20: Applying to Summer Research Programs

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Hi, everyone. Happy Friday. I am doing an episode today on applying to summer research programs. I decided to devote some time to this because my first guest speaker, Cecilia Caballero, mentioned summer programs when she was talking about her experiences navigating her time at UC Berkeley as an undergrad. And I thought to myself, wait, I haven't covered summer programs and my own students are applying to summer programs right now. I should probably talk about it before it gets to be too late to do it. I will definitely just share as much as I can about, what they are, how to apply, when to apply, and what are the benefits.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

But before I do so, I'm gonna get started with a listener review. This week's listener review comes from Jessi VP, so that's Jessi VP. This person says, as someone who is Latina, first generation, low income, and has been recently been admitted to graduate school, I'm so glad to have found this podcast. Dra. Yvette Martinez- Vu is not only knowledgeable about the resources available to those considering applying or going to graduate school, but she is super relatable as well. I definitely recommend listening to this podcast.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Wow, I absolutely love this comment. I appreciate you so much Jessi VP. It means a lot to me that you spent your time leaving me this detailed comment. So thank you again for listening, and because you left me a review, you get to choose one of four things. I know you said you actually have already been admitted to grad school, so I'm thinking I can just- if you email me, I can send you a copy of the self care and stress management PowerPoint, unless you're interested in one of the other three things that I am giving away for free to my listener reviews. So choose one. It can be what I mentioned-the self care PowerPoint, or a CV template, or a grad school list template on Excel or a statement of purpose prewriting handout, not that you necessarily need that since you're in grad school already. But who knows, maybe you still want to review that. So please contact me and I'll gladly share one of those resources with you.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Okay, now on to today's topic- summer programs. So what are summer programs? Summer programs are six to ten week research programs that are available to undergraduates, typically as early as your freshman, sophomore, but more often your junior year. They tend to be six to ten weeks long. The deadlines for summer programs range anywhere from January to April. Technically right now we're in the thick of it. We're right in the middle of when deadlines are coming up. A lot of deadlines are end of February, and anytime in March. Some go as late as April, but more often, a lot of them are in March.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

So if you realized just now, oh my goodness, I should probably look into summer research programs. You want to look at it as soon as you can. Reach out to recommenders. For summer programs, you usually need two letters of rec, so reach out to them soon. Give them at least a two week heads up to write you a letter, and start drafting your statements. So summer programs,- they provide independent research experience. They have workshops, seminars. Some of them even include GRE prep as part of their curriculum, which is nice.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

So why apply? You can apply for a number of reasons. Summer programs allow you an opportunity to expand your network, your resources, your opportunities. You have a new intellectual experience and challenge. It makes you more competitive as a grad school applicant. Why? Because it shows that you're comfortable going outside of your comfort zone. You're going to another institution, meeting new people, learning new methods. You get a letter of rec from someone outside of your institution, which looks really good. You're getting extra research experience- again, looks really good. These programs provide travel and funding for you to go there, and it also gives you a preview of what it's like to live out of state. A lot of my students are California students, so we encourage them to apply to summer programs outside of California. That way, they can kind of figure out what it would be like to move somewhere else and to live somewhere else. Even if it's only for six to ten weeks, it's really good experience to test out the waters.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Okay, so some things to consider. You definitely want apply to summer programs at schools that you would seriously consider for graduate school. Why? Because if you get a letter of rec from a professor at that school, and then you go on and apply to that school, you're going to have a stronger chance of getting in. So you want it to be at a school that you're excited about. You want to take a look at the location. It's not just oh, this is a top rank program, but also, can I imagine myself being there? Is this location viable? Is it safe for me to be there? Take a look at the dates and the length of the program. One thing that comes up for my students a lot is that they stress out because a lot of these summer programs are on the semester system. They get started around the 10th week. We call that dead week, which is the week before finals week. Or sometimes they get started during finals week, which is very stressful for them because they have to move up all of their finals for the spring quarter. Not all professors are as accommodating. In some cases, some professors will work out so that their students can get their final proctored at the summer program location. They'll work with a professor at the summer program to have them proctor their own exam there. So anyway, that's something that I say, take a look at that. But don't let that be the reason why you don't apply. You can worry about that later, once you've been admitted. For now try to apply to as many schools that have summer programs as you're excited about. Summer programs are very competitive, so the more options you have, the better.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Okay, what do these summer program applications require? There's an online application where they ask basic information, personal info. They'll ask you for a cover letter or a statement of purpose. This is great, because I tell my students, even if you apply to summer programs and you don't get in, you still get something out of it. They say wait, what? I say yes, you get the experience of having applied, having drafted a statement and you can actually recycle that same statement of purpose for summer programs and use that for grad school. Same goes with a CV. They ask for a CV. You can reuse it, update it. Add whatever you've done, and use it for grad school too. They ask for transcripts. They also ask, again, typically they ask for two letters of recommendation.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Some of the popular summer programs are the ones that Cecilia mentioned last time. She mentioned The Leadership Alliance. She mentioned the SROP program- summer research opportunity programs. She also mentioned the IRT- the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers. I believe that's what it is. Let's see- I don't want to give you the wrong information. Yeah, it is the Institute for recruitment of teachers. That's another one. In addition to that, you should check out the big ten alliances. If you Google Big Ten Alliances Summer Programs, you will find a list. Leadership Alliances and Big 10- it's a portal where you can apply to multiple summer programs through one online portal. And that's really nice, because instead of applying to eight different individual programs, you're applying to eight within- let's say it's eight, but it's probably more like four or five-in one portal. Sometimes some institutions will ask you to submit a supplemental application directly to them, but you can find that out by just checking out the Big 10 or The Leadership Alliance website and seeing if they require a supplemental application.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Another place to check that's really common- and it's actually believe it or not, they have several different programs, not just STEM programs- is the National Science Foundation. They have a database of research experiences for undergraduates of REU programs. You can go into the database and select programs based on your fields. So you can choose your major, and they do have social science programs there too. So definitely check that out. The NSF database is actually one of the largest databases I've seen of summer programs.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

