I’ll be heading to this program in a little over a week, and I was wondering if anyone has been to it before.
What’s it like in general? Is it challenging, difficult, etc.
Is the quality of instruction high? (I would hope so)
How hard is it to make friends? How helpful are the staff?
Anything else helps since this would be my first and only summer program. Cheers.
bump
My son just completed EI, so I can offer some information on this program for those considering an engineering course next summer.
DS is a rising senior who has taken AP math and sciences and he found the course to be extremely challenging. This is the JHU semester-long intro to engineering course condensed into 5 to 6 weeks (depending on your campus). It is a fast-paced course that exposes students to a wealth of engineering concepts. According to the instructor, less than half the students passed the course (grade of B or better) the previous year. Passing means that you are eligible to receive college credit at JHU.
The instructor and assistants were excellent and engaged. The class was a group of 22 students and they were often broken up into small groups for projects, so my son got to know many of the other students. They often went out to lunch together. I felt that the class was good preparation for when he goes off to college next year, and I think he enjoyed working with others who shared his interests.
DS said that he probably would have enjoyed the course more if he had had more time to absorb the content, since they would cover one topic then quickly move onto another. That said, the wonderful thing about EI is that it allows high school students to sample the many different fields of engineering (mechanical, materials, chemical, electrical) so they can settle on a future major.
If you are seriously considering engineering as a major, I strongly recommend this course. However, be sure that you have the math skills required, or you will struggle. Even if you do not pass, you will still come away with strong, practical experience. My son explained to our family what one of the questions on the final was, and we were impressed by the quality of it. It was exactly the kind of real-life, multi-step problem an engineer would confront.