complete the same project, but we did similar projects and worked side-by-side. We were under the same mentor. There were also labs with people under different mentors. </p>