And then of course, you can also look individually by looking up universities that you're interested in. So those are university specific programs. So if I were you, I would Google- let's say you really want to go to Brandeis University. You look up Brandeis and you just say- Brandeis, SORP, or Brandeis summer program in chemistry, or Brandeis summer program in English, or whatever it is. See what they have. Sometimes you'll run into internal summer programs that are only for their students, but every once in a while you'll find other summer programs. I believe I saw one that was a summer program that was an REU -research experience for undergraduates- in math, just by Googling that university.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Okay, so those are the types of summer programs. There's Big 10, which again, is a it's an alliance of 10 academic universities. Big 10 is great because they intentionally want to recruit underrepresented, quote, unquote, underrepresented students who pursue graduate student study and research careers. So they're preparing underrepresented students through intensive research experiences with faculty mentors and through enrichment activities. The Leadership Alliance is also great because they're providing undergrads with training and mentoring in the principles underlying the conduct of research and prepares them to pursue competitive applications to PhD, or MD/PhD programs. So that's interesting because they also include MD, joint MD/PhD programs.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

As for the NSF REUs, the National Science Foundation funds a large number of research opportunities at specific institutions. The way that they do this is, a professor decides they want to organize a summer program. They apply for NSF funding. They get the grant, and then they keep the grant for as long- sometimes it's two, three years. Then they have to reapply to get the grant again. So just because there's a summer program and an institution one year, they have an REU, you can't safely assume that they're going to have it the next year. It is always best to double check. But again, NSF has a lot of funding. They provide grants to a lot of institutions in a wide range of fields. Again, it's not just STEM fields. It includes social sciences. We have several REU programs at our institution. In fact, we have an English one, we have a linguistics one, we have a philosophy one and then we also have the STEM ones, like chemistry and math. I think that's all I can remember off the top of my head, but we have several REU programs just at UCSB alone, so check it out. If you're looking at specific institutions, look up and see if they have an SROP program or an NSF REU program. Odds are you'll find something.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Let's see, what else do I want to point out about summer programs? With summer programs, I can't stress enough trying to stay organized. It's actually, in my opinion, and I hope this doesn't intimidate you. But in my opinion, it's actually harder to apply and get into summer programs than it is to apply and get into graduate school. Why? Because summer program applications range. The deadlines are all over the map. You can have some deadlines in January, some February, March, April. It's really hard to really focus on just working on all of them and getting them done when the dates are sporadic. Just like the dates are sporadic, the time that you find out if you've been admitted is also sporadic. You could find out at any point in time. You maybe found out about one program, and then they tell you- this is so frustrating. A lot of my students who get into summer programs, they get an acceptance letter and they say, please confirm that you are going to participate in a summer program within the next 48 hours. And that's so frustrating because they haven't heard from any other programs and all of a sudden, this one that said yes is asking for you to confirm and say yes before you've heard from anywhere else. Then what happens is they will confirm, and then three weeks later, they'll hear from another program. And they've got a dilemma. You see what I mean? So that's hard.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

