- Where and how do I apply? Here.
- Is this a paid opportunity? No. If you are looking for a paid opportunity, this program is not for you. What you bring to the table is your motivation, your willingness to learn, and your eagerness to invest time and effort in your future. What we bring to the table is our time, commitment, and resources to help you learn new things and to be successful in this program.
- Is this a free program? Yes, there are no fees and no tuition.
- How much flexibility is there in this program? We want to be as flexible as possible in order to accommodate participants who may be in a wide variety of situations. You should be able to spend on average ~4h per day for the 10 week duration of the altREU program. What that means is that it should be fine if you, for example, don’t have time on Tue to spend 4h, but you can spend more time on Fri and Sun. And whether you prefer to spend your hours in the morning, in the afternoon, or from 8pm to midnight, that is entirely up to you. The only real constraints are the check-ins with mentors, if you work on a team, the team check-ins, and the general meetings for the entire cohort.
- Will I receive something at the end, once I’ve successfully completed the altREU program? While you are in for the learning, for the experience, and for the cool project that will hopefully make a lasting difference in your community, we will provide certificates of completion (in pdf format). We are also considering online badges that you can showcase on your websites.
- Why should I participate? Is this program worth my time? It all depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a program that pays you a stipend, has a fixed structured, relies on traditional lectures to train you, and then provides you with a pre-defined research project, then the altREU is not for you. The altREU program thrives from your motivation, your creativity, your productivity. For the most part, you are the driver and we provide a support structure that will help you be successful in working on a project that you have come up with, a project you are passionate about, a project that will make a real impact on your community.
- Is this some sort of coding academy? No. While programming skills are useful to have to begin with, the focus of this program is not on coding. For most projects, coding will be merely a tool to achieve the bigger goal(s).
- How do I know that I have the right skills for this program? We want you to learn new things, and that is why we don’t have a strict set of skills (nor a specific major, for that matter) that you should have before applying to the program. In case of doubt, you should simply apply.
- What happens if don’t like this program and want to quit? We hope this won’t happen, but we can’t hold you back. You can quit anytime, however, you will no be able to join again later in the same (or other years, for that matter).
- I’m a high school student. Can I participate? No. We do cannot accept minors into the program.
- Are there limited seats for this program? Yes.
- Do I have to speak English? Yes, this program is offered in English only? Speaking, reading, and writing in English is a requirement.
- I live outside of the US, can I still apply and participate? Absolutely! But be aware that most students will be located in the US, so accommodating your timezone for live discussions, video conferences, etc. may require you to be online at times outside of your regular work hours.
- How will your program work across different timezones? We will consider timezone constraints when setting up meeting times.
- Are there any deadlines? Yes, see Program Details
- Still got questions? Please contact us! We also regularly add new questions here.