Mathematics GRE

I would really appreciate if people who have done the Einstein Institute REU in the previous years help me understand how the program works. I recently got an interview invite and I am asking especially for geometry/topology. What was your experience like? Typically how many students work with a single professor? If you had an interview, what kind of questions did they ask? Also, how flexible were they with the dates? Overall, would you recommend it?

trivial_bundle wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 26, 2023 2:13 pm

I would really appreciate if people who have done the Einstein Institute REU in the previous years help me understand how the program works. I recently got an interview invite and I am asking especially for geometry/topology. What was your experience like? Typically how many students work with a single professor? If you had an interview, what kind of questions did they ask? Also, how flexible were they with the dates? Overall, would you recommend it?

Hey! I did the REU last year (only one year it has happened). It is a terrific experience especially because you get to work with professors and not post-docs (not that that is bad). Especially professors that are some of the best mathematicians in the world (most of them have had faculty positions or distinguished visits at places like Harvard, MIT, IAS, etc.). Overall, the living experience, the fact that it is insanely international (very few Americans (I think I was one of maybe 5 out of 15?), but a lot attend American uni) makes this REU extremely unique and honestly better than a lot of REUs I can think of currently. They are super flexible with dates; some came on June 1, and some came on June 31. Super laid back in that way. The interview is pretty casual and really is just to gauge your interests. I couldn't recommend it more tbh! Feel free to DM me with more questions (especially what professor you're looking to work for... there are some terrific and some that are not as great... mostly as mentors instead of as mathematicians).