The Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) is a gateway to graduate education at CIC (Committee on Institutional Cooperation) universities. The goal of the program is to increase the number of underrepresented students who pursue graduate study and research careers. SROP helps prepare undergraduates for graduate study through intensive research experiences with faculty mentors and enrichment activities.
In 2016, I accepted an offer to participate in Michigan State University's program.
The SROP students were allowed to sit in on meetings for the Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) where we were able to interact with current graduate students and see some present their research.
GRE Prep
The GRE preparation included two lectures from a professor who worked through test problems for the quantitative and verbal reasoning portions of the test. This was followed by a practice test and a review of the test with the same professor.
SROP Talks
Weekly meeting where you explain your research and your progress to a subset of the cohort and a few current graduate students who gave you feedback on the presentation of your research.
Professional Development
This included multiple lectures from professors who had experience in and outside of academia on topics such as networking, using LinkedIn, social media, conducting research, how to avoid unethical practices in research, and presenting research. In addition, deliverable of documents such as resumes and drafts of personal statements for graduate admissions professional were due throughout the summer. A panel of non-academic professionals were also invited talk to the SROP students about their experiences.
Social Activities
Throughout the summer, there were plenty of social activities that included students from several summer research programs in addition to your SROP cohort. These included picnics, theme parks, banquets, and a lot of lakes.