Summer after an REU // Non-REU summer programs

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complexcat
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2019 3:31 pm

Summer after an REU // Non-REU summer programs

Post by complexcat » Thu Aug 22, 2019 2:55 pm

I attended an REU this past summer as a rising junior. What are some summer opportunities for students like me to consider for next summer? Is it typical to apply for a second REU?

Here are some programs I am currently aware of:
  • PCMI Undergraduate Summer School
    Research opportunities at home school
    Princeton Summer School in Geometric Analysis
    Women and Mathematics Program (WAM) at the Institute for Advanced Study
    Prestigious REU's (Emory and Duluth, for example)
    Budapest Semesters in Mathematics Summer Program
    Research in Industrial Projects for Students (RIPS)
If you have been a participant in one of these programs, please feel free to share your experience. I am hoping this thread can become a resource for a wide range of people.

Cyclicduck
Posts: 105
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2019 9:55 pm

Re: Summer after an REU // Non-REU summer programs

Post by Cyclicduck » Sun Aug 25, 2019 11:20 pm

It definitely is typical to apply for a second REU, and there's no reason it has to be prestigious. In fact I believe having done an REU the previous year increases your chance at getting into a second REU.

complexcat
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2019 3:31 pm

Re: Summer after an REU // Non-REU summer programs

Post by complexcat » Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:06 pm

Cyclicduck wrote:
Sun Aug 25, 2019 11:20 pm
It definitely is typical to apply for a second REU, and there's no reason it has to be prestigious. In fact I believe having done an REU the previous year increases your chance at getting into a second REU.
I've actually heard the opposite. Since one of the goals of an REU is to advance the careers of the students participating (and especially careers of students who are underrepresented in math), there are diminishing marginal returns from their perspective if you've already done an REU. My impression is that the REU's which will favor you if you have previous experience are also the most competitive.

kailun
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Dec 17, 2013 2:30 pm

Re: Summer after an REU // Non-REU summer programs

Post by kailun » Mon Jan 06, 2020 2:11 pm

I did both WAM, a regular REU, and RIPS. WAM I would consider to be something to do in addition to an REU/other summer research experience since when I did it, it was more of sitting in seminars learning about a topic, and then working on problems together with other attendees. It doesn't have the same research focus as the other programs, but it is still a really great program to attend. WAM tends to have more pure mathematics topics than applied mathematics topics, but they are fairly open in what the next few years programs are. It's also nice because it has both graduate students and undergraduate students. As an undergrad from a SLAC, I learned a lot about graduate school and coursework that I wouldn't have necessarily gained from the conversations that I had with my classmates. Also the food is A+ (or was when I went many years ago).

RIPS is also fantastic. I really liked that I was working at the interface of research and industry, and I got to go to a country I had never been to before as part of the experience. When we presented our research at the JMM, people who worked in the same industry were interested in the work we had done, so it felt nice that the research had real consequences. Of course, this is more for applied mathematicians than pure mathematicians. I also personally believe that RIPS looks fantastic on applications for applied math graduate schools. I also did RIPS after my senior year in college, and I liked that I was able to do another research experience before I applied to graduate programs.

There is also the Summer@ICERM (https://icerm.brown.edu/summerug/) program that is run by the research institute in Providence, RI.



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