2019 Math REU Thread

Integreat · Post by **Integreat** » Fri Feb 15, 2019 9:57 pm

REU applications are in full swing! Might as well have a thread to discuss them, like last year. Good luck to all!

Since applications are still open, I figured we could just talk about where we're applying, what our profiles look like, and give advice? Then announce acceptances/rejections/shortlists as they come along?

Previous thread:
http://www.mathematicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?t=4330

djysyed · Post by **djysyed** » Fri Feb 15, 2019 10:14 pm

Just a heads up, these REUs are more competitive than graduate admissions because REUs look for students who don't have many research opportunities and place heavy emphasis on diversity. Most projects don't require anything more than some linear algebra and calculus so nearly every math major in the US is qualified for an REU. Every domestic asian or white male I've heard of that attended an REU (myself included) was only admitted to one REU out of the 15-20 they applied to.

OwlMath · Post by **OwlMath** » Fri Feb 15, 2019 10:25 pm

djysyed wrote:Just a heads up, these REUs are more competitive than graduate admissions because REUs look for students who don't have many research opportunities and place heavy emphasis on diversity. Most projects don't require anything more than some linear algebra and calculus so nearly every math major in the US is qualified for an REU. Every domestic asian or white male I've heard of that attended an REU (myself included) was only admitted to one REU out of the 15-20 they applied to.

Having participated in an REU myself this past summer, I don't think I'd agree with the statement that most projects do not require anything more than linear algebra and calculus. Most projects do not expect you to know all of the material necessary to do the research, that would be quite lofty (and unreasonable) expectations. That being said, it's definitely important to have taken classes in subject areas related to the research project. I had studied a decent chunk of number theory and my advisor told me that's why I was picked for his project which involved doing number theory more than anything else. Also, while I agree these REUs are often times more competitive than graduate admissions, that's simply because roughly the same number of students apply for less available spots in an REU than in a graduate program and not because of forced diversity.

Integreat · Post by **Integreat** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:41 pm

djysyed wrote:Just a heads up, these REUs are more competitive than graduate admissions because REUs look for students who don't have many research opportunities and place heavy emphasis on diversity. Most projects don't require anything more than some linear algebra and calculus so nearly every math major in the US is qualified for an REU. Every domestic asian or white male I've heard of that attended an REU (myself included) was only admitted to one REU out of the 15-20 they applied to.

I have also heard this. I applied to 15 (which I personally felt was a lot), and tried my best to apply to ones that I would qualify well for (i.e., DWM w/research). We'll see how I do; there is only one REU that I am fairly confident I will get into.

OwlMath wrote:Having participated in an REU myself this past summer, I don't think I'd agree with the statement that most projects do not require anything more than linear algebra and calculus. Most projects do not expect you to know all of the material necessary to do the research, that would be quite lofty (and unreasonable) expectations. That being said, it's definitely important to have taken classes in subject areas related to the research project. I had studied a decent chunk of number theory and my advisor told me that's why I was picked for his project which involved doing number theory more than anything else. Also, while I agree these REUs are often times more competitive than graduate admissions, that's simply because roughly the same number of students apply for less available spots in an REU than in a graduate program and not because of forced diversity.

This concerns me, and I believe is a major reason why I am at a disadvantage for REUs. My field of interest is Differential Geometry/Geometric Analysis. It is hard to find REUs that focus on these, since so many feel combinatorics/number theory/algebra oriented. The closest one I could find is Princeton's Summer School, apart from more general ones like UChicago or Michigan's REUs.

jababa123 · Post by **jababa123** » Sun Feb 17, 2019 6:28 pm

Has anyone heard back from PCMI undergrad summer school? They say that they will hand out results latest by the 22nd of February this time. Also any idea on how competitive it is to get accepted?

Integreat · Post by **Integreat** » Sun Feb 17, 2019 7:34 pm

jababa123 wrote:Has anyone heard back from PCMI undergrad summer school? They say that they will hand out results latest by the 22nd of February this time. Also any idea on how competitive it is to get accepted?

I applied but have yet to hear anything. I actually missed that we'd hear back by Friday, good to know. No idea on the competitiveness of it specifically though.

starlord37 · Post by **starlord37** » Sun Feb 17, 2019 8:04 pm

Duluth and Emory have released first round of acceptances.

