Summer plans-continue research or work in industry

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>As the internship search continues, son still doesn't have an offer in hand, and he is at the point that he will do anything, just to get experience. Last summer, he did an internship in a field he had no interest in at all, just to get something on his resume. He earned a lot of money and got a taste of some good hard work, and summer internship interest seems to be taking him into more of the same.</p>

<p>On the other hand, he's entering his senior year, plans to go to grad school for biomedical engineering, and his research is in biomedical engineering field. There is a strong possibility that he would be able to continue his research this summer, though it would involve staying on his home campus and less money, though the money is not an issue, as he has a full scholarship.</p>

<p>Since he plans to do grad school, and he'll be applying for grad schools in the fall, would it be more advantageous to take an assembly line job, which would be considered an engineering internship, or to continue his research?</p>

<p>Other than the assembly line job last summer, he has no other work experience on his resume. All his work experience has been as a research assistant. He does not want to be a college professor as his career, but wants to work in industry, designing medical devices.</p>

<p>As a parent, I don't know what to advise him, as I'm not in his field. Part of me wants him to be safe, stay on campus, prepare for grad school, but the other part of me wants him to get a job and get more real world experience.</p>

<p>He's 21 and I've let him know it's his decision. Money is not an issue, so I don't want him to worry about that.</p>

<p>I just want to be there to support him in whatever he decides, but want to make sure I don't head him in the wrong direction.</p>

<p>Thanks for any advice from those in the engineering field, either as undergrad or grad students, or those working in the engineering field.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>For grad school, research is king. Any experience is good, but research experience - especially if he can get is name on a paper or two - is a deal breaker.</p>

3

<p>He did present his research at a conference last week, and he presented it at a research conference on campus and even received an award for it. I’m hoping this will encourage him to continue his research, especially since the timing is good for it. I feel like this would be a wrong time to change direction from research to job experience, but worry how it will affect his future prospects once he’s got the degree in hand and is looking for a regular job.</p>

<p>Thank you for any input!</p>

4

<p>Given that he plans to apply to grad school, I would lean towards research, especially given that he already has had one internship. His ultimate job prospects will depend more on the caliber of grad school he goes to than his internship experience. So my advice for now would be to take actions that would maximize his chances at acceptance to the best grad schools, which I think is probably research.</p>