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Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 12:42 am
by djysyed
etianss wrote:
So I feel like you've looked into this more than I have: realistically, what path does one need to chart in grad school to become a research mathematician? Is it necessary to go to a school of this caliber? What's the difference between the #10 and the #100 school in terms of career prospects?

Something that I've been wondering recently.
Someone above has already linked a fairly good discussion of career prospects. What I want to highlight is the difference in standard between a #10 and a #100 graduate program. We first begin with an analysis of the curriculum at George Washington University, ranked #100ish by US News: http://bulletin.gwu.edu/arts-sciences/m ... oursestext

My first observation is that Graduate Real Analysis 1 and 2 are nothing more than the analysis aspect of metric spaces (as seen in Munkres' Topology) and an undergrad differential topology course (no sard's or deRahm stuff). There is a Measure Theory course which covers chapters 1, 2, 3.1, 3.2, 6.1, 6.2 in Folland. They seem to have some more analysis courses but still no advanced courses beyond standard first year stuff except Ergodic Theory and Dynamical Systems.

My second observation is that the Grad Algebra courses are just undergrad algebra courses at top 10 schools. No Commutative Algebra or Algebraic Geometry course is offered.

Third observation is that a typical undergrad point-set topology course is equivalent to their graduate point-set class. Algebraic Topology covers only half the material of first semester Algebraic Topology courses at Northwestern, Berkeley (other top 10 schools cover more). No further courses in Algebraic Topology. No graduate manifolds course. Couple courses in knot theory but that's it.

Now for UC Berkeley, as their standards are easiest from among the top 10:

Graduate Real Analysis 1 covers both Point-set topology and chapters 1,2 of folland. The second semester covers 3-6 extremely thoroughly. The later classes are all offered and are much more difficult than the first year analysis sequence.

Grad Algebra 1 covers all of George Washington's two semester course plus representation theory and category theory. The second semester goes into deeper category theory, homological algebra, and the first half of Eisenbud. Two very difficult courses in Algebraic Geometry, multiple other algebra courses are offered.

While GWU's Algebraic Topology course only covers chapter 1 and part of chapter 2, Berkeley's covers all of chapters 1-3 with some more discussion of manifolds and homological algebra. Algebraic Topology 2 is homotopy theory and more knot theory stuff. Multiple courses in manifolds and beyond.

In general, the problems sets are much more difficult at UC Berkeley than at GWU. Moreover, students at UC Berkeley have to pass a comprehensive exam on honors undergrad material and pass oral qualifying exams by the end of their second year.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 1:06 am
by etianss
djysyed wrote: Now for UC Berkeley, as their standards are easiest from among the top 10:

Graduate Real Analysis 1 covers both Point-set topology and chapters 1,2 of folland. The second semester covers 3-6 extremely thoroughly. The later classes are all offered and are much more difficult than the first year analysis sequence.

Grad Algebra 1 covers all of George Washington's two semester course plus representation theory and category theory. The second semester goes into deeper category theory, homological algebra, and the first half of Eisenbud. Two very difficult courses in Algebraic Geometry, multiple other algebra courses are offered.

While GWU's Algebraic Topology course only covers chapter 1 and part of chapter 2, Berkeley's covers all of chapters 1-3 with some more discussion of manifolds and homological algebra. Algebraic Topology 2 is homotopy theory and more knot theory stuff. Multiple courses in manifolds and beyond.

In general, the problems sets are much more difficult at UC Berkeley than at GWU. Moreover, students at UC Berkeley have to pass a comprehensive exam on honors undergrad material and pass oral qualifying exams by the end of their second year.
I'm assuming that you want to study math at that level of rigor. Do you ever doubt whether you could keep up with those courses and the insanely brilliant, hard-working classmates you'd have?

As for me, I worry about that sometimes... :)

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 1:12 am
by Rise
etianss wrote:
I'm assuming that you want to study math at that level of rigor. Do you ever doubt whether you could keep up with those courses and the insanely brilliant, hard-working classmates you'd have?

