We are thinking about what S24 should do with his summer (besides getting started on college apps, working a bit, and having some fun). I think he would benefit from some activity/program to help him think more concretely about possible majors and careers.
Do you know of any summer programs that are good for rising HS seniors who are undecided? Or do you know of a way to find professionals in fields that might interest him that would allow him to shadow them for a day or a few days?
In case it matters for what programs are possibilities: he is homeschooled; takes all online classes which have turned out to be basically guided self-study with no teaching with ~3.92 UW GPA; 1440 SAT (750 E/690 M, will prob take again); PSAT SI is exactly last year’s cutoff for NMSF for MA; currently taking AP Calc AB, Physics 1, & CSA, all with As but he has to work pretty hard in Physics & CS.
(Here is an earlier thread I posted about his career/major indecision. He is still possibly interested in business or engineering or some combination, or maybe law, or possibly psychology. )
I know of camps to help narrow engineering options, but not anything broader. I’m sure they’re out there though.
Given that engineering and psychology are on his list though, have him read about human factors engineering. At some schools it is in the engineering department. At others in psychology. It has to do with optimizing how humans interface with machines. Pretty interesting.
If you’re in MA, he can check out the camps at WPI or The Boston Leadership Institute. I think the BLI is more focused on a broader view of specific professions while WPI is more project focused.
Wake Forest’s summer immerion programs, https://immersion.summer.wfu.edu/, particularly the Business Institute, Engineering Institute, or the Finance and Investing Institute.
After looking into these (and a few other programs) I think we’re going to have to pass on a summer program for S24. There are definite benefits I think he would get from participating in some of them (like helping him figure out what types of majors/careers he is more interested in), but even for those benefits we can’t afford the costs (typically $1700+/week for in person; ~1000/week for online).
Like many lower-upper-middle-class families, strictly on paper we could afford it, but that would mean not affording other things we also need or value. I wish we had enough disposable income to make it work, but not this year.
My D22 did an online summer course with Vanderbilt PTY two years ago that was very reasonable. I believe it was in the $200-300 range for a two-week online class. She loved the class and it helped her decide on major/career direction.
I just checked their website and there is not info on summer 2023 online classes yet. But might be worth monitoring.
with ~3.92 UW GPA; 1440 SAT (750 E/690 M, will prob take again); PSAT SI is exactly last year’s cutoff for NMSF for MA; currently taking AP Calc AB, Physics 1, & CSA, all with As but he has to work pretty hard in Physics & CS.