I receive many questions on our application process, so here are the NNIN REU Advices and FAQs. I hope that one of the items below will answer your question. Please read on before emailing me!

BUT FIRST! Be sure to read the 2012 NNIN REU web site for DEADLINES and other information!!

Ms. Melanie-Claire Mallison
NNIN REU Program Assistant
[email]

PLEASE NOTE: Ms. Mallison will be on vacation and away from email from ....

If you are having any trouble accessing your application online, try one of these tricks:

• Access your application from FireFox.  Applicants report the most success via FireFox!
• Try shutting it all down -- log out, quit your browser, shut it down and reboot. Computers get into a funk sometimes, and then a complete rest is advised.
• Try accessing your application from a different computer altogether.
• Give any file you are uploading a very simple name -- essay.doc, or dot whatever. Long file names with lots of spaces tend to jam our system!

1] Your complete NNIN REU application includes the following components: 1. your online profile account, 2. your completed application form, which includes your relevant coursework, 3. your personal essay, 4. your one page resume, and, 5. at least one recommendation letter. We not longer require an official transcript as part of your application, BUT PLEASE NOTE: If and when you accept an NNIN REU internship offer, you will then be required to submit an official transcript. The fastest way to get this transcript is to request a e-script, or if your institution does not offer those, then ask for an official transcript in a sealed envelop and mail it in, priority mail. Your internship award is contingent on your declared coursework below matching the coursework in your transcript, so the sooner we receive the document, the sooner your internship will be secure!

2] APPLICATION MATERIALS: We log in and hang onto all the materials we receive -- whether or not we know we are going to receive them and whether or not we have an application to attach them to. And we hang onto all materials until well after the application deadline. Also, if we don't receive something by the final deadline that an applicant said we'd receive (i.e., a second recommendation ...), we don't look for it. So send what you want us to receive and we'll add it to your application!

3] APPLICATION SUBMISSION: You MUST upload your essay in order to submit your application, and you MUST upload your essay by the ONLINE APPLICATION DEADLINE. If no essay is uploaded by the ONLINE APPLICATION DEADLINE, then your application does not exist and ergo, will not be included in the award process.

4] APPLICATION CONFIRMATION & COMPLETION: Once I receive your online application components, I will send you a confirmation email and let you know if I have your required recommendation or not. I will also email incomplete applicants one week before the FINAL APPLICATION DEADLINE to apprise them of a still missing recommendation. I'm sorry to say that there are too many applicants for me to check on recommendations BEFORE you submit your application components.

5] YOUR ESSAY: As a reminder -- Your personal essay is critical to our selection process. It is through your words that we ascertain your 'fit' with our program. Please submit a well-written essay, 1-2 pages long, in which you discuss the relationship between your present studies and a career in engineering or scientific research. As preparation, you may wish to discuss your career interests with one or more professors, and include any insights you gain from these discussions, and any other sources, which explain how this program might help you prepare for your future. Be sure to discuss any research field you are most interested in. If you do not believe your grades reflect your potential, please explain them in this essay. The formatting of your ESSAY is, in fact, ENTIRELY up to you. But, I do have a few suggestions! 1.5 spacing is nice for all the old eyes reading the essays. Try using Times, font size 12, 1.5 spacing, one inch margin all around, three pages maximum. Put your FULL NAME as a footer on every page, along with the page number. Next, take advantage of your college's writing assistance program or career office where they often offer proof-reading services. Have someone proof-read for you. There is nothing like spelling "research" incorrectly to ruin a great essay! Finally, do NOT include your social security number anywhere in your essay.

6] YOUR ONE-PAGE RESUME: As a reminder -- This resume should focus on your scientific achievements and activities. Note any honors and awards that you have received that are relevant, as well as any prior research experience. Put your FULL NAME at the top of your ONE-PAGE resume. Since your resume must be ONE PAGE, stay on topic! For instance, do not include sports achievements. We are happy that you have an active life, but sports have little to do with scientific research! If you upload a resume with more than one page, understand anything beyond the first page will NOT be included in your application. Finally, please do NOT include your social security number anywhere in your resume. It is illegal for us to distribute SS#s!

