Go to the left!!! You will see a tab that says Projects. Click on it!

To apply to this program do the following:

0) DEADLINE TO APPLY: March 1, 2026.

1) Look at the project and determine which ones you would be happy to work on. There should be at least 2.

2) Gather together your CV, transcript.

3) Write a statement of purpose which tells us WHICH projects ou want to work on, and for each one WHY you are qualified and WHY your are intersted. You may also tell us anything else of interest. For example, anything else you've done that is not on the transcript that relates to the projects you are interested in. In addition, any awards you've won (e.g., Fields Medal or Turing Award).

4) If you don't have the prereq for a project you want to work on (e.g., have not had a course in discrete math) but have the KNOWLEDGE (e.g., you are on a Putnam team) then tell us that in your statement.

5) Anyone who is a Freshman OR Sophmore OR Junior OR Senior in a College in America can apply.

6) Once you have gathered that all up go to the NSF ETAP website by clicking

HERE

Advice on applying because the ETAP NSF website is terrible.

1) You will need an account there, but once you have one you can apply to ANY REU program.

2) If you already have an account and your password does not work there is button that says

Forgot Password

If you click on it you will get to the main page of NSF ETAP (this violates every principle of interface design).On the main page there is a button to Create Account (or something like that). Click on that to create and account. YES you need to do this even if you already have an account. Yes this is idiotic.

3) If you get into your account and there is a blue spinning thing so it looks like its hanging, click on SEARCH OPPORTUNITIES which is close to the top of the page. This will make it stop spinning and put you into the search-for-programs mode (yes, this makes no sense but it works). Then search for CAAR. (If you want to apply to other programs, search for them, or by topic, e.g., ‘quantum’)

4) Click on APPLY NOW

5) You will be asked a lot of question- answer them.

6) (Probably) Click CONTINUE to continue.

7) On the left will be red icons (green for the one you are at now) for

Registration- This should be green and have a check mark

Personal Statement- This will give you a place to type your Personal Statement. I recommend you type it ELSEWHERE and then cut and paste it in.

Instead look where it says:

Resumes you've added to the Application Materials will be available to include in this application

and click on Application Materials - where you can upload your resueme.

Transcripts Similar to Resume.

References Similar to Resume.

Addtional Questions on Materials This will ask you for SHORT versions of what I asked for in the personal statement.