As for me, I worry about that sometimes... :)
Don't let the imposter syndrome get you! If you're good enough to get in, you're good enough to graduate.

The schools are paying your tuition and giving you a stipend. It would be a total waste of money and make no sense on their part to admit someone that they thought couldn't complete the program.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 1:19 am
by djysyed
etianss wrote: I'm assuming that you want to study math at that level of rigor. Do you ever doubt whether you could keep up with those courses and the insanely brilliant, hard-working classmates you'd have?

As for me, I worry about that sometimes... :)
Its not rigor, its depth and abstraction. In fact, its actually non-rigorous since a lot of basic proofs will be left for the student to read on his or her own time.

I absolutely doubt if I can keep up but that's the fun of it. Being selected is a pretty good indicator that you are capable of keeping up with insanely brilliant, hard-working classmates.

I wouldn't worry. Just as long as you keep pushing yourself, you'll notice tremendous growth in your ability after every year.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 9:00 am
by OwlMath
leholybernoulli wrote:Anyone heard from UT Tyler or University of Michigan-Dearborn?
Will be declining my offer from Tyler, hopefully that bodes well for you!!

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 12:15 pm
by ssule8
Has anybody heard from Carnegie Mellon SUAMI or Worcester Polytechnic Institute's REU?

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:15 pm
by kaleighb
Has anyone who applied for Clemson's pREU heard back yet? I'm a freshman, so I figure all of my other applications will probably be rejections, but I'm really hopeful about this one. I'm a little anxious because I really want it, so I was just wondering. Thanks!

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:43 pm
by OwlMath
If anyone knows whether or not Oregon State has started notifying of acceptances, please let me know. I have an acceptance to Indiana's program but don't want to accept until I know whether or not I've been rejected to Oregon State.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 6:24 pm
by etianss
kaleighb wrote:Has anyone who applied for Clemson's pREU heard back yet? I'm a freshman, so I figure all of my other applications will probably be rejections, but I'm really hopeful about this one. I'm a little anxious because I really want it, so I was just wondering. Thanks!
I don't know for sure, but I can say that the Clemson REU has all this year's participants listed on the website, and the pREU has none listed (while it has last year's listed), so.. I'm assuming that they're still looking? Best of luck :)

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 7:30 pm
by kaleighb
etianss wrote:
kaleighb wrote:Has anyone who applied for Clemson's pREU heard back yet? I'm a freshman, so I figure all of my other applications will probably be rejections, but I'm really hopeful about this one. I'm a little anxious because I really want it, so I was just wondering. Thanks!
I don't know for sure, but I can say that the Clemson REU has all this year's participants listed on the website, and the pREU has none listed (while it has last year's listed), so.. I'm assuming that they're still looking? Best of luck :)
I noticed that too, so I guess there's still hope! Thank you :)

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 9:27 pm
by terrapot
ssule8 wrote:Has anybody heard from Carnegie Mellon SUAMI or Worcester Polytechnic Institute's REU?
I didn't apply to Carnegie this year but until you get a more suitable answer, last year I got the Carnegie acceptance in May.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 10:00 pm
by Rara22
terrapot wrote:
ssule8 wrote:Has anybody heard from Carnegie Mellon SUAMI or Worcester Polytechnic Institute's REU?
I didn't apply to Carnegie this year but until you get a more suitable answer, last year I got the Carnegie acceptance in May.
Holy crap. Do you know if you were a result of someone dropping out last second or was that an initial offer?