7] YOU UPLOADED THE WRONG FILE! If you uploaded the wrong essay or resume, just email the correct document directly to me as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf, whatever works best for you. SEE THE CAVEAT BELOW! Please name the file "YourLastNameCorrectEssay" and/or "YourLastNameCorrectResume." In the body of the email, note that this new document replaces any previous documents we may have received and sign your full name. I'll trash the old document and include the new one.

NOTE: This is not an invitation to upload any old document and then email the correct document to me later! Be cautious and upload the correct document the first time around.  As we get closer to the application deadline, I may NOT have time to switch out documents.

8] PERMANENT RESIDENTS: If you are a citizen of another country AND a Permanent Resident of the United States, your application must include a copy of your Green Card, both sides. Email that directly to me, as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf, and name the file "YourLastNameGreenCard" -- you may also snail mail or fax it to me (contact info above). Whatever works best for you. BTW, as with SS#s, we will black out your resident number and will not send it on to anyone.

(If you are a citizen of another country and NOT a Permanent Resident of the United States, then I'm sorry to say that you are not eligible for our program.)

9] YOU NEED TO START THE PROGRAM LATE or LEAVE EARLY: Every year we hire a number of students who have to start late or leave early. You MUST put a PS in your essay stating that you have a schedule conflict with our program dates, and then we can figure out if it's possible to work around that conflict. It is not an instant death-knell to your application! But if I make you an offer and you admit THEN that you can't make the beginning or end of the program, you may very well be disqualified just for that omission alone. So tell us, up front, in your essay, if you have a scheduling conflict.

10] ONLINE RECOMMENDER HINT #1: Talk to your intended recommender(s) FIRST before registering them online! Let them know to be looking for the auto-email from "NNIN REU Admissions <do-not-reply@nnin.org> " with the secure link for uploading their recommendation.

11] ONLINE RECOMMENDER HINT #2: If you are having trouble getting our online system to accept your recommender's email address and / or they have not received the auto-email from "NNIN REU Admissions <do-not-reply@nnin.org> " -- we are finding that typically, applicants are inadvertently including a blank space in the email address and therefore it won't work. Or students drop in a hyperlinked copy of the email, which won't "take" either. Or there are quotation marks or "<" ">" in the e-dress. The solution is to just plain carefully type in the email address by hand and be sure not to add any spaces or non-e-dress punctuation. If the system still doesn't work, email me with your recommender name and email address, and I’ll send the auto-email to them myself.

12] ONLINE RECOMMENDER HINT #3: Once you have registered your recommender(s), YOU cannot register a new recommender. So if, for whatever reason, you need to change recommenders, email me with your new recommender’s name and email address, and I’ll send the auto-email to them myself. But again, it is your responsibility to let them know to be looking for the auto-email from "NNIN REU Admissions <do-not-reply@nnin.org> " with the secure link for uploading their recommendation.

13] PROJECT PREVIEWS: We really and truly do not have the upcoming summer's project information for you to peruse ahead of time. Really and truly, we do not. You can read over past project reports to get a taste for the research performed at each NNIN site -- just follow the links on http://www.nnin.org/nnin_reu.html As an aside and a warning to you, DO NOT contact past principal investigators and ask to work with them via the NNIN REU Program. To do such a thing is presumptuous and really really ill-advised. Don't do it. Please just accept that there is no way to preview our upcoming REU projects and let it go.

14] FIRST YEAR STUDENTS (FYS)! Every year, we do hire FYS. We hire more sophomores and juniors, because they are more likely to have the kind of higher level course work most faculty are looking for in an intern, but as I say, we also hire FYS! And ... since it's free to apply, there is nothing to lose by applying, but much to gain.