Orpheus11235 · Post by **Orpheus11235** » Mon Feb 18, 2019 12:02 am

SMALL has emailed shortlisted people (or at least, the commutative algebra group has).

jababa123 · Post by **jababa123** » Mon Feb 18, 2019 2:23 am

Orpheus11235 wrote:SMALL has emailed shortlisted people (or at least, the commutative algebra group has).

Congrats! Were you among the shortlisted people? I applied to the commutative algebra group, so does not having received an email mean a rejection?

2211nasa · Post by **2211nasa** » Mon Feb 18, 2019 9:26 am

SMALL probability/number theory shortlisted people too. And then rejected people lmao (“it is unlikely I will be able to offer you a spot this year”).

At least I made the list lol.

Integreat · Post by **Integreat** » Mon Feb 18, 2019 4:56 pm

Ah I applied to Duluth, Emory, and SMALL (Commutative Alg.) but did not hear back from any of them. Guessing that means I'll end up getting rejected, if I haven't been already

Orpheus11235 · Post by **Orpheus11235** » Mon Feb 18, 2019 5:37 pm

jababa123 wrote:
Orpheus11235 wrote:SMALL has emailed shortlisted people (or at least, the commutative algebra group has).
Congrats! Were you among the shortlisted people? I applied to the commutative algebra group, so does not having received an email mean a rejection?

Yeah, I have an interview with Professor Loepp tonight. Probably if you haven't received an email it means rejection

. They had about 260 applicants for 15 shortlist spots (just for the commutative algebra group) so don't feel too bad about it, SMALL is super competitive.

Orpheus11235 · Post by **Orpheus11235** » Mon Feb 18, 2019 6:38 pm

Kent State noncommutative algebra also emailed shortlisted people.

waffleman227 · Post by **waffleman227** » Mon Feb 18, 2019 10:40 pm

Orpheus11235 wrote:Kent State noncommutative algebra also emailed shortlisted people.

Do you know if they have sent out emails to shortlisted people for the other projects?

Orpheus11235 · Post by **Orpheus11235** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 1:11 am

waffleman227 wrote:
Orpheus11235 wrote:Kent State noncommutative algebra also emailed shortlisted people.
Do you know if they have sent out emails to shortlisted people for the other projects?

Sorry, no idea. I imagine that they'll do it soon if they haven't.

Integreat · Post by **Integreat** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:15 am

Duluth sent out rejections this morning

mathmcspirit · Post by **mathmcspirit** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 2:30 pm

When do y’all propose ruling a possible acceptance out if you haven’t heard from them? I want to start planning my summer, and I don’t want to wait on the ones that have been radio silent if I don’t have to- particularly SMALL (comm alg) and Duluth.

Integreat · Post by **Integreat** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 7:22 pm

Princeton sent out acceptances for their summer school!

mathmcspirit wrote:When do y’all propose ruling a possible acceptance out if you haven’t heard from them? I want to start planning my summer, and I don’t want to wait on the ones that have been radio silent if I don’t have to- particularly SMALL (comm alg) and Duluth.

I don't know about other programs in general, but I believe the ones you mentioned are pretty fast at sending out acceptances. I also haven't heard from SMALL (also commutative algebra), so I'm assuming I've been rejected by now.

jababa123 · Post by **jababa123** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 10:37 pm

Any news from PCMI? Does someone know how many undergrads they tend to accept?

num8glass · Post by **num8glass** » Wed Feb 20, 2019 9:19 am

I have just accepted my offer from William and Mary for Matrix Analysis!! Has anyone ever attended or is anyone else attending? Was it selective to get in this year? None of my friends got offers (although I guess it would be rare for more than one person at a school to get in).

Integreat · Post by **Integreat** » Wed Feb 20, 2019 10:02 am

jababa123 wrote:Any news from PCMI? Does someone know how many undergrads they tend to accept?

Still haven’t heard back from them either.

UChicago will release decisions on Feb 24 (hopefully). I emailed Dr. May last night about them. (If you were wondering, he also said there were 517 non-UChicago applicants, and he has read through 450).

HarmonicDog · Post by **HarmonicDog** » Wed Feb 20, 2019 2:38 pm

Deleted.

