<p>Due to my dearth of experience in applying to summer programs and organizations, I applied to a local hospital club, high school student club, and COSMOS, and only managed to secure a student body representative position in one of the clubs.
I applied for the biomed at UCD but was rejected.
The two hospital volunteering opportunities I applied to informed me that a) they only accept students at the age of 16 or older and b) the application process begins in October with a 7 day opening period.
Because I am only 14 and unfortunately ineligible for those volunteering positions, I have spent this entire month exhausting every resource available to identify an internship/summer program/online university course/volunteer opportunity I actually qualify for.</p>
<p>The only ones that still have applications open thus far into the year are UC Berkeley unlimitededucation.com sessions (notorious for making money rather than providing actual education) and the community college courses, which have been drastically reduced in number after the massive California state budget reductions. Another reason I will not obtain a spot in the community college is because the admissions priority is given last to my age group (9th grade).</p>
<p>I apologize for this long post, but are there any legitimate internships or volunteer work available currently?</p>
<p>Please help...colleges deem summer programs essential components to applications, so I am terrified of spending an idle summer.</p>
<p>Most summer science programs and internships are intended for sophomores, juniors and seniors to participate; therefore, the my options are extremely limitedâŠ</p>
<p>ughâŠI know I should have applied to more programs T_T</p>
<p>If you know any summer programs still open in the bay area, please list their names.</p>
<p>Thank you in advance</p>
<p>Try PROMYS and ROSS, two selective and pretty prestigious math camps (they donât care if your kindergarden as long as you are good at math).</p>
<p>Thank you ivybridge for the information.</p>
<p>I am interested in science and medicine oriented research programs, yet as mentioned before, they always specify the grade requirement to be a junior or senior.
With a myriad of prestigious programs such as SIMR and UCSF BHSI all concentrated in junior year, it is almost impossible for students to participate in more than three or four internships in their high school career.</p>
<p>Yeah, a lot of volunteer positions require you to be 16. My daughter wanted to volunteer at the local science museum last year, but couldnât because she was only 15.</p>
<p>A couple of thoughts:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Your life is not over if you donât get a good camp or volunteer opportunity the summer after your freshman year.</p></li>
<li><p>ANY volunteer work is legitimate. That is sort of the point (that it helps someone), not just that it helps your college resume in some way. So⊠there may be a lot more places you could volunteer, even though they arenât just what you want for a math/science resume. Check at local libraries, nursing homes, zoos, museums, community centers/summer park programs, summer camps (you might find a junior counselor type role). See if there are any summer school programs near you, do they need math or science tutors for upper elementary/early middle school kids? </p></li>
</ul>
<p>I agree that you donât want an idle summer, but you donât need a âbrand nameâ summer to gain from the experience and have something to put on your activities for college.</p>
<p>A book I read recently that I really liked was âHow to be a High School Superstarâ by Cal Newport. It is really about how to swim against the tide in your activities to be noticed by colleges. You should read it⊠it could really change your perspective on how to think about summer activities, extracurriculars, etc.</p>
<p>Just an afterthought as I read you last post â you really have no need to participate in even 3-4 internships while in high school. One or two will do just fine for even the most elite schools. I would really encourage you to read that book I mentioned.</p>
<p>Thank you so much intparent</p>
<p>I reside in Northern California, the Bay Area to be specific, and there seems to be an absence of nursing homes, medical clinics, and homeless shelters for which to volunteer.
The Kaiser Permanente of Fremont has set the prerequisite age to be 15 (must wait another month to fulfill that). Since I have already submitted my application, I am scheduled to contact the site supervisor to discuss my volunteer position.