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 10:22 pm
by HJH009
Anyone heard back from UChicago's shorlist? I have a deadline coming up to accept an offer so am hoping to hear back from them soon.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 12:32 am
by ya
Rara22 wrote:
terrapot wrote:
ssule8 wrote:Has anybody heard from Carnegie Mellon SUAMI or Worcester Polytechnic Institute's REU?
I didn't apply to Carnegie this year but until you get a more suitable answer, last year I got the Carnegie acceptance in May.
Holy crap. Do you know if you were a result of someone dropping out last second or was that an initial offer?
I also heard from CMU in May last year... Of course, declined because of another offer.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:25 pm
by ALG1997
Since tomorrow is the common reply date, should I assume that I was declined from everywhere I didn't already hear back from? Quite disappointing not getting a single offer.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:34 pm
by Rise
ALG1997 wrote:Since tomorrow is the common reply date, should I assume that I was declined from everywhere I didn't already hear back from? Quite disappointing not getting a single offer.
There might still be hope. Last year, I was admitted to programs two weeks after the common reply date.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 8:06 pm
by Taylor
Has anyone heard back from PCMI?

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 8:35 pm
by Aladris
Taylor wrote:Has anyone heard back from PCMI?
I got an e-mail from PCMI yesterday.

Wondering if anyone has heard back from UMichigan Dearborn's Analysis REU?

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 8:57 pm
by Taylor
Aladris wrote:
Taylor wrote:Has anyone heard back from PCMI?
I got an e-mail from PCMI yesterday.

Wondering if anyone has heard back from UMichigan Dearborn's Analysis REU?
Are you accepted?

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:07 pm
by Aladris
Taylor wrote:
Are you accepted?
Yes, I was accepted to the Undergraduate Summer School. The e-mail mentioned that there is a waiting list.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:46 pm
by starlord37
Aladris wrote:
Taylor wrote:
Are you accepted?
Yes, I was accepted to the Undergraduate Summer School. The e-mail mentioned that there is a waiting list.
People who were waitlisted were emailed notifying them.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 10:31 am
by lapislazur
Just got an offer from the Discrete Geometry group at Cornell SPUR/REU, really surprised that they'd consider me given my weak background.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 10:35 am
by etianss
lapislazur wrote:Just got an offer from the Discrete Geometry group at Cornell SPUR/REU, really surprised that they'd consider me given my weak background.
Congrats!!

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:22 am
by OwlMath
lapislazur wrote:Just got an offer from the Discrete Geometry group at Cornell SPUR/REU, really surprised that they'd consider me given my weak background.
Congrats! I have a friend who will also be participating in a project there.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:45 am
by leholybernoulli
Aladris wrote:
Taylor wrote:Has anyone heard back from PCMI?
I got an e-mail from PCMI yesterday.

Wondering if anyone has heard back from UMichigan Dearborn's Analysis REU?
I’ve contacted UMichigan Dearborn, they are still reviewing applications and should have final answers in about 1-2 weeks.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:17 pm
by Aladris
leholybernoulli wrote:
I’ve contacted UMichigan Dearborn, they are still reviewing applications and should have final answers in about 1-2 weeks.
:cry: Well at least there's still hope!

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:30 pm
by EGA
djysyed wrote:
etianss wrote:
So I feel like you've looked into this more than I have: realistically, what path does one need to chart in grad school to become a research mathematician? Is it necessary to go to a school of this caliber? What's the difference between the #10 and the #100 school in terms of career prospects?

Something that I've been wondering recently.
My first observation is that Graduate Real Analysis 1 and 2 are nothing more than the analysis aspect of metric spaces (as seen in Munkres' Topology) and an undergrad differential topology course (no sard's or deRahm stuff). There is a Measure Theory course which covers chapters 1, 2, 3.1, 3.2, 6.1, 6.2 in Folland. They seem to have some more analysis courses but still no advanced courses beyond standard first year stuff except Ergodic Theory and Dynamical Systems.

My second observation is that the Grad Algebra courses are just undergrad algebra courses at top 10 schools. No Commutative Algebra or Algebraic Geometry course is offered.