Integreat · Post by **Integreat** » Wed Feb 20, 2019 3:04 pm

HarmonicDog wrote:
Integreat wrote:Princeton sent out acceptances for their summer school!

mathmcspirit wrote:When do y’all propose ruling a possible acceptance out if you haven’t heard from them? I want to start planning my summer, and I don’t want to wait on the ones that have been radio silent if I don’t have to- particularly SMALL (comm alg) and Duluth.
I don't know about other programs in general, but I believe the ones you mentioned are pretty fast at sending out acceptances. I also haven't heard from SMALL (also commutative algebra), so I'm assuming I've been rejected by now.
I also heard back from Princeton and I have already accepted the offer (but receive no email since then). I applied for the SMALL Dynamical System & Number Theory project and I haven't heard from them. But that's okay though since my top choice is the program at the Fields Institute.

I emailed Ms. LeClair asking some questions and have also not received a response. I assume she either hasn’t gotten around to it, or she’s not in the office today. I was hoping to have heard back from other REUs by now so I could make a better decision, but I’ll probably go as well!

ljsreader · Post by **ljsreader** » Thu Feb 21, 2019 12:48 am

Oof, also didn't hear back from SMALL com alg...sounds like it was brutal this year! And I'm also waiting to hear back from PCMI...good luck to everyone! <3

6sand7s · Post by **6sand7s** » Thu Feb 21, 2019 7:31 pm

Integreat wrote:Princeton sent out acceptances for their summer school!

mathmcspirit wrote:When do y’all propose ruling a possible acceptance out if you haven’t heard from them? I want to start planning my summer, and I don’t want to wait on the ones that have been radio silent if I don’t have to- particularly SMALL (comm alg) and Duluth.
I don't know about other programs in general, but I believe the ones you mentioned are pretty fast at sending out acceptances. I also haven't heard from SMALL (also commutative algebra), so I'm assuming I've been rejected by now.

Funny to find myself back in the REU threads as a first-year grad, but please keep us updated if you hear anything else from the Princeton summer school! I was really excited about it but have not heard back---maybe because it's a program that prefers undergrads? Or maybe they just didn't want me! Either way, I don't have any metric for how competitive the program is, when I would expect to hear back, and whether they bother to issue rejections at all.

Probably I'll email Ms. LeClair next week if I haven't heard back by then, but please update if you find out that they've filled all the spots.

Integreat · Post by **Integreat** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 2:57 pm

I emailed UMich (Ann Arbor) about when they plan to release decisions, they responded today saying they hope to have them out by mid-March (but obviously cannot guarantee anything).

wj · Post by wj » Fri Feb 22, 2019 5:27 pm

Anyone have any idea when twin cities, CUNY, or Iowa State might send decisions?

vltzal · Post by **vltzal** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 6:21 pm

University of Michigan has sent out some acceptances

jababa123 · Post by **jababa123** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:15 pm

Pcmi results were supposed to come out by today. Did someone hear from them? Or should we assume not hearing back is a rejection?

leholybernoulli · Post by **leholybernoulli** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:17 pm

jababa123 wrote:Pcmi results were supposed to come out by today. Did someone hear from them? Or should we assume not hearing back is a rejection?

I haven’t heard back from PCMI either

burnerval · Post by **burnerval** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 9:21 pm

wj wrote:Anyone have any idea when twin cities, CUNY, or Iowa State might send decisions?

I got an acceptance to Twin Cities today.

LordWiki · Post by **LordWiki** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 1:42 am

jababa123 wrote:Pcmi results were supposed to come out by today. Did someone hear from them? Or should we assume not hearing back is a rejection?

According to the main website, decisions will be sent out by the 27th lol

jababa123 · Post by **jababa123** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 2:28 am

It says 22nd here https://www.ias.edu/pcmi/ussapply

LordWiki · Post by **LordWiki** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 2:13 pm

jababa123 wrote:It says 22nd here https://www.ias.edu/pcmi/ussapply

We apologize for the delay, decisions for the Undergraduate Summer School Program will be sent by February 27, 2019.

jjmb11 · Post by **jjmb11** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 12:16 pm

I got an acceptance from UMich-Dearborn yesterday. Pretty excited!

Good luck to everyone!!

Jetninja · Post by **Jetninja** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 2:00 pm

I also got accepted into u mich-dearborn and UC Santa Barbara!

