DS is choosing among:
There are aspects to each he finds interesting, and could conceivably do more than one in terms of scheduling.
Hoping that someone can chime in with experiences at any of the above and/or otherwise opine? I understand that these are not in the league of the various MIT programs, BU RISE, etc.
My D did STEP and had a great experience. It’s a wonderful combination of academic classes, projects, lab tours, company tours, and Purdue traditions. My D said she never worked so hard and had so much fun at the same time. It’s a good sneak peak into to the Purdue first year engineering design class. The classes are also run by the honors engineering profs and the honors assoc. dean of engineering. My D said more than 1/2 of her honors engineering cohort participated in STEP in HS.
WOW thank you so much for this. This is exactly the kind of 1st/2nd hand stuff I was hoping for! Super helpful.
May I ask where you’re from (or lived when your D did STEP)? No right or wrong answer, just a little calibrating to better understand the experience. We’re in the Boston area and DS has thus far expressed interest in being on a coast/urban or large suburban school for college. Which is actually one of the reasons I like STEP for him - to perhaps shake that mindset somewhat.
I’ll send you a PM!
Those are all pay-to-play so I would look at them as opportunities to explore the host colleges. Which (if any) of those schools potentially interest him?
I would recommend staying away from Johns Hopkins CTY if that’s the 3rd one on the list. Last summer they cancelled it last minute after many campers had already began their travel to the program. Completely unprofessional and while my family wasn’t affected, I know several people who were.
STEP had my son loving engineering and loving Purdue. I’m sure many are good. STEP, via personal experience, was really good.
Yes exactly we’re using these as a way to see the schools. And no it’s not CTY (which he was lucky to do in-person for a couple of summers), it’s their Exploring Engineering Innovation program (https://ei.jhu.edu/programs/)
Thanks too @tsbna44 - that’s two upvotes for STEP.
The WPI frontiers is with professors which was a great experience. It was professionally done and helped inform what kind of campus he liked.
For what it’s worth and I have no clue if there’s a connection but my son got $10k merit OOS at Purdue. Solid kid. 4.6 weighted with 10 or 11 AP and a DE and 34 ACT.
But his friends with 35 and 36 and equivalent grades got in - but got nada. Not sure if it was STEP or something else but perhaps it helps for merit too.
He loved it and I thought was heading. But he saw the solo bedroom and shared with one other student bathroom at his school and it was game over. He was worried about overcrowded housing and communal housing at Purdue but @momofboiler1 noted lots of new housing has been built.
My son never changed his major in college but had 4 intended majors while in HS. So he did his changing b4 college. Purdue helped cement his MechE choice. And he said the food was way better than moms !!
Interesting!
And @Pathnottaken thanks too. Just out of curiosity how did he feel about Worcester in the end? The city and the campus.
My son also did WPI Frontiers last summer - LOVED it! He studied robotics and and he was impressed with the professor and the students who ran the program. But his “minor” was horrible, and a waste of time. Overall I think they do a good job of balancing work and play. And he also came away saying he would definitely apply to WPI (he’s only a junior now - but a couple of the friends from the camp did go on to commit to WPI). Would recommend, especially for the price.
OP - not to add to your list - but you might check out Operation Catapult at Rose Hulman if they’re still doing it.
When we were on tour, they were hosting it and we spoke to some girls from New Jersey - and they love it!!
Thanks
Interesting thanks. We just got their flyer in the mail (for college, not for the summer program. We’ll check it out thanks.
He really liked the true campus feel at WPI. They have many unique programs at WPI and their teaching philosophy is much more defined than at other colleges.
Worcester, MA gets a bad rap on CC, but there are many great things to do and there is a train into Boston.
He ended up going in a different direction for college, but WPI was definitely at the top after attending the camp. His only complaint was the dorms did not have AC.
Cool thanks!
Agree with @Pathnottaken and @hviewer. DS23 also did WPI Frontiers and loved it. He chose Frontiers because he did several other STEM programs there from 5th grade through middle school and really enjoyed them. In fact, he credits some of his love for STEM to those summers doing robotics, physics, and engineering camps when he was younger. The only reason he didn’t apply to WPI for engineering is because he attended camps there since elementary school and wanted to leave the state. Their summer programs are excellent.
Many thanks!
Sorry for necromancing your thread, but did you come to a conclusion?
Just for future readers, I wanted to add Jackling at Missouri S&T. It’s an introduction to engineering camp like Purdue does, but if you time it right, and your student is interested, you can do back to back weeks with a week of explosives camp. They have one of the few explosives engineering departments.
I love Cal Poly. My son is an alum (BS/MS ME). EPIC is primarily aimed at first gen, female and low income students. Anyone can apply, but if they don’t fit those demographics, it may impact their selection.
whaaaaaattttttt??? 
My son went the summer Catapult STEM camp at Rose, with mixed results. On the down side, the counselors engaged in “funishments” for slight infractions and “enforced fun” - the kind of thing one would expect at a camp for junior high kids. Of the various projects, few were successful. On the positive side, the professors were terrific and my son had a great experience helping his project mentor with his research.