<p>I'm a sophomore in EECS. I haven't had any experience with internships or research, although I do prefer going to grad school over diving directly into industry. I heard that internships are for people who want to go to industry, and research is for people who want to go to graduate school. Is the fact this simple?</p>
<p>This is an open-ended question. Any input about internships/research is appreciated!!</p>
<p>You are referring to a PhD in EECS? It looks like there's fairly tough competition, so I would really recommend doing research if that's what you want to do after graduating. There are some industry labs that do research, but I'm pretty sure a lab in Berkeley would do higher impact research (ie more publications).</p>
<p>Though I don't know much specifically about the graduate school admissions process for EECS, it would seem to me, like webhappy says, that if your goal is a PhD research would be ideal. But if you are looking at only getting a master's, then an internship might do you just as well.</p>
<p>An important part of graduate school entrance is professor recommendations. If you can get involved with research with a professor, and get a good letter of recommendation, that can make a big difference too. That is a bonus of research.</p>
<p>My actual advice is to do what really interests you, seems like a good fit for you, if that's possible. That will lead to opportunity, one way or another. Rather than trying to force things, go for what seems the best fit.</p>