I hope I will get accepted.</p>
<p>There is the TriCity food shelter (i think that what its called). I volunteered there, but you have to get up early 7-8ish, but you can amass a lot of volunteer hours. Some things you can prepare for next year are: </p>
<p>BLIPS (very selective Berkeley internship)
NIH
SSP
MITES
RSI</p>
<p>which all are very prestigious (some more than others). However, since you are in Fremont (and probably either attend Irvington or MSJ), you should aim for a 4.0 U/W and 4.3ish W as well as being officers of clubs.</p>
<p>BLIPS require students to be in their Junior year when they apply,
and yes I will apply for it in addition to SIMR and RSI later on.</p>
<p>MSJ
student body rep for Medcorps
applying for another position in American Cancer Society later on</p>
<p>Keep in mind that SIMR and RSI are exceedingly hard to get into if you donât have previous research experience.</p>
<p>My primary concern is that with the ever escalating competition existing among college applicants, an unweighted 4.0 GPA combined with numerous APs, several SATII exams, and an impeccable 2400 on the SAT are simply inadequate.
Every respectable university is looking for students that âstand outâ among the hoard of 2400s, one that demonstrates not only excellence in the academic aspect of high school but remarkable extracurriculars as wellâŠ</p>
<p>long story short, having âgood gradesâ is expected and in no sense worthy of commendation. </p>
<p>Sorry for my verbose discourse, but are Brown Online Courses recommended? Are they actually educational or are they another ploy to garner funds?</p>
<p>They are basically the same as Harvard SSP, just a way to make money, like leadership trips and stuff. However, you do learn, which is a good opportunity.</p>
<p>A side note: a 2400 is pretty hard to get :P. an impeccable SAT score, coupled with adequate grades and ECs, can get you into at least one ivy league, if not more.</p>
<p>Less verbosity, please :). I was all for using big words on CC when I joined, but quickly learned that people think youâre being an arrogant prig if your vocabulary appears to be too extensive.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well ⊠the secret to college applications is that the adcoms pick who their college will fit, not who will fit their college. They already have an idea of what sort of students they âneedâ, so they just pick those out of the applicant pool.</p>
<p>If I were you, Iâd:
- Chill out. There is no urgency, despite this threadâs title.
- Itâs never about impressing adcoms. They donât like people who do that. Instead, itâs finding an educational experience that will also contribute to your personal development.
- Next year is more important than this yearâsummer-program-wise, at least.
- Volunteer. Helping at a food bank is really fun.</p>
<p>Okay
so other than COSMOS, I do not know any actual programs that provide intense academic curricula, research opportunities, or internships for students in my grade level.
Does this mean that Universities do not expect people to have mind blowing extracurricular programs in 9th grade?</p>
<p>Ever since I received rejection email from the Biomedical Cluster, I have been locked in overdrive mode endeavoring to salvage some glimmer of hope from my torpedoed and sunken summer.</p>
<p>I AM TERRIFIED OF BEING REJECTED FROM EVERY FUTURE COLLEGE I APPLY TO JUST BECAUSE I ONLY CONTRIBUTED 200+ HOURS WORTH OF COMMUNITY âVOLUNTEER SERVICESâ WITHOUT PARTICIPATING IN SCIENCE PROGRAMS!</p>
<p>@chaseholl</p>
<p>sighâŠnow I have to change the way I normally write :)</p>
<p>I donât know if you deliberately doing this to be a â â â â â or something, but talking in ALL CAPS IS ANNOYING. At this point, your opinions seem so ridiculous that no one will take you seriously.</p>
<p>@ivybridge
sorry about the caps
i am just very concerned about how everything is
i will not use any more caps.(except to begin a sentence or capitalize names)
:)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I canât read their minds, but itâs not a Big DealÂ. Seriously, summer programs are rarely a âmake-it-or-break-itâ kind of thing.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, unlock the overdrive mode and turn it off.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>CHILL. NOW. Stop freaking out, youâre making yourself look half your age.</p>
<p>Get used to rejection. If you donât learn to cope with it now, youâll spiral into depression when you get rejected from colleges.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I had to, too. Ah, well.</p>
<p>I do not understand. Why arenât summer programs a ââmake-it-or-break-itâ kind of thingâ?</p>
<p>Donât universities naturally gravitate towards applications that include past involvement in competitive research programs?</p>