2024 Physics/Astronomy REU Thread

Hi everyone,

I’ve seen threads for the physics and astronomy REU candidates in years past and didn’t see anything recent so here goes nothing.

Scrolling through this community for a while, I can already tell that I’m not the typical candidate when it comes to applying to these programs so I’m going to share my raw experience (whether my efforts are successful or not) to give a better idea of what the competition is like.

I’m currently a female in my junior year towards my bachelor’s in astrophysics program with a 3.38 cumulative GPA. Off the bat, I know my GPA is nowhere near many of the other candidates these programs are going to consider, however, I have seen many people become successful through recognition their other traits and achievements. I attend a university that has a VERY small peer group when it comes to the engineering/physics/astronomy majors, so there aren’t many opportunities for formal research, especially over the summer. I heard about NSF’s REU program opportunities through my RA and close classmates and figured I’d give it a try regardless of the outcome.

My GPA tank was largely a result of some personal battles with mental health early in my degree program. When I was in high school, I attended a dual enrollment degree program in order to graduate simultaneously with my HS Diploma and my community college Associate’s in Science. Before starting college at 16, I was the typical honor-roll A+ student who would cry when she received B’s on assignments. Like I said, extraneous circumstances really impacted my grades around the end of my high school career, and it has haunted my GPA ever since. However, there already have been a few applications I’ve seen that have asked for “unique perspectives” and are specifically looking for non-academic experiences that may place your perspective as move diverse than other candidates, so I’m hopeful the programs are attentive to the backgrounds of their candidates.

I’ve basically listed all of my own ‘faults’ I see that I feel could be my downfall, but I feel I bring a lot of important qualities these programs are looking for despite GPA (feel free to comment w/suggestions or personal experiences on the matter).

I have plenty of upper division requirements, math up to diff eqs, physics through modern I, computational coding classes completed specifically for physics/astronomy, leadership experience in Society for Physics students (president), collegiate swimming (DII), conferences attended for the department (Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics hosted by APS), and I’m also incredibly well rounded and active on campus, since I hold membership and leadership positions in one my campuses NPC sororities. I do NOT however have any professional research experience, which could either help/hinder my application depending on the program.

Besides good letters of recommendations from my advisors and professors, what else could help my chances? I’m open to any and all advice since I truly believe a REU experience would better prepare me for grad school and beyond.

I’ll list and update the programs I’ve applied to as I apply and hear back from them below:

-American Museum of Natural History—CUNY Physical Sciences (applied 1/9)

-Carnegie Science —EPIIC (applied 1/6)

-Colorado University at Boulder —Solar Alliance (applied 1/7)

-Howard University REU in Physics (in application progress)

-National Radio Astronomy Observatory—NRAO/GBO (Charlottesville,VA) (in application process)

-NSIT SURF (Gaithersburg, MD) —(in application process)

I would love to apply to pathway NASA internships as well but the NASA, but the site just refers you to USAJOBS.gov and I am having trouble finding postings that aren’t full time positions.

Again, any advice, knowledge of a certain program’s competition/acceptance rates, or other notes and comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading and good luck to all my fellow candidates!✨🪐

(1/25) UPDATE:

My advisor told me he had an inner connection with one of the professors at the University of Wyoming’s WIRO telescope so I just sent in my application there and I have high hopes for decision day so I’ll keep updating!!!