<p>I'll probably post a similar thread in the actual summer forum, but I'd like an engineer's perspective on thing for my question:</p>
<p>Compared to other CCers, my first two high school summers were wasted; I the majority of the summer following my freshman year in the hospital and due to lack of planning I spent the summer following my sophomore year doing infrequent volunteer work and unstructured studying for enrichment purposes. As it stands now, I'm a high school junior on the path to engineering(discipline undecided), with two summers left before matriculation. I understand that there are multiple academic options for motivated high school students and was wondering, what would be most beneficial for the sake of expanding my knowledge of the STEM fields and, if possible, impress engineering programs I'll be applying to next fall.
Some things I was researching:
1. Diversity initiative summer programs. I'm an URM and a female, I know that there are a lot of university sponsored science or engineering programs for both URMs and Women in Engineering. I like this idea because it would get me out of my comfort zone and allow me to collaborate with like minded individuals
2. Part-time Community College. I'd most likely take Calc II and a science class(physics?) I like this idea because I could most likely hold a summer job on top of my studies.
3. Math camp? I'm not sure that I'm gifted enough for the most prestigious programs, but I like the idea of HCSSiM. I'm worried that it would take away from the image I'm trying to craft as someone serious about engineering and that my personality would clash with math nerds.
4. Interning in a research setting. I think that interning in such a section would help me apply what I've learned about the scientific method and see the design process in context. Ideally, I'd be interning in my area, maybe commuting to DC.
5. Camp in a different setting? I'm an active member of FBLA and have considered the possibility of attending a short business or leadership camp. I'm sure I'd have a blast if I went, but would this make me look too much like a liberal arts type?
I haven't seen very many actual engineering summer programs. I've been looking at Flagship websites and they're rather hard to find.</p>
<p>College Admissions aren't my top priority this summer, I'm truly interested in ensuring that when I set foot on campus my freshman year I am truly prepared to be successful, both as an academic mind and a socially mature individual. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.</p>