<p>I'm trying not to be annoying for posting on different boards..but I really need some help here.
So...I have an opportunity to go to stanford for summer research in engineering. I was really excited in the beginning, but now I'm seriously considering if I should go.
I won't go into detail but the general situation is, I'm in 2nd year in Canada, I don't get paid by the prof, if I go, I'll probably stay for 4 months, I really like my project but I'm seriously thinking not specialize in that area, so I'm worried about wasting time. and honestly, I think this opporunity is too good to be true, I don't know how it happened, but it somehow did..so now I start thinking...according to the rule of gruaduate school admission, admission w/o financial stripend = polite rejection, I'm thinking if the prof actually meant a polite rejection since I'm not getting paid, but somehow I just didn't get it. and besides I really have no idea if Stanford is good for the particular rresearch area I'll be in, because as much as the real academia community is concerned, prestige in a specfic reserach area doesn't usually associate with good school name.
and also my parents don't want me to go, they think it's too unecessary and cost too much money. I'm trying to apply for scholarships, but my GPA really isn't that impressive, if I don't end up getting anything, then it'll be really really expensive. Also someone used to tell me how sucky the quality of stanford undergrad is because her dad went there. I was also thinking about taking summer courses while I was there working towards my 2nd major in humanities, now I'm just don't sure if it's really a good idea.
On the other hand, I secretly want to go to Stanford just because it's in California, beach, parties, sports, greek life and all that, I just want to check out the social scene. But I'm not sure there'll be any stanford students left on campus during summer.
I talked with some profs and they really think it's a good idea to go, but obviously they probably just don't want to discourage me and try to keep me interested in research. I couldn't really discuss this with my friends because I'm sort of an underdog, no one would expect I could get something like this, so I don't want to be pretentious and tell the whole world. also, in general lots of them aren't that into research so they probably don't know anyways.
In general, I have the typical syntrom of "If I get something, then it must not be good, because I don't deserve anything good. " So, basically I doubt if this whole thing is over-rated because otherwise why would I out of all those people get it? Will this be a good investment for 4months? is it over-rated or is this an opportunity I shouldn't miss even if I end up having to be a lab rat and spend 10k?</p>
<p>In the quiet words of the virgin Mary: come again?</p>
<p>ok, revised version:
I got offered an unpaid summer research position in engineering @stanford. I don't know if I should go:
1) It's expensive if I don't end up getting any scholarship from my own school
2) Stanford might not be that great for this particular area
3) parents aren't supportive. no one is really excited for this except me
4) I'm not sure if this opportunity is overrated given the kind of project I'll be doing for a 2nd year undergrad
5) I'm thinking about NOT specializing in the area at all, so it might be a waste of time to spend a summer on it. but I like the project
6) It's summer, all the stanford students are gone, I might not get the real flavor of the school</p>
<p>7) but It's California, and it's Stanford.</p>
<p>So. Suggestions please</p>
<p>You said yourself school prestige doesn't really carry over to your major... I'd say if you can get a lot of aid, go for it, otherwise all of the negatives you put forward seem to say, quite obviously, don't go.</p>
<p>Putting aside the stupidity of asking for life advice from people who are all but guaranteed to be younger than you, it's very clear to me you know what you should do, but you don't want to acknowledge it as the right course of action because you're holding out this sliver of hope that spending the summer at Stanford might be really sweet, you might get a ton of girls, or whatever.</p>
<p>I can't make the decision for you, but I can tell you this. Stanford over the summer is worlds apart from Stanford during the school year, but even then it doesn't hold a candle to the image of college as one giant party that gets so perpetuated in movies, popular literature, and the minds of worried parents. Most people that stay live off campus, there's almost nothing that happens actually on campus over the summer. So unless you know somebody that is currently an undergrad you're probably going to be up a creek in that department. I would think that in terms of parties, etc. you'd be in much better shape at your own university, where you have friends, connections and you know the social scene, but maybe I'm crazy.</p>
<p>I'm not saying that you should be doing this solely for whatever value it might provide academically and that all other benefits should be a distant second, but be realistic about what you're getting yourself in to and what your summer will be like. From an outsiders point of view, doing this program sounds like a total waste of money.</p>
<p>You are a Canadian university student who has the opportunity to get a taste of the Stanford campus, university life in the US, to do research with a university professor at a world-renowned university and all you are thinking about is your social life, beach parties, Greek life while there? Grow up! Do it for the experience, do it for the knowledge you'll gain, do it for the fact that it will look good on your resume. It is only 4 months of your life. Take your blinders off and look at the big picture - unless money is a major factor. Stanford is nothing like UBC or Univ of Toronto, Queens, or Western or wherever it is that you are now! Sometimes when opportunities come to us too easily, we don't appreciate them. Others might give an arm and a leg for this type of opportunity.</p>
<p>You know, I agree with the poster above me. I had given up my summer of junior year in order to go to work with a MIT professor to work on a research project that I would probably not go into in the future at a Harvard Medical School hospital. But I did it for reserach experience as well to get to know Boston area. I didn't want to stay home for the summer doing nothing...but I got paid from this internship. In the end, I was admitted to MIT early action. But I don't want to come off as an impression that I'm just doing it for college admissions. No, I did this internship so I can gain reserach experience before going to college and to explore a potential field. </p>
<p>So, do it if you can find some money to go to California and a place to stay.</p>