2019 Math REU Thread

[Integreat]

I am new here. I got accepted into reu at Middle Tennessee State University last week. Super excited to go.

Congrats!!

[jjmb11]

I am new here. I got accepted into reu at Middle Tennessee State University last week. Super excited to go.

Congrats! That one looks really interesting.

[eigenartig]

has anyone heard back from SDSU?

I got an email asking me for a phone call about a week ago but declined.

[sunitabhatta]

Just got into UC Santa Barbara REU 2019. Anyone who is going there as well?

[cauchysequence]

anybody got an official acceptance from boise yet?

[woeinorwin]

I got an acceptance from PCMI, and I'm still waiting for Georgia Tech and U.Michican-Ann Arbor. I emailed both REUs, and they told me that they are still making a decision. Also, I need to response the offer from PCMI today, so I'm making a decision whether just accepting PCMI offer or continuing waiting for other 2 REUs. May someone who participated PCMI before share some experience at PCMI? and is it worthwhile to wait for other 2 REUs? Thanks!

[complexcat]

anybody got an official acceptance from boise yet?

I applied to Boise and I haven't heard anything. I ended up accepting an offer elsewhere.

[hr1998]

Anybody in the community detection group at Georgia Tech? I know I saw at least one person mention it. I have also very recently received offers from UW-Lacrosse and UConn but declined because I had already accepted my position at GT.

[jamest03]

Anybody in the community detection group at Georgia Tech? I know I saw at least one person mention it. I have also very recently received offers from UW-Lacrosse and UConn but declined because I had already accepted my position at GT.

you were accepted for that project?

[waffleman227]

Anybody in the community detection group at Georgia Tech? I know I saw at least one person mention it. I have also very recently received offers from UW-Lacrosse and UConn but declined because I had already accepted my position at GT.

I'm not in that group but I will be attending the REU at GT this summer!

[Integreat]

Finally heard back from MSRI and UMich. Got rejected from both. MSRI was expected, I think their program is for minority students and I'm a DWM so I didn't think I'd get in. UMich was interesting though. In the (personalized?) email I got, they said "We were impressed with your file and feel you are qualified for an REU. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a mentor and funding for you," and they explained that funding is tied to specific faculty members, only a fraction of which are available over the summer (which makes sense). Did anyone else get something like this? I'm wondering if I did get a personalized email or not.

[delphi]

Finally heard back from MSRI and UMich. Got rejected from both. MSRI was expected, I think their program is for minority students and I'm a DWM so I didn't think I'd get in. UMich was interesting though. In the (personalized?) email I got, they said "We were impressed with your file and feel you are qualified for an REU. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a mentor and funding for you," and they explained that funding is tied to specific faculty members, only a fraction of which are available over the summer (which makes sense). Did anyone else get something like this? I'm wondering if I did get a personalized email or not.

I got the same email from UMich.

[Integreat]

Finally heard back from MSRI and UMich. Got rejected from both. MSRI was expected, I think their program is for minority students and I'm a DWM so I didn't think I'd get in. UMich was interesting though. In the (personalized?) email I got, they said "We were impressed with your file and feel you are qualified for an REU. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a mentor and funding for you," and they explained that funding is tied to specific faculty members, only a fraction of which are available over the summer (which makes sense). Did anyone else get something like this? I'm wondering if I did get a personalized email or not.

I got the same email from UMich.

Okay cool, I figured it wasn't a personalized email. Would've been nice though

[PickleJar]

Anybody in the community detection group at Georgia Tech? I know I saw at least one person mention it. I have also very recently received offers from UW-Lacrosse and UConn but declined because I had already accepted my position at GT.

Community detection here we come!

[Integreat]

Seems like I'm not going to hear back from the last couple programs I applied to, so I'm going to post my reflections now!

