I had a question for my son who is a current sophomore in a boarding school in Massachusetts. He is looking at summer options. He got an offer for a paid internship at a renowned aerospace/engineering company to work on possible virtual reality projects.he is very eager to take that up. But I was telling him to hold onto the internship for next year and do a good summer camp like PROMYS(math camp at Boston University as he is pretty good at Math) or a good Science Camp like Summer Science Program offerred by CU Boulder in Colorado…which is a reasearch internship in Astrophysics and could result in a publication. Can anyone help me understand which option is better and why?
I would encourage the internship. Paid work and networking. Very few high school students can get that.
The ONLY reason I can see for a summer program is if you would rather have him with more kids in his age bracket.
@SoaringHigh First off congratulations on getting the paid internship…if the confusion is about which one look better for college admissions - IMO internship may make him unique. Very few high schoolers get paid internships - at well-known companies - think that will make his resume stand out. Additional advantage is connections/networking.
About the Summer Science Program - while they accept applications from sophomore, think its very difficult to get into as a sophomore (they explicitly mentioned that on the site saying very few or rare sophomores getting in) - consider that aspect while taking the decision.
Longhaul and dadmathgeek thank you so much for the advice.