Do you want to get into a summer research program but don’t know which ones are considered the “best” in the field? Maybe you want to spend the summer at the program that will give the biggest boost to your medical school application. Either way, you only have so many summers to go to these programs, so it’s best you aim for the stars! I’ll walk you through everything I know about top programs, my advice, and how you can look for programs!
REU’s and summer research are becoming ubiquitous must do’s for premedical students. They can take place at your home institution, one town over, across the state, or even across the country or internationally! They’re everywhere and they come in all shapes and sizes.
Some programs roll up under larger “Scholars” programs and are therefore that much more prestigious. Some do not have this designation, but take place at some of the country’s most prestigious schools. Let’s get started with what a summer research program is, how it can massively benefit your application, and what the top programs in the country are.
After 1 or 2 of these, your application to major research scholarships such as the Goldwater Scholarship is also greatly enhanced!
An REU is not an all encompassing term. It is actually a term that refers specifically to a group of programs funded by the National Science Foundation and are called “research experiences for undergraduates”. They’re 6-8 programs that the NSF has provided funding for and given this funding to specific universities as a grant. These universities then in turn will host this program each year and the stipend, housing, food, etc is covered by this grant money.
REU’s are just one type of research program. If you google summer undergraduate research programs, you’ll actually find that there are a ton of them that are funded through other ways. This includes the National Institutes of Health, the AMGEN company, and various research societies. Each of these are just as beneficial and prestigious as an REU, so don’t get tunnel vision on those. In fact, the NIH and AMGEN programs are just as or more prestigious.
Usually, each program is very focused on a specific field or type of research. While some are general, I found a ton of them were just focused on kidney research or just focused on neuroscience research. If you have a field you already know you want to go into, this is the way to go! I say this because you’ll see on the application site for say a kidney focused program and see them say “applicants with kidney research background or kidney research career aspirations will be favored”. Get it? You’ll gain an edge over the competitors if this is really what you want to do or have done in the past. This is especially important to emphasize when you are writing a successful REU essay!
Now, what do you do at these? Well, it’s called a research program for a reason. What’s great is they usually also have side activities and training sessions for you based around whatever the program is focused on. For example, a kidney focused program will have research faculty give lectures and lessons on kidney anatomy, the big issues in the field, tell about the big research topics at the moment, and more. You may also get to go to a hospital and shadow tha nephrologist in this case and meet kidney patients or groups of nephrologists.
When I went to one of my programs, we got to meet a transplant surgeon and they gave a presentation on how the field looks. We met nephrologists and dialysis patients, had lectures on kidney anatomy and issues, and were taught about the big issues in the field. It was a great learning experience to supplement my research back at my home university.
You’ll spend 40 hours or more a week doing experiments and working in the lab. The nice thing is this can be basic science, clinical, and/or translational research, so it can be anything you want!
You’ll get a mentor and also get to work with other members in the lab and you’ll likely get placed on an ongoing project. You might get a chance to help write a paper, but odds are that you’ll not have enough weeks for that.
Now, what are the top programs?
- Amgen Scholars
This program is sponsored by the AMGEN lab company and is very, very prestigious. They only have these at the top institutions across the country. Think Stanford, Harvard, Yale, University of Washington in St. Louis, etc. which are all top 20 schools. It’s no different too much from a normal REU, except for the brand name and the prestige of the host universities.
- NSF REU’s
These are all over the country in every discipline you can think of. They’re all well respected and in your best interests, are the best funded. They’ll cover housing, provide a NICE stipend, and will be vetted for quality through regular check ins and audits. These are as good as you can get.
- Top university programs
After those first two sets of programs, it really comes down to the caliber of the university. You want to find one that is world renowned in your field of research or just highly respected to begin with. Think Stanford, Emory, Vanderbilt, Yale, etc. if your stats aren’t great or you’ve never had research experience before, you can always start at a smaller university then apply to the big programs your second year.
- Your home university
Now this one can be very prestigious or not at all depending on where you go for undergrad. My opinion on these is that they are great jumping boards! If you have little to no research experience, these universities usually try to take just their students or a large portion of the program is their own students. You might even have professor connections who could work to get you into the program! It’s a great time and no different than going across the country. The only thing to consider here is the funding/stipend and whether they have the research you want.
Some final tips I want to leave you with are that you should really pay attention to how much research funding the university has. If they don’t have much, don’t expect much in terms of the newest and greatest technology. Smaller universities don’t always have MD/PHD’s or giant surgery departments or huge hospitals. They may also just be plain out missing some of the basics. You might find they are slower to pump out papers and bigger universities may be a better chance to get published.
Another thing with these is that you want to make sure that you go to every event and every chance to network. You might get to shadow other people’s labs and watch new procedures or meet the admissions directors etc. you might even meet someone who will end up being your next research opportunity or your mentor one day! Just keep an open mind and be ready to be a sponge.
Be careful with housing! Make sure they cover it or at least help out and try to figure out what their plan is there. Do you have to have roommates? Love on campus or off? Does the housing you’ll be in come with a bus stop from the university bus system or do you have to drive/walk? It all makes a difference.
Want to know how to get into an REU? Check out this article: How to get into an REU summer research program