Integreat · Post by **Integreat** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 4:10 pm

UChicago sent out acceptances to their REU! (At least for the apprentice program)

ribbit · Post by **ribbit** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 4:50 pm

Congrats to those who got into Dearborn! That's the REU I attended last year, and I had a great experience, so feel free to contact me with any questions about it.

cauchysequence · Post by **cauchysequence** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 5:17 pm

jjmb11 wrote:I got an acceptance from UMich-Dearborn yesterday. Pretty excited!

Good luck to everyone!!

Congrats! May I ask what project you applied for? Also, isn't the deadline for UMich-Dearborn today?

jlawrencet · Post by **jlawrencet** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 5:19 pm

jjmb11 wrote:I got an acceptance from UMich-Dearborn yesterday. Pretty excited!

Good luck to everyone!!

May I ask, when did you submit your application? Thanks!

jjmb11 · Post by **jjmb11** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 5:44 pm

jlawrencet wrote:
jjmb11 wrote:I got an acceptance from UMich-Dearborn yesterday. Pretty excited!

Good luck to everyone!!
May I ask, when did you submit your application? Thanks!

I submitted mine the first week of February! I was really surprised to hear back so soon.

leholybernoulli · Post by **leholybernoulli** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 5:45 pm

Jetninja wrote:I also got accepted into u mich-dearborn and UC Santa Barbara!

What project did you get accepted to at Dearborn?

Jetninja · Post by **Jetninja** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 5:53 pm

leholybernoulli wrote:
Jetninja wrote:I also got accepted into u mich-dearborn and UC Santa Barbara!
What project did you get accepted to at Dearborn?

They said they are "looking to place me in" the CR geometry group, also adding "We are flexible though, and we usually revisit the groups after the first round of introductory lectures." Sounds pretty wholesome.

leholybernoulli · Post by **leholybernoulli** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 6:54 pm

Jetninja wrote:
leholybernoulli wrote:
Jetninja wrote:I also got accepted into u mich-dearborn and UC Santa Barbara!
What project did you get accepted to at Dearborn?
They said they are "looking to place me in" the CR geometry group, also adding "We are flexible though, and we usually revisit the groups after the first round of introductory lectures." Sounds pretty wholesome.

Awesome, congratulations! Hopefully I'll hear back from them soon with a decision.

ac2m · Post by **ac2m** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 10:11 pm

anymore hear back from DIMACS REU at Rutgers? or know when they send decisions

cauchysequence · Post by **cauchysequence** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 4:01 pm

Is it a bad sign that I haven't heard from UMich-Dearborn yet? I know the application was due last night, but I did turn it in four weeks ago.

2211nasa · Post by **2211nasa** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 4:11 pm

cauchysequence wrote:Is it a bad sign that I haven't heard from UMich-Dearborn yet? I know the application was due last night, but I did turn it in four weeks ago.

Did you state a preference for program? The complex one is run by the program admissions head (Yunus Zeytuncu) so I’m guessing that’s why the others have heard back so soon.

cauchysequence · Post by **cauchysequence** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 4:36 pm

2211nasa wrote:
cauchysequence wrote:Is it a bad sign that I haven't heard from UMich-Dearborn yet? I know the application was due last night, but I did turn it in four weeks ago.
Did you state a preference for program? The complex one is run by the program admissions head (Yunus Zeytuncu) so I’m guessing that’s why the others have heard back so soon.

Yes, I stated my preference on my personal statement.

2211nasa · Post by **2211nasa** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 4:56 pm

cauchysequence wrote:
2211nasa wrote:
cauchysequence wrote:Is it a bad sign that I haven't heard from UMich-Dearborn yet? I know the application was due last night, but I did turn it in four weeks ago.
Did you state a preference for program? The complex one is run by the program admissions head (Yunus Zeytuncu) so I’m guessing that’s why the others have heard back so soon.
Yes, I stated my preference on my personal statement.

Well ok so if you said you’d prefer the one with Hyejin Kim or the one with Alan Wiggins you can probably expect to hear back later.

apa2021 · Post by **apa2021** » Tue Feb 26, 2019 11:19 am

I believe DIMACS acceptances are out, unsure if it's for every project or just some projects.