Thumper and Courtney, thanks again from the bottom of my heart for clarifying the issue through this discussion
If unpaid internship is local, and helps her get experience in her field, I’d recommend that. Of course, being paid is nice, but having that first experience is often hard to get. This should help for future jobs. When my son was considering something like this, one thought was to do it part time or for half the summer, so he could also earn a little money at a basic job.
Our kid was an unpaid volunteer working at a science and computer summer program after JR year of HS. That led to two summers of similar paid work which he loved. It did NOT directly relate to his EE major, but it was something he found to be a lot of fun. We let S choose but told him he couldn’t choose just to vegetate at home. The subsequent summers, he had internships that were also paid–after sophomore year working for a professor and after JR year working for NASA.
Sound like your daughter is well on her way to a great college app. Congrats!