<p>Be careful with the advice that suggests taking out loans to pay for a year of school. Yes, a salary would be able to pay for it, but that’s only if you actually do gain employment afterward. The simple fact that an internship is so important to finding a job suggests that the market isn’t exactly good for job seekers.</p>
<p>Find something you could put on your resume that looks a lot like meaningful engineering work, even if that would be only a partial truth, and find a good way to talk through it. Research work, CS projects (if you want to go for CS), professional organizations, etc, make for good examples for this. It’s very much a distasteful practice, but it’s the best way to get what you want without having to put your finances on the line.</p>