Hello!
I'm a professor that provides a yearly seminar on the REU program and how to apply to our bio students. I'm also a two-time REU attendee from 2008 and 2010. I lurk on this sub and occasionally give advice, but mostly use it to do research for my seminar.
I'm seeing a ton of Sankeys posted here from folks who've applied to 10, 15, and 20 REU programs. This isn't unusual - I've been telling my students for years that they need to apply to at least 10 programs and not be surprised if they only get into 1 - that was my experience as well back in the 2000s.
I'm surprised that many of you who are applying to 15-20 programs aren't getting into a single one. I suppose that's always been a possibility, but it still seems odd. So, I wanted to ask some questions that I would really appreciate your reply on:
I stress customizing every single application essay to that specific REU program. This means explaining which professor/project you want to apply to, why it fits in with any previous research or personal interests, how this will aid in your future research interests, and just generally making it feel like you're not sending off the same application to each program or just changing a couple of key sentences. This admittedly takes a lot of time but I think it has a high pay-off. Did you do this? Why or why not?
I do a lot of reading of REU application essays, and I see many poorly written or clearly crappy AI-generated essays. When I work with students, I can improve their essays a lot. Did you have any professors or anyone at the writing center or career center proofread your essays or help you develop them?
Most REU applications are released sometime during winter break, which makes that the ideal time to research programs and write essays. Yea, there are a few late-breaking REUs, but most are live by Jan 1. Did you write during winter break and allow for the "slow burn" that is the draft editing, rewriting, editing again process, or was your essay writing more rushed-last minute and during the spring semester.
I advise students to not apply to just "cool coastal cities" or "name brand recognition REUs" because everyone applies to those and there's a big chance that profs at those schools will treat you as more cheap labor for themselves/a graduate student in the lab than as an actual mentor experience. Did you vary your application list?
It used to be that you could get into an REU as a freshman applicant with no research experience, but increasingly I'm suggesting that students apply their sophomore year after getting some sort of on-campus research experience the summer after their freshman year. It just seems like they need some experience to even be considered, especially at high-powered R1s. I dislike this as a prof at an undergrad-only institute with limited research opportunities, but at least my campus does have a sort-of summer research program aimed at freshman to provide this experience. Did you apply as a freshman with no experience or as a sophomore/junior with no experience?
Rereading this post, I get that it might come off as preachy, or at least "Hey here's my advice of how to improve next time" but, really, I'd like to read your responses to these questions and use them to improve my seminar in the future! My experience are 20 years out of date at this point.