The other thing that makes it hard is that, whereas for grad school applications, you're looking at specific faculty to work with so that you can tailor your application and mention them in your statements. For summer programs, you don't really know who's around in the summer. Sometimes, professors are on sabbatical. They're doing field research. They're on vacation. Summer- you never know who's actually around. So sometimes the most competitive students with excellent profiles don't get into a single summer program, because they couldn't find a professor to match them with for the summer. Why am I saying this? I'm just telling you, because if you actually survive the process of applying to multiple summer programs- I recommend applying to four to six summer programs. For grad schools, I say eight to twelve. But for summer programs four to six, and make sure at least one of them includes the Big 10, or The Leadership Alliance. Then you're applying to multiple in one, so in actuality, you'll be applying to more than four to six programs, if you get me.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Then if you don't get in, again, it's not a waste of time. Your recommenders have drafted a letter for you, which means that it'll be easier for them to write you a letter for grad school. They've already said yes for summer programs. They're not going to say no for grad school, because they've already drafted one that they're essentially going to reuse and just add to later on. So it helps you with your recommenders. It helps you with your drafts for grad school, because that essay you use for summer programs, you're going to be recycling. So it's not a waste of time. And if you get in, then amazing. You're in a much better spot and you'll be much more competitive, have a higher chance of getting into grad school if you've done a summer program.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Let me see. So I've covered the benefits, what they are, some examples. How it's difficult. Oh, yeah. So in some ways, once you've survived applying to summer programs, applying to grad school will be - not easy, per se, but much more feasible and approachable, less intimidating. At least for grad school apps, yes, you may be applying to eight to twelve, and that may seem like a lot to you. You may be overwhelmed. But for grad schools, most PhD deadlines, they're due early this early to mid December. December 1, December 15th, and then you're done. Once you're done, you don't have to worry about it. So you just get them all done at the end of the fall term, and then you start to find out around the same time. It's more sporadic, like the way it is for summer programs. And you have until April 15th to make a decision for every program. So you don't have to say yes early the way that you do for summer programs. So you'll apply in the fall. As I've mentioned before, you'll find out sometime between early to mid to late February. February is the month that you should start to find out about grad school admissions. Then you have time to go to some visitations if you've been admitted and then make a decision. So that's much more spaced out. You can better detect and predict when you're going to hear, or when you should do things and when you're going to hear back and when you're going to make a decision.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

So I strongly encourage you to apply to a summer program, because it's just going to prepare you so well for grad school apps. That is all I want to say about that. I think I am ready to close up the episode by sharing -what am I going to share? Actually, before I do a shout out, I do have a listener question this week. The question this week is from Carolina via Instagram. Carolina says, I'm writing to ask if you could give advice or suggestions on creating a GRE study schedule. I'm a working madrista, or maderista, of two beautiful ninos. It's hard to find the motivation- or even the fear of starting. I have done my research on five grad schools. All require the GRE exam to go to occupational therapy. I'd like to have my whole package completed before fall 2020 term. Yes, you should do that. I have my GRE books, the vocab app but I'm still having jitters of taking the exam. I feel if I plan it into my schedule, it may help. But overall I know, que soy yo, que tengo miedo. Oh no, que tengo que ponerme las pilas. Also, I love your podcast. Thank you for all you do to guide us listeners.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Thank you Carolina. Oh my goodness, the GRE. I don't know if you've listened to my GRE episode, but I can't stress enough. Everybody hates the GRE. Nobody enjoys it. It's torture. It's torture to study for it. So I can empathize with you at struggling to study. I will tell you what we recommend, or what I recommend to my students. So my students, because they're part of the McNair program, they do get to take a GRE prep course in the spring. For those that don't- that for some reason can't take the GRE prep course in the spring-usually the students are away studying abroad, or doing some other field work, and they're not physically here on campus. We encourage them to sign up for an online GRE class.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

