REU Acceptance Vs PhD Acceptance

[ParanoidAndro1d3]

Hi All,

 

I was wondering if anyone knew if there is a correlation between the competitiveness of REU acceptances and (funded) PhD acceptances?

I'd certainly feel more at ease with my pending PhD applications if there was a correlation, because I know my SOPs and letters of recommendation are of roughly the same quality, and my GRE scores shouldn't hurt me (163Q, 161V, 5AW for PhD in EE).

 

Thanks for your input.

[Usmivka]

This

[warbrain]

My experience from noticing the admissions results of my friends is mostly for math, but it might apply for other fields also.  There seem to be two large factors that differentiate REU admissions with PhD admissions -

 

First, REUs are actively looking for women, minorities, and those who attend schools with limited research opportunities, while PhD programs don't care so much about them, if at all.

 

Second, many of the students who went to top math schools for their undergraduate degrees did not apply to REUs at all, preferring to do summer research at their own institution.  Those that did attend REUs either attended the most prestigious REUs, or attended less prestigious REUs only as underclassmen, mostly after their freshman year.

 

However, everyone I know that did some REU was able to get into some top-50 PhD program in math.

Edited January 31, 2013 by warbrain