Third observation is that a typical undergrad point-set topology course is equivalent to their graduate point-set class. Algebraic Topology covers only half the material of first semester Algebraic Topology courses at Northwestern, Berkeley (other top 10 schools cover more). No further courses in Algebraic Topology. No graduate manifolds course. Couple courses in knot theory but that's it.

Now for UC Berkeley, as their standards are easiest from among the top 10:

Graduate Real Analysis 1 covers both Point-set topology and chapters 1,2 of folland. The second semester covers 3-6 extremely thoroughly. The later classes are all offered and are much more difficult than the first year analysis sequence.

Grad Algebra 1 covers all of George Washington's two semester course plus representation theory and category theory. The second semester goes into deeper category theory, homological algebra, and the first half of Eisenbud. Two very difficult courses in Algebraic Geometry, multiple other algebra courses are offered.

While GWU's Algebraic Topology course only covers chapter 1 and part of chapter 2, Berkeley's covers all of chapters 1-3 with some more discussion of manifolds and homological algebra. Algebraic Topology 2 is homotopy theory and more knot theory stuff. Multiple courses in manifolds and beyond.

In general, the problems sets are much more difficult at UC Berkeley than at GWU. Moreover, students at UC Berkeley have to pass a comprehensive exam on honors undergrad material and pass oral qualifying exams by the end of their second year.
I disagree with this being the biggest difference (or even a big difference at all) between highly ranked schools and lower ranked schools. I personally come from a school unranked by the US News, yet after conversations with multiple students from top schools (Michigan, Stanford, etc...) I'm under the impression that my algebraic topology course was easily on par with their graduate course (we covered chapters 2 and 3 of Hatcher, higher homotopy groups, and the first chapter of Bott and Tu in a single semester), my algebraic geometry course covered the first five chapters of Liu's book, and my other coursework was at least comparable.

The biggest difference is research community. At my school, there are maybe three or four strong graduate students (who would only be average at an elite university) and a couple of them are leaving for better schools. Also, there are only four professors who work in pure math. At strong math departments (say roughly top 30) all of your peers will be excellent, your professors will be leaders in their fields, and there will be consistent talks from distinguished researchers from other schools. If you're trying to become a research mathematician, this type of environment is extremely conducive to producing interesting results as you're constantly exposed to the state of the art in a wide variety of mathematical disciplines.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:53 pm
by lapislazur
etianss wrote:
Congrats!!
OwlMath wrote:
Congrats! I have a friend who will also be participating in a project there.
Thanks guys! Very excited rn, we’ve been covering discrete geometry recently in the least expectable course I could think of (machine learning) and it’s super interesting, so I’m really looking forward to working on the theoretical part this summer.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 2:24 pm
by Cartessia
Texas A&M sent me a rejection email a few hours ago. Congrats to people who got in!

Has anyone heard from Auburn or Minn-Twin Cities yet?

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:04 pm
by djysyed
I got the rejection from Baruch. Still yet to hear back from about 7 other REUs.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:12 pm
by OwlMath
Cartessia wrote:Texas A&M sent me a rejection email a few hours ago. Congrats to people who got in!

Has anyone heard from Auburn or Minn-Twin Cities yet?
Auburn has yet to send out anything.
After receiving another acceptance I sent an email to Auburn asking where they were in their process and they informed me they won’t start processing apps til next week.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:12 pm
by OwlMath
djysyed wrote:I got the rejection from Baruch. Still yet to hear back from about 7 other REUs.
How many did you apply to? I applied to 11 and got accepted to two and have either been rejected or haven’t been heard back from the rest.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:46 pm
by djysyed
OwlMath wrote: How many did you apply to? I applied to 11 and got accepted to two and have either been rejected or haven’t been heard back from the rest.
I honestly lost count. I applied to seven programs on mathprogram.org and about five others. My university informed me that they will have some sort of directed reading program modeled after UChicago's REU so hopefully I can get in lol.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 5:06 pm
by peter
Just got an offer from Rochester, and I am stoked. Does anyone know if the math REU at Indiana is still accepting? It seems that they have sent the first round of offers out. Has anyone accepted an offer from Indiana?