Undergrad Institution: Large Research University
Major(s): Mathematics, Biochemistry
Year: Junior
GPA: 4.0
Type of Student: DWM

Research Experience: Research in Differential Geometry + Geometric Analysis (1 yr). Research in Physical Chemistry + Biochemistry (3 yrs). No publications (yet?)
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Specialization in Geometric Analysis (research in it, plus have read several textbooks) probably helped with Princeton's program, which is a summer school in Geometric Analysis... Biochemistry major is very course intensive, so most semesters I take primarily chemistry classes. Because of this, I don't have as much math as I could have, which could be a negative. Working on a solutions manual for my Calc III professor (~350 pages of solutions written). I had multiple people proofread my cover letters and make edits, because I suck at writing. LORs came from the aforementioned Calc III professor and my math research advisor.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: When possible, I added textbooks and chapters covered in my applications. Uploaded an official transcript (needed it for a scholarship and still had it, so I figured I might as well). Always submitted optional material (e.g., if a CV was optional, I still sent mine with my application). For programs where you choose mentors to work with (UChicago, UMich), I mentioned specific people in my cover letters and explained why I wanted to work with them.

Coursework:
Introduction to Differential Geometry (In progress - Using O'Neill)
1st Year Graduate Analysis II (In progress - Using Rudin and professor's notes)
1st Year Graduate Analysis I (Rudin, Chapters 1-6)
Complex Analysis (Churchill & Brown, Chapters 1-8)
Abstract Algebra (Gallian, Chapters 1-12)
Linear Algebra (Friedberg et al., Chapters 1-6)
Sets & Logic (Velleman, Chapters 1-7)
Calc sequence + DEQ

Applied to:
PCMI - Rejected (2/27)
SMALL - Rejected (3/10)
UMich - Rejected (3/28)
UCSB - Rejected (3/20)
Duluth - Rejected (2/19)
CUNY-Baruch - Rejected (3/15)
MSRI - Rejected (3/28)
Kent State - Rejected (3/13)
Emory - Rejected (3/25)
Kansas State - Pending (as of 3/31)
Princeton - Accepted! (2/19)
UChicago - Accepted! (2/24)
IU-Bloomington - Pending (as of 3/31)
UT Tyler - Rejected (3/26)
Texas State - Accepted! (3/5)

Comments:
I was expecting a lot of rejections, but I'm still a little in shock by the outcome. I think I was primarily rejected because my research interests did not align with many of the ones I applied to (e.g., Algebra/Combinatorics when I study...analysis). Interestingly, the two REUs I thought I had the best chance getting into are the two I've yet to hear back from. I doubt I'll be getting into either at this point. Was 100% surprised by the UChicago and Texas State acceptances. The director of Texas State's REU even said they were so impressed that they accepted me despite the difference in research interests. Was surprised by the Princeton acceptance, but not wholly. I thought I had a decent chance b/c I specialize in GA, but I didn't want to get my hopes up b/c it's, well, Princeton!
I'm very happy with the programs I got into, considering this was my first time applying! I think something that hurt was that I didn't have many connections outside of my university. I definitely regret not applying in previous years. I know others who went to REUs every summer and built their way up to the top REUs. I didn't do that though, so I was pretty much just banking on things I had done at my institution.
For anyone reading who's applying in the future: these applications take longer than you might think, so don't underestimate them (like I did) and start early (unlike me) if you're applying to a lot! I was working essentially nonstop in my free time trying to perfect each application. I would recommend applying to a lot, because you never know what might happen. The ones you might think you'll get into may reject you, but you might get in somewhere you didn't think you would!
Now, let's see if I can go two for two on some of these acceptances for grad school

[rholzha1]

Got accepted to the UWL program. Did not get into MBI and never heard from ASU. I knew reu's were competitive but I never realized to what extent. Now I just gotta grind some practice tests for the MGRE saturday

[complexcat]

Princeton sent out acceptances for their summer school!



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!

Were you referring here to FUSRP or a summer school at Fields? I received an offer from FUSRP and I'm trying to figure out how it compares to other REU's.

[imjonsnow362]

Yeah I got an email saying I would get a call to talk about giving me an offer in LA (I applied for both LA and Singapore). It said "congrats on making it this far", and then I was offered a spot during the call

Hi can you tell me the whole procedure of how you got in (Interview rounds etc.)
I am a computer science student