Deadline: March 01, 2017
For full consideration, please ensure that all application materials reach us by this deadline, including the letters of recommendation!
- Complete and submit the online application form.
- Send the following additional information to hpcreu@umbc.edu as e-mail attachments in PDF format:
- A current resume.
- A personal statement that contains in approximately two to three pages (or about 1000 to 1500 words in comfortably readable font size and line spacing) information about (1) your background in mathematics, statistics, and programming (please be clear and specific about programming language/packages and say what you did with them); you may want to explain here also, if you have an unusual career path (such as via attending a community college or not starting college immediately after high school); (2) your interest in applications of mathematics and/or statistics; (3) your previous research experiences (if any); and (4) your experience with or interest in team work (this can be in an academic or in an extracurricular setting, e.g., a campus club).
Please put your name, academic department/major, name of college/university, e-mail, and phone on top of the personal statement. To help us save these attachments accurately, please have your last name together with “resume” or “statement”, respectively, in the filename, as in Lastname_Resume.pdf and Lastname_Statement.pdf for instance.
- Letters of recommendation: Arrange for two letters of recommendation to be e-mailed directly from the letter writer to hpcreu@umbc.edu. Please ask each letter writer to discuss (1) your background in mathematics, statistics, and programming; (2) your written and oral communication skills; (3) your experience with and/or potential for research; and (4) your experience in team work, if any. Ideally, we ask that the attachment from letter writers include both the student’s and the letter writer’s name in the filename of the attachment, as in StudentLastname_byFacultyLastname.pdf for instance.
What will happen in the application process?
We will read the application material for each applicant starting in early February. The first step is to form a short list of candidates with the best fit to the program.
If you are selected for the short list, we will contact you by e-mail and ask for a transcript (unofficial is sufficient); if you apply for funding support, we will also need proof of U.S. citizenship (passport, birth certificate, or similar) or permanent residency (“green card”). The best is to scan these documents and e-mail them as attachments; please choose sensible filenames for the attachments that include your name and indicate the type of document. Please do not send any transcript or proof of citizenship/residency initially, as it overflows our system unnecessarily. Also please understand that U.S. citizenship / permanent residency is a requirement for funding support from U.S. government sources; we cannot change or waive it.
We try to have an exchange of communications with all candidates on the short list. Then offers are made to the candidates selected. Selected candidates will have to return a formal acceptance. We will ask for this with a very short timeline, so that we are able to tell other candidates their status as timely as possible.
If you have questions about the requirements and/or the process, do not hesitate to contact us by sending e-mail to hpcreu@umbc.edu.