I plan on wearing a nice shirt and kakis when I'm not presenting and I assume that's fine. The reason I asked is because I'm presenting in a room with all undergrad presenters and I'd hate being the only one in a suit or vice versa.
I'm going to be attending and presenting at my first large physics conference this spring. I'm trying to get my dad to help me buy a suit for the day I present. However, my dad (an experienced biochemist) refuses, not because of money, but because he claims "nobody ever wears suits to those...
It might just be so that they can talk in person about the project they want you working on. I had a program call me this year and that's what happened. Just relax, even if it is sort of an interview they probably won't ask any real tough questions unless they told you in advance.
Some REU's have late deadlines, but send out acceptances much earlier. This is where it gets confusing so you should really try and have all of your applications completed at least by mid-February.
I got an e-mail and I think that's the typical offer. The Michigan State physics reu I got an offer from isn't due until March 15. I think for most programs 1st offers have already been made or will later this week.
As a biochem major taking general physics I and II I would expect it to be very similar to high school AP physics. At least it was like that in my university. Now, if you were to take more advanced physics major courses, then obviously they would be much more in depth.
Offers come at any time and it is not standardized, unfortunately. I've heard of a few people getting offers now and I think by the next week most of the initial offers will be out. By about the 2nd week of March if you haven't heard from anywhere it might be a good idea to e-mail programs about...
Ooops I read and responded to your post assuming you were applying to physics REUs. I can't speak for engineering REUs, but I'm sure they're very competitive as well...
Assuming you are either a freshman or sophomore I would say it is pretty unlikely to get accepted. Your resume is great, but with the incredible amount of people applying to so few spots it is rare for non-juniors to get accepted.
Other factors that could help or hurt you.
1. If you are either...
I just e-mailed them directly. They said they were sending out rejections today. I'm sorry, but you will probably get one soon if you haven't already heard from them.
Never mind I was also rejected...
I also applied to:
The Leadership Alliance Internships
HERE (Oak Ridge)
SIST (Fermilab)
UC Davis
Notre Dame
Michigan State
Rochester
Vanderbilt
I scaled down my expectations after going 0 for 13 last year. Good luck everyone!
I applied there too and it would be my top choice. I haven't heard anything yet from them, did they send you a rejection e-mail? Or did you ask them directly and that's what they told you?
Thanks for all the feedback! I've been reading through halliday and resnick again, but it's really thick so I just ordered the new book written by the MIT students.