Will REU help for graduate school admissions?

Graduate School
1

<ol>
<li>How much will REU help for graduate school admissions?</li>
<li>How difficult is it to be admitted to Ivy School’s REU such as Harvard, U Penn or Brown?</li>
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<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<ol>
<li><p>Yes. How much depends a bit on the actual experience. My REU provided me with my only collegiate research experience, and provided me two quality LOR’s. In my case, these were all but essential to my admission. Bit it all depends (like ANY research experience) on whether you perform well, learn a lot, and leave a good impression on the faculty.</p></li>
<li><p>Hard, but right now NONE of the REU’s are really easy to get into. Worst thing that happens is that they say no, so might as well try for it.</p></li>
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3

<p>I also did REU (3 summers), and it was my only research as an undergrad (or since, for that matter). I got into a great program where I have the pick of a score of well funded PIs. My REU led to 2 of my LORs–without it, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have gotten in. Cultivate your faculty contacts; they can provide the exact kinds of letter adcoms want to see. (“Good at research” >>> “Did well in class”)</p>

<p>As for getting into one… I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but for this summer, it’s probably already too late. I found the following link via google, put together by the College of New Jersey: [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.tcnj.edu/~biology/opportunities/ResOppsSummer2011.htm]ResOppsSummer2011[/url”&gt;The College of New Jersey | Department of Biology]ResOppsSummer2011[/url</a>] Note that this may not be an exhaustive list; however, pretty much all deadlines have passed for this year.</p>

4

<ol>
<li><p>The REU won’t help you per se, but what you get out of it might: experience, letters of recommendation, possibly a publication. I did an REU at Cornell and I ended up with such a poor relationship with my adviser that I didn’t even consider asking him for a letter of recommendation. Luckily I got to work with a professor at Penn the following summer (not through an REU or any other formal program) and was much happier and more productive in his research group. </p></li>
<li><p>I don’t know how competitive the REUs in your field are. My adviser at Cornell mentioned that he got ~300 applications for 6 spots. One of the REU students asked what he had done to make his application stand out, because that might be valuable information for graduate school applications. The adviser’s response: “Oh, it’s nothing you wrote. Your letters of recommendations stood out.” Another random observation: everybody there had several graduate courses under their belt already.</p></li>
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5

<p>I don’t know about other fields, but in math, the most prestigious REUs are at schools that aren’t generally considered top schools, places like University of Minnesota Duluth, Williams, Emory, and Cornell (well I guess this one doesn’t really count). But REUs in general are extremely competitive, like b@r!um said, usually hundreds of applicants for about like ten spots. So I wouldn’t focus on trying to get into the most prestigious ones, since getting into any one is still a pretty big deal.</p>

<p>Also, I don’t think graduate levels classes are that important. At least, I didn’t have any when I went to my REU.</p>

6

<p>REU’s help but there are other ways to get research experience. I would argue that volunteering in a lab can provide as good or better research experience.</p>

<p>As others said, the name of the REU isn’t a huge factor.</p>

7

<p>REU’s are useful when there are limited opportunities otherwise, such as in math (although unfortunately, the best math REU’s like Minnesota are filled with the most brilliant kids who could probably publish on their own anyway). As someone above pointed out, what you take out of it is more important. Grad schools are looking to see that you know what research requires and completing an REU provides a glimpse. That said, if you have other research experience at your school, then not going to an REU will not hurt you.</p>

8

<p>The downside to an REU is that they take place during the summer. The limited time frame limits the amount of work and the type of results you can get out of the experience. If you can get research experience at your school, it might be more worth it to stay in that lab over the summer, working on a long project with a good chance of getting published, rather than go somewhere else for a 8-10 week program.</p>