incoming senior stuck deciding between 3 summer plans. serious issue- please help.

<p>I'm stuck :(</p>

<p>I'm applying to EPGY, and COSMOS, and seeing if I can do research with a familiar-ish professor at a local college. Please read below before giving an answer :)</p>

<p>I know people say that EPGY isn't prestigious..but I qualify for and am applying for financial aid if that helps. I want to major in Computer Science and I think the quality of EPGY (artificial intelligence) will be much better than that of a computer class at COSMOS (everyday computer use) but I'm not experienced so..any opinions?</p>

<p>But then again, people say COSMOS would be more prestigious than EPGY. I don't want colleges to say "oh epgy, the paid program..rejected" when I applied for financial aid (which is significantly more difficult). The decisions for EPGY are coming out Feb 22 and I will need to reply before the decisions come out for COSMOS. My original plan was to see if I could get into EPGY. If not, then COSMOS. That's why I applied early...Would it be okay to accept EPGY and then deny after the date by which I will have needed to reply if I get accepted to COSMOS? Kinda bad but..D: I don't know. Anyone know which one is more fun and intuitive? Which one has the better quality in terms of education and learning?</p>

<p>As for the research, I heard it's very hard to find an opportunity at my local college. My friend had to e-mail a ton of professors and only one accepted her. So research is less likely at the moment...But I thought I might do it if I got accepted to EPGY (which ends early July).</p>

<p>I'm an incoming senior so this is a big decision and I want to make the best possible one. These are three things I really want to do but I'm having trouble picking. And camps are always fun...but then again research is too...IDK LOL</p>

<p>Honestly, I wouldn’t focus on “prestige”. If you don’t want to do COSMOS, don’t do it. Just because something will look good doesn’t mean you’ll actually have fun doing it.</p>

<p>I think it’s probably safe to accept EPGY and then deny them at the last minute. It would be different if you thought you would want to do EPGY next summer, because you wouldn’t want to burn that bridge (but I assume you won’t be elligible as a rising college freshman.)</p>

<p>So, I would say wait to hear back from all three programs/opportunities, and decide after that.</p>

<p>I want to do all of them; that’s why I’m stuck :frowning: They all look both fun and intuitive. I don’t know about the quality but what I said about COSMOS having not-so-great-quality and about EPGY having pretty good quality were just rumors flying around on the CC forums.</p>

<p>The thing is… I doubt EPGY is going to give me a month to decide.</p>

<p>wait till you get in. Debate right now doesn’t make sense. Your mind will change a lot till then.</p>

<p>Okay. I guess I’ll need to see if I get accepted into my first camp. I’ll bump this thread in approximately a month…</p>

<p>If you are looking at computer science, another program is
[SD</a> Course Descriptions | UC Berkeley ATDP](<a href=“http://atdp.berkeley.edu/about/sd/catalog/]SD”>http://atdp.berkeley.edu/about/sd/catalog/)
But it is a day program.
I think epgy artifical intelligence sounds more rigorous than cosmos.
At the end of the day, it is the course that is going to count and HOW you make use of the opportunity.</p>

<p>Yeah, I just looked at COSMOS course descriptions in clusters related to computers and they don’t seem rigorous at all…I’m looking for a challenge =)</p>