Questions about UROP

bluek1999
Sat, 20 May 2017 23:28:41 +0000

never posted on this site before but I’ve been a long time reader of everyone’s posts, so here goes my first, haha!

Anyways, I’m an incoming freshman and I’ve gotten a couple emails from UMich about UROP, and the deadline is on May 22 (in two days from now), and I’m wondering whether or not I should apply. I have absolutely no idea what I wanna study, so the idea of doing a specific kind of research is kinda daunting because I don’t know what subjects I’m passionate about yet.

So,

is UROP worth it for freshmen? Does it offer any long term benefits or opportunities that I wouldn’t be able to get otherwise?

what’s the work schedule like? Will I still be able to take a full course load or will I have to take one less class?
-is it all year or just one semester–and if so, can I choose whether or not I wanna do it second semester or first semester?

how do you choose what kind of research to do? Do you choose it on your own or do you join a professor’s team?

should I do it if I have no clear idea about what kind of research I wanna do or what I want to major in?
-is it a lot of pressure/stress or is it more of a laid back experience?

if I apply and get in, do I have to do it?
-If I choose not to do UROP during freshman year, can I do it during any of my other years in college?

For anyone who’s done UROP in the past, what have been your overall experiences with it? Thanks for any insight!