My son was accepted into both the UAH BEST summer engineering program and the NC State engineering program and can only choose one. NC State’s is discipline specific (his is aerospace engineering) for the entire week, while UAH’s is a general engineering camp. Both are a week. NC State’s is $800 while UAH’s is $600. He would have to fly to NC State while UAH is an hour and a half away by car. Has anyone done either of these engineering programs that could provide feedback regarding how organized they were, how interesting/hands on the program was etc?
He is most interested in focusing on the astro side of aerospace in college–hence, UAH is his top college choice. I believe NC State focuses more on aero. However, he really likes the discipline-specific approach of NC State’s summer engineering camp.
Hello @gertyberty ,
The UAH BEST Experience Camp is a hands-on, residential engineering camp that focuses on teaching often difficult techniques and dense theories in a manner that would be fun and understandable for high school students interested in Engineering. Although it is a camp that covers all major facets of engineering offered at UAH and is not aerospace-specific, the program introduces a wide variety of engineering concepts that will be imperative to understanding specialty engineering areas such as Aerospace Engineering, Optical Engineering, etc. There will be projects for the participants that focus on specific types of engineering (such as Aerospace) and classes that cover the concepts that real-world engineers use. Although Aerospace Engineering is one of the most popular majors at UAH, it is important that participants intending on pursuing any type of engineering get hands-on experience in a variety of subject areas
The entirety of Aerospace Engineering coursework is made up of parts from almost every other kind of engineering. In fact, Aerospace Engineering is so closely related to Mechanical Engineering (a broader area), universities often require the same courses for both majors until late in the students Junior year. It is also imperative during the Aerospace Engineering major track that student fully grasp beginning chemical engineering concepts (i.e. fuel systems, propulsion) and electrical engineering (i.e. circuit basics). The UAH BEST Experience is an opportunity to begin researching these concepts. On top of learning key engineering topics that will benefit him in any engineering class he will take, he will have the experience of UAH’s housing, food services, and overall campus life! This could benefit him in making his decision on which university to attend as well.
Best of luck to you and your son on deciding which one best fits!