So I got into the Pre-College at cornell for a challenging computer science course that I find interesting. However I’m wondering if it would be better to do that over the summer or just work at a program where I teach computer science to kids and maybe some independant research at home. I know pre-college doesn’t help much with admission but it could be a fun experience and I was just wondering if others felt it could be useful.
We’d need to know what colleges or tier you’re going to aim for. And you’d need an idea of just how solid a match you look like, for those colleges. What other summer options or activities besides with little kids?
I’m going for pretty high tier schools. Georgia Tech, Michigan, UIUC, etc. I’m definitely going to major in computer science I just don’t know what schools I’ll be able to get into.(Stats - 4.1 weighted, 3.85 unweighted, 1570 SAT) Other summer options include an internship at a business that would mostly just be experience, creating and publishing some sort of app or research, working at a local job(maybe restaurant or retail store idk).
Assuming they are affordable by you, I like those type programs for several reasons; the student gets to experience a class in a college “environment”, also gets to meet students from around the world, and also gets to take a deep dive into a subject. Since the classes are usually 3-4 weeks, you can always do some independent study or teaching afterwards.