<p>Colorado Mom, wiser words have never been spoken!</p>
<p>Things are looking better right now ( read the book…duh…), hoping for A’s and B’s taking 18 credits this semester, and he got a “research fellowship” that includes a stipend and 8 weeks of housing this summer.</p>
<p>I think he should do “algorithms and applications” or “matlab”, while he is there. Six weeks, 3 credits. He withdrew from this after 6 weeks freshman year, and I think it is a pre req for a spring of junior year class (Heat Transfer). Can’t find it at CC’s, CSU’s, or UC’s around here. How much time will this consume? </p>
<p>When he dropped it, we told him we are fine paying for an extra semester, and we are.</p>
<p>Possible courses:</p>
<p>Sacramento City College: Engineering 405
Los Medanos College: Engineering 22
Diablo Valley College: Engineering 136
Laney College: Engineering 77
CSU Sacramento: Engineering 50
UC Davis: Engineering 6 or Mechanical Engineering 5
UC Berkeley: Engineering 7</p>
<p>Or will he be taking it at his school, or a school nearby?</p>
<p>That type of course (computing for engineers using MATLAB) is a common frosh/soph course for engineering majors. Colleges with engineering typically offer it, although it may not be available in the summer. If you find such courses at UCs or CSUs, you can use [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) to find community colleges that have equivalent courses.</p>
<p>You are awsesome UCB! So far not finding this available nearby (UCD, Diablo Valley, Sac State, Solano Community) this summer, and since he will have housing, and be at at his school in So Cal, I wanted to support it. </p>
<p>Could most rising juniors do this course while doing part time to full time research? Might matlab help with research? His is something like “Alternative Energy: Faraday’s Law and Car Batteries".</p>
<p>At a semester system school, a summer session is typically half as long as a regular semester, so a summer course should be about the workload of two courses during a regular semester (but for only half as long).</p>
<p>At a quarter system school, a summer session is like regular quarter, so a summer course is the same workload as the same course in another quarter.</p>
<p>We asked engineering schools ~ what if we wanted to PLAN on it taking 5 yrs for our daughter to get-through the engineering program. Plan this from the beginning (cause she also wanted a life). D’s no slouch 720+Msat, 3.8uw, AP PhysicsC, CalcBC) The answer was always ~ NO. So many students repeat classes anyway, or fail out or engineering. I am so tired of hearing we need more engineers.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap, I don’t see why he couldn’t work and take a 3 credit class. He will have to be focused though. My kids were much more social in the summer and it was a good breather after school.</p>
<p>Did I understand you to say that Shrinkrap Son would like to have a job in addition to the REU? Please confer with the coordinator of the summer REU. I believe that the typical rule is that a student/researcher cannot hold any other “employment” while participating in the program.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap it’s likely there would be a scheduling conflict with the times of class and work. I may be teaching a 5-week intensive summer course which would meet every day, 8-12 MWF and 8-11 TR. I would not advise any student attempting my course to do so with anything else on their plates.</p>
<p>^ Okay thanks. The class meets twice a week for three hours. When he took it before, it took a lot of time outside of class. </p>
<p>By the way, I am asking if taking a class while doing research would be demanding. I have no idea how much time the research would involve. Perhaps it is often full time? Should I be thinking tof the research as a job? Anyway, I guess I won’t suggest it, and see what he comes up with.</p>
<p>LakeWashington, I am looking up “REU”. Should I know what that is?</p>
<p>Shrinkrap. When my son was doing research (REU’s for two summers) in undergrad in the summers he was mostly with graduate students who spent every waking moment in the lab. He believed it was also expected of him (whethter it was or not I don’t know). </p>
<p>This is where you make an impression on your teachers for grad school applications :)</p>
<p>My son did two REUs. They were both 50+ hours/week.</p>
<p>Wow! I don’t think this is a “real” REU, but it sounds similar. He will be working with a mentor on a project, but I was not under the impression anyone else was involved. I am interested to see what is in store.</p>
<p>Here is a blurb about what other students did.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.lmu.edu/Page78101.aspx[/url]”>https://www.lmu.edu/Page78101.aspx</a></p>
<p>FYI…</p>
<p>REU = Research Experience for Undergraduates</p>
<p>These are essenially paid summer internships typically funded by National Science Foundation grants to colleges and universities. Not every school conduct said program but very many do. They usually have at least 10 undergraduate participants working with mentors on specific projects. The selection process is quite competitive at most places. One professor I spoke to at a major westerrn public said that he had over 150 applications for 10 seats in his Materials Science/Chemistry REU. These programs can be a great springboard to graduate studies. It can be a great opportunity and likely will impress potential employers. Most REUs prefer juniors and seniors.</p>
<p>LakeWashington, do you mean Jrs as in the summer between Soph and Jr year? Or between Jr and Sr?</p>
<p>And BTW, I have been keeping tabs on the internship forum here at cc. It appears that REUs are not very timely at letting kids know if they got it or not or even notifying them sometimes at all that they did not.</p>
<p>Your program sounds similar to an REU but it looks like it may be specific to the school. REUs go across universities and are usually more standardized in how they work and what the expectations are.</p>
<p>My feeling is that students are getting a taste of graduate research and my view is that professors work their graduate students pretty hard.</p>
<p>My son applied to an REU and never heard back from them.</p>
<p>snugapug–If your D wants to take 5 years for engineering she should apply to co-op programs, where it is a mandatory 5 year plan but there are semesters set aside for work alternating with semesters of classes. Kids graduate with valuable experience in the field.</p>
<p>Shrinkwrap - So glad things are going better! </p>
<p>mommusic/sunapug - Five year engineering programs with integrated co-op have a lot of advantages. But that won’t lessen the workload during the course time. The reason it would be hard to plan a 5 year engineering program is because so many classes depend on prerequisites (sometimes just given in fall or spring). There would be too much risk of it spilling into 6th year.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap: so glad to hear that your S is going to make it! What great news after the nail- biting from the first year!</p>