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 5:47 pm
by OwlMath
peter wrote:Just got an offer from Rochester, and I am stoked. Does anyone know if the math REU at Indiana is still accepting? It seems that they have sent the first round of offers out. Has anyone accepted an offer from Indiana?
I've accepted an offer from Indiana and from the looks of their past programs, they usually only accept one student per project, so I Imagine positions will fill quickly.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 6:13 pm
by tothetop
Has anyone heard back from IUPUI, SUMSRI, or NIMBios? :|

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:04 pm
by peter
I have accepted the offer from RIT(For Ramsey Numbers). Has anyone else been accepted to Rochester? If so, in what project?

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:14 pm
by xml
OwlMath wrote:
peter wrote:Just got an offer from Rochester, and I am stoked. Does anyone know if the math REU at Indiana is still accepting? It seems that they have sent the first round of offers out. Has anyone accepted an offer from Indiana?
I've accepted an offer from Indiana and from the looks of their past programs, they usually only accept one student per project, so I Imagine positions will fill quickly.
I just received an email offer from Indiana (surprised because I don't think I sent them my transcript), but I already committed to UT Tyler earlier today. If I didn't do that then I would've had 30 minutes to decide which one to attend :( . Which project from Indiana are you interested in?

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:20 pm
by OwlMath
xml wrote:
OwlMath wrote:
peter wrote:Just got an offer from Rochester, and I am stoked. Does anyone know if the math REU at Indiana is still accepting? It seems that they have sent the first round of offers out. Has anyone accepted an offer from Indiana?
I've accepted an offer from Indiana and from the looks of their past programs, they usually only accept one student per project, so I Imagine positions will fill quickly.
I just received an email offer from Indiana (surprised because I don't think I sent them my transcript), but I already committed to UT Tyler earlier today. If I didn't do that then I would've had 30 minutes to decide which one to attend :( . Which project from Indiana are you interested in?
As far as I know, I will be working on the project “Searching for Congruence Surfaces”.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:58 pm
by ALG1997
tothetop wrote:Has anyone heard back from IUPUI, SUMSRI, or NIMBios? :|
MSRI sent out their first round of acceptances and the wait list last week. Source: my advisor at my home school is a director for the MSRI program.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:23 pm
by tothetop
ALG1997 wrote:
tothetop wrote:Has anyone heard back from IUPUI, SUMSRI, or NIMBios? :|
MSRI sent out their first round of acceptances and the wait list last week. Source: my advisor at my home school is a director for the MSRI program.
Are you referring to the MSRI program in Berkeley or the summer program at Miami University? (both are called MSRI so i just want to clarify)

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:34 pm
by starlord37
tothetop wrote:
ALG1997 wrote:
tothetop wrote:Has anyone heard back from IUPUI, SUMSRI, or NIMBios? :|
MSRI sent out their first round of acceptances and the wait list last week. Source: my advisor at my home school is a director for the MSRI program.
Are you referring to the MSRI program in Berkeley or the summer program at Miami University? (both are called MSRI so i just want to clarify)
He's talking about the MSRI-UP program in Berkeley, CA. SUMSRI sent out acceptances a day or two ago.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:47 pm
by ALG1997
MSRI sent out their first round of acceptances and the wait list last week. Source: my advisor at my home school is a director for the MSRI program.[/quote]
Are you referring to the MSRI program in Berkeley or the summer program at Miami University? (both are called MSRI so i just want to clarify)[/quote]

My mistake. I was not aware of this.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:02 pm
by ptnkt1215
Since most people have received the result, can you guys share some information in your profile so that we can learn from?

