DD17 took two STEM-oriented summer programs after her junior year, at Rose Hulman and UMass Amherst. They both seemed extremely useful for her to help figure out what she wants / doesn’t want.
DS19 is in 10th grade. He’s a normal kid, probably interested in STEM, but no outstanding credentials or anything. I was thinking that it might be good for him if he could go to some short sleep-away program (a week or two) where he could experience something academic that he might be interested in.
Does anyone have any recommendations for summer programs that are:
STEM-oriented / exploratory, open to rising 11th graders
Not particularly competitive
Not too far from the SF bay area (including by plane), e.g. the bay area itself, SoCal, Portland, Seattle
We’ve heard good things about the UCLA summer institutes that were mentioned on another thread. We looked at the Nanoscale Microscopy and Nanoscience Lab ones a couple summers back for DS, but couldn’t fit them in. DH knows some of the faculty at the Nanoscale Microscopy one professionally. And, the CNSI is a good (and well-funded) program at UCSB, so we expect their UCLA counterparts are similar.
Thanks @Ynotgo ! EPIC at Calpoly seems like exactly what we’re looking for. Hopefully it’s not too hard to get in to. I saw that the application requires an essay. Do you know if any recs or standardized test scores are required?
For background, DS has a 3.8 GPA - though he scored a 1090 on the PSAT he just took. Not a URM or anything. And it would be an easier sell to him if one of his friends went to the same program. So a non-competitive engineering survey program (allowing for rising 11th graders, not just rising 12th graders) seems to be what I’m thinking of. Exactly like EPIC (though not sure how competitive). Hopefully there are others too.
@thshadow Sorry, I don’t know EPIC’s selectivity or requirements. It isn’t very well known, so I doubt it is very selective. We heard about it because some friends who live in SLO recommended it. I haven’t heard much about it even through Santa Barbara channels.
My daughter attended the EPIC program this past summer as a rising senior - she was interested in majoring in science but unsure whether she wanted to pursue engineering at a university or premed at an LAC so it was the perfect program as it gave her an overview of all the engineering disciplines. She really loved the camp and I would highly recommend it based on her experience. I can’t remember if the application asked for her gpa but I don’t believe it asked for a transcript or test scores. I believe you are allowed or requested to provide a teacher recommendation which she asked her AP Physics teacher to write. The web site does state they are especially interested in students who are ‘low income, female, first generation college bound and/or under-represented multicultural students’ but even if your son does not fall into any of those categories, I would encourage him to apply. We heard about the camp from a friend whose son attended and their son (now a freshman at Cal Poly) also did not fall into any of the categories listed above. I am not sure how selective it is as it may depend on the number of applications they get but I do think she got a strong recommendation from her teacher which must have been helpful. She, of course, is female but attends public school in a pretty affluent school district so doesn’t hit any of the other categories. I am not aware of any other week long STEM camps in the local area like this. When I was researching for my daughter, the only other ones I could find were intensive 4 or 6 week programs which would not have been of interest to her. Let me know if you have any specific questions about the program and I would be happy to ask her.
Also, the geographic requirement isn’t too strict, in case others have ideas that aren’t too local. I actually think the UMass Amherst one my D went to would be a good fit / the same kind of program as EPIC (STEM survey, not limited to rising 12th graders). Though the east coast might be too far.
In another thread, @eandesmom recommended Western Washington University College Quest. That also seemed interesting - but taking 1 class might not be as good a fit for my son.