And I know it does cost money. Actually there's a website called Magoosh. I mean, just from pulling different sites- there's Kaplan and Princeton Review, and Magoosh. So after comparing sites, I found that the Magoosh website provides just as good material, but it's at a much steeper discount than any of the others. So you could get a full six mont- if I remember correctly, so don't quote me. Look it up yourself. But you can probably get a six month online course for $100- a little over $100, maybe $150, something like that. Versus Kaplan and Princeton Review that charge - I don't know, 600 to $1,000 per course, which is insane. It's so much money. So I recommend, check out the Magoosh site and find out. You've already started to find some of the free resources with your vocab. And you should have set goals of when you're going to take the exam, so that then you can work backwards to figure out how much you have to study to prepare for the exam. Our students take their exam in June. And they start to take a course in- I believe it's April. It's at the beginning of spring quarter, and it's seven weeks. For those seven weeks, they do the class- the class is two to three hours a week, seven weeks. Then in addition, they're doing their homework, which is probably an additional two to three hours a week as well. That ends up being six hours a week, which is about an hour a day.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

If you can try to do an hour a day- and if you're like me, you're probably going to try an hour a day, and then you're gonna get caught up with your kids and you're going to, you know, other things, they're going to get prioritized. And you're gonna have to make it all up in one day. So what I would recommend is, if you can't do an hour a day, then blocking out a big chunk of time when someone can take your kids away or you watch your kids at home, and you can go to a coffee shop and study for those six hours straight. I know it's always best practice to study every day, but if you have to cram it once a week, every week, for seven to ten weeks before you take the exam, then so be it. That's way better than not studying at all. So I recommend doing that.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Actually, I would recommend for you to take your exam in June too. I know you said you want to get it all done by the fall. The reason why I say take it in June, because then it gives you pressure. It doesn't feel so far away, and you can think about it this way. I'm going to start- the latest April 1st. That's when I'm going to start studying. You can start now if you want. That's great. But latest April 1st, and from April 1st to early June, I'm going to be studying intensively. I have to do six hours a week.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

And how do you study? So if you do the online course, follow the modules, of course, and do what they say and do your practice GRE words. But I can't stress enough, before you get started in studying whatever it is that you're doing, you want to take a Diagnostics Test. Princeton Review, for instance, offers a free diagnostic test. That's when you find out -you take the exam for free to find out what your baseline score is. So you go through -and if you take it, it's a full three hour exam. After that, they'll tell you what you'll score. It's good to know what your initial score is without studying, because then you want to keep taking practice tests. So you don't want to just do homework. You have to take the test, and take it multiple times.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

The hardest thing about that exam is not that you're not smart enough and you don't know the material. It's that a lot of people freak out. They get panic attacks, or they lose time. They're just not accustomed to the exam style and how long it is that they get tripped up and psyched. All of what they have studied kind of just goes away right then and there. The more that you can get comfortable with the exam, the better. Then also, why take it in June? So yes, you have more pressure, because you're taking the earlier. Let's say you take it in June. So you have your baseline score, and you take it in June, and it's your score isn't that much higher than your baseline, than what you got in your diagnostics. If that's the case, then it gives you a little bit more time to study and retake it. So what some of our students do is, if they don't do well in June, then they study a little more. Then they take it again in August or September for the second time. Most people- to be honest with you, don't score that much higher the second time. But a few people do score a few points more, which sometimes makes a difference, especially if you're at the cusp. If you're at 139 going into the 140s, 149 going into the 150s, 159 going into the 160s, it does make a difference to have that few extra points higher.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Those are my recommendations. I'll tell you, I personally struggled with the GRE I didn't get GRE prep. I couldn't find time as an undergrad to study enough and I didn't score well on the exam. At the end of the day, I was still able to get into graduate school. So no matter what happens, don't be discouraged. Still take the test, get a score, and still go ahead and apply to graduate school. Thank you so much Carolina, I hope that this helps.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Now to wrap up the episode I am going to give my shout out. This week, the shout out is another Instagram account. It's called @BlackWomenPhDs. I chose this account because it features black women with PhDs and also PhD students. I just feel like if you're a person of color, sometimes you just need a little bit of inspiration in your life. It's just nice to see like other fierce, black women, women of color, doing their thing, getting their PhDs. I know that that's something that's uplifting for me, so it may be uplifting for you too. If so definitely check it out. Again, it's @BlackWomenPhDs on Instagram. Thanks so much for listening. I will see you all next time. Have a lovely weekend.