I'll start:

Year: Sophomore
Undergrad Institution: LAC
Major(s): Mathematics and Political Science
GPA: 3.7
Type of Student: Intl' Asian

Coursework: math modeling (linear algebra, multivariate calculus, graph theory and numerical methods), algorithm, statistics, econometrics and optimization methods
Research Experience: 3 months of research in empirical finance with a professor from my institution.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Silver at IMO, HM at interdisciplinary contest in modeling
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked as a quant researcher for an Australian fund and faculty assistant for my professor

Applied to 12, got accepted to 1 and I assume that I was rejected by the rest. I really want to find out what I was missing to prepare for grad application.

*Edit: Added coursework

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:28 pm
by djysyed
As an IMO medalist, schools will want you to get straight A's in all your math classes and outshine the rest of your classmates. If you don't, then mathematicians may think that you're just good at solving contrived problems. Unfortunately, IMO medalists have it a little harder in that way.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:31 pm
by ptnkt1215
djysyed wrote:As an IMO medalist, schools will want you to get straight A's in all your math classes and outshine the rest of your classmates. If you don't, then mathematicians may think that you're just good at solving contrived problems. Unfortunately, IMO medalists have it a little harder in that way.
Thanks for your insight, I guess that I have to buff up my score real hard then.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:06 am
by Rise
ptnkt1215 wrote:Since most people have received the result, can you guys share some information in your profile so that we can learn from?

I'll start:

Year: Sophomore
Undergrad Institution: LAC
Major(s): Mathematics and Political Science
GPA: 3.7
Type of Student: Intl' Asian

Research Experience: 3 months of research in empirical finance with a professor from my institution.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Silver at IMO, HM at interdisciplinary contest in modeling
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked as a quant researcher for an Australian fund and faculty assistant for my professor

Applied to 12, got accepted to 1 and I assume that I was rejected by the rest. I really want to find out what I was missing to prepare for grad application.
International students are almost always automatically rejected. REU’s are funded by the NSF and are supposed to serve only Americans. I assume you were admitted without funding, otherwise that would be a pretty flagrant misuse of the NSF Grant

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:48 am
by ptnkt1215
Rise wrote:
ptnkt1215 wrote:Since most people have received the result, can you guys share some information in your profile so that we can learn from?

I'll start:

Year: Sophomore
Undergrad Institution: LAC
Major(s): Mathematics and Political Science
GPA: 3.7
Type of Student: Intl' Asian

Research Experience: 3 months of research in empirical finance with a professor from my institution.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Silver at IMO, HM at interdisciplinary contest in modeling
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked as a quant researcher for an Australian fund and faculty assistant for my professor

Applied to 12, got accepted to 1 and I assume that I was rejected by the rest. I really want to find out what I was missing to prepare for grad application.
International students are almost always automatically rejected. REU’s are funded by the NSF and are supposed to serve only Americans. I assume you were admitted without funding, otherwise that would be a pretty flagrant misuse of the NSF Grant
I'm an international student but I'm still studying at an American institution though. Bunch of my friends got admitted to REUs, one of them even got in SMALL in his first year. This is why I'm pretty bummed.

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 1:12 am
by Rise
ptnkt1215 wrote:
I'm an international student but I'm still studying at an American institution though. Bunch of my friends got admitted to REUs, one of them even got in SMALL in his first year. This is why I'm pretty bummed.
That isn't enough -- you have to have American citizenship to be eligible to be supported by the NSF. Were your friends domestic students?

I also understand that it might be disappointing to be discriminated against based on nationality, but it's the rules of the people who fund the programs :( . But I promise, grad school apps will be much more in your favor, since you have a really strong profile. Plenty of international students I know at my school that got barred from applying to REU's ended up at prestigious grad schools. To name a few: UC Berkeley, UCLA, NYU (Applied Math).

Re: 2018 Math REU Thread

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 10:31 am
by ElectronicGeek
I've received offers from the GVSU REU and the WPI Industrial REU. Does anyone have any advice which one I should accept? I'm interested in both pure and applied math, so I don't have too much of a preference either way.