Timeline for How important is it for one on the job market to have thought about suitable REU projects?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 29, 2023 at 23:22 | vote | accept | David White | ||
| Sep 12, 2011 at 15:58 | comment | added | Thierry Zell | @David: the achievements you describe are the main learning goals for an REU or other UG research experience, along with learning how to present at professional meetings. | |
| Sep 12, 2011 at 15:55 | comment | added | Thierry Zell | Su's paper that I linked to in the main comments illustrates (among other things) that the correlation between academic achievement and suitability for REUs is weaker than you would expect. So landing those "quite-better-than-average students" could have turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing. Also, you need to have a good time with those projects: it's very difficult to keep your students enthusiastic if you are not having fun yourself. | |
| Sep 12, 2011 at 1:23 | comment | added | David White | Sorry to hear your students ignored you so much. I participated in two REUs as an undergrad and didn't see too much of that behavior. Still, the "research" I produced is so lame that I'm now too embarrassed to put it on my CV. The best thing I took away was skill at reading papers quickly, how to write LaTeX, and a sense of how much mathematicians collaborate. Many in these REUs were very competitive (myself included), and I like to think the experiences softened us a bit and made us more willing to collaborate/ask for help. | |
| Sep 12, 2011 at 1:14 | history | answered | paul garrett | CC BY-SA 3.0 |