I’m a rising junior in HS and have started looking into internships/summer research programs/apprenticeships for next summer. Because so many programs at universities are incredibly selective, I’m worried I won’t get into a program if I only apply to one.
I’m now considering applying to several–but for me that raises the question, “If I get into more than one, does turning a program down look bad? And if it comes to that, how do I turn down an acceptance?”
I feel like for a lot of these super selective programs, they have a set number of students they’re expecting and it seems like the organization might see turning down such a good opportunity as rude?
I’ve never applied to any of these research programs before so I’m not sure what the process of application=>acceptance=>attendance is like.
I also don’t want to imply that I think I’ll get into even one of these; I think I’m a relatively-mediocre-student-kind-of. But the chance that I might be lucky enough to be accepted makes me nervous about the prospect of having to turn a program down.
Lastly: I’m sorry if this post is in the wrong forum; I’ve been lurking on this website for awhile but only just created an account–I haven’t yet found my way around everything.