2014-04-13, 10:47 PM
Rejected from all five summer REU programs and all 10 NASA internship positions. I sent a friendly follow up e-mail to every single program, asking how to improve my application/why I was rejected. Every single place said I was way more than qualified, couldn't improve my application, and how it was "very competitive".
I don't get it. I was looking forward to spending my summer doing awesome physics in california. I went HAM with applications, starting them months in advance, refining and fine-tuning them. I've never wanted to do something so badly, and now I'm stuck with one month left of school and a failed summer plan A and B. I even had a letter of recommendation from someone who previously worked at NASA. Apparently that didn't help me.
I really hope grad school applications don't turn out similar. I have a strong feeling they might, since this was my last summer to do anything productive before I have to apply.
I don't get it. I was looking forward to spending my summer doing awesome physics in california. I went HAM with applications, starting them months in advance, refining and fine-tuning them. I've never wanted to do something so badly, and now I'm stuck with one month left of school and a failed summer plan A and B. I even had a letter of recommendation from someone who previously worked at NASA. Apparently that didn't help me.
I really hope grad school applications don't turn out similar. I have a strong feeling they might, since this was my last summer to do anything productive before I have to apply.