Junior trying to decide between internships for college apps

Pre-College Issues High School Life
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To start with some context: I’m a high school junior, and I’ve been interested in a STEM hobby for quite a few years. I turned it into a relatively small business this year and occasionally take a freelance gig when I’m interested and have ample free time, so despite not having a formal job, I’m making more money than most part-time high school jobs to the best of my knowledge. My intention is not to boast; this is purely to provide some potentially relevant context for my question in terms of qualifications and experience.

Since last year, I’ve been searching for a summer internship that I’m actually interested in. I just got offered an internship at a startup that would provide valuable industry experience in a fast-paced environment, autonomy over much of my work, teamwork skills, and pays decently well. I’d have to accept it next week, but I can see if the deadline can be adjusted (which I don’t anticipate being a problem).

Without going into excessive detail, recent events related to my hobby work have resulted in me potentially being able to get a research internship at a very prestigious college in the field instead, for a topic I’m interested in — if everything works out. Of course, this isn’t guaranteed by any means: the professor is interested, but bureaucracy at the institution may not work out in my favor.

I find it hard to decide between these two options in terms of which one I’m interested more in. The startup would provide valuable industry experience in a fast-paced environment with autonomy, and is most likely more aligned with my future plans (especially post-university). On the other hand, I also find the research topic interesting and I enjoy working on researching specific problems in my personal time when I come across intriguing topics that I happen to be searching for. It’s also worth noting that the research internship would be at the same college as my #1 choice, so it’s likely to help with admissions.

So, personal preferences aside, would one be more valuable than the other for admissions to prestigious colleges? Are there any other reasons to favor one of the other? I’m trying to decide whether I should accept the startup offer or try to get the deadline extended ASAP while I figure out the potential research internship. Both internships would be ~10 weeks during HS summer break.

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Is there a reason that you think it will help with admissions? Did the prof that you would work with tell you this?

I would make your decision assuming that there will be no help with admissions. Pick what you like best.

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If you have an offer in hand and the other is a “maybe”, go with the firm offer.

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Take the bird in hand. You don’t yet have the research internship, and these things almost always take a lot longer to get approved than people think. In my opinion, one won’t help appreciably more than the other, given the facts you’ve presented.

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I think either one will help you and one is a known where you have an offer.

Universities do have more red tape and even more with Covid. The industry internship will have more flexibility when it comes to navigating that.

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The professor didn’t say that, but it’s my intuition thst getting a research internship during high school at the same college I’m applying to will help with admissions. Is that not the case?

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That’s a good point. The professor isn’t sure about several policies related to COVID and hiring minors, and I live in a different state from the university, so it won’t necessarily work out.

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Thanks everyone for the advice. I’ll most likely accept the industry internship offer, given the uncertainty of the other one. It does seem unlikely that the research internship will be settled within 2-4 weeks.

On the other hand, it feels like I’m throwing away an incredible opportunity since the research internship is at a very prestigious university, but I guess I can’t have everything. The timing is unfortunate because as a junior, I only have time for one internship before college applications.