My son got into two summer programs - one is doing a research (2 interns) project under a PhD student with faculty advisor and another one is a cluster summer program in an university (COSMOS program). Both are residential programs staying in the universities. We are debating which one would be a better experience for him and which one colleges would value more in his college application. Would appreciate your comments. Thanks
Without knowing the names of the colleges, it’s a bit hard to say. I would pay attention to the kind of activity that is involved and how closely this matches your son’s own interests. From what I read about COSMOS it seems to be a good program, and also involves research. If one of these gives him more direct interaction with the faculty members (who might be asked to write supporting letters), that could matter in his choice as well.
Are they both equally aligned with majors he is thinking about? Do you know who the faculty advisor is yet, or is that determined at the program?
Do you have to pay for any of the programs? Is he getting paid, with credit/money, for any of the programs?
@2018student BTW, I’m fairly familiar with summer programs at UCs and in CA if the research project is a specific “program.”
Which one does he want to do?
That would be most relevant to me.
Both my daughters did the same or similar programs. D1 did the Young Scholars program at UC Davis that was more individually focused like the first program in OP’s post, and D2 did COSMOS at UC Irvine. Both were good programs, but I thought the UC Davis Young Scholars was better. If it is still run by Prof. Pomerroy I’d vote for Young Scholars for sure.
@2018student can you share which program your child decided to go with and any insights on acceptance criteria between the 2 programs?