<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>Does a university research style-type internship in the area you want to study look better than paying for a summer program or camp in an area that you want to study?</p>
<p>Either works. The summer program at your top choice school will definitely help you write a better “Why ___” essay and give you a feel for the campus. It also shows other schools that you did something useful with your summer.
However, it may reek of privilege.</p>
<p>The internship is also good as it shows you did something productive.</p>
<p>Both look good on apps. Personally, I think the people that spend 10k on summer programs are a little ridiculous, but if you have the means, I guess you could go for it… I don’t know which summer programs you’re considering, nor the cost of such programs, but I guess a lot of them are cheaper than 10k; I was just throwing out an actual number that is at the high of the spectrum to show how much some people spend on summer enrichment programs. </p>
<p>I guess I would choose an internship because you’ll probably be doing something more interesting than sitting in a classroom. Also, internships are free; sometimes they’ll even pay you. </p>
<p>The summer program I was going for costed around 6k and is only 2 years old, sitting at the bottom of the U’s summer program website (MIT Launch)</p>