WHAT TO DO DURING SUMMER? Attend a summer engineering course or research internship?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi everyone,
I'm currently a Junior at High school - plan on studying mechanical engineering </p>

<p>I am debating as to whether i should attend a summer engineering course during the break or join an internship at a well renown firm/research institute. </p>

<ol>
<li>What are the pros and cons of each, from the views of a highly reputable University?</li>
<li>And how much exactly does attending such summer sessions help the college application? 3. Finally, does attending summer courses at specific colleges increase the look of an application?<br></li>
</ol>

<p>Please provide feedback! :D</p>

2

<p>I think it depends on what sort of engineering course. If the program is extremely selective (think MITES, RSI, SSP, Garcia), it is a major advantage to attend it. But there are lots of very expensive summer programs that admit almost anyone who can pay top $$$, not sure if these have any real advantage for admission; so in this case internship sounds more beneficial.</p>