My friend's daughter is an engineering major at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. They have a 2-week pre college program. She loves the school and living in Boston.

https://wit.edu/admissions/pre-college/impact-lab

Check out Ole Miss’s Rebel Research Scholars / ARISE. Fairly competitive and grant-funded, but my son had no hooks or anything else that would've made him stand out.

He worked alongside undergrads on REUs in the Center for Graphene Research and Innovation for a month.

OP - if you're near GMU, apply to ASSIP. So many labs - so much opportunity there and close to home.

Many places had to get rid of theri research programs for HS students last year bc of cut funding. ASSIP is still going..

NIST is another.
Can try at a university for research with a prof.

DS did Frontiers at WPI before junior year and Explore Engineering Innovation(EEI) at Hopkins before senior year.
WPI was fun and not much actual work. EEI was more actual work, but mostly in a group setting so still fun.

One caveat on WPI - when he was there a couple of summers ago the students stay in dorms that don't have air conditioning. He lucked out bc the dorm he was supposed to stay in flooded. So they put his group in a dorm with AC. But don't think that's the norm.

Op here. Thanks for WPI rec! That’s a great school and near family.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I was looking at the Aspiring program. It just seems super competitive and not sure he has the background now to get into that. Did anyone's highschoolers have luck with that program? It looks amazing.

Have you looked into local rocketry clubs? Montgomery County has a couple, and those students do outstanding with college admissions to engineering. It's nerdy, but it's fun if you have a passion for aeronautical engineering. And there are competitions, which is useful for the college applications.

Our Dc really enjoyed the Frontiers program at WPI. He had a classmate attend with him and he is now there for college.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I was looking at the Aspiring program. It just seems super competitive and not sure he has the background now to get into that. Did anyone's highschoolers have luck with that program? It looks amazing.

There are very few good summer programs that takes rising juniors. Even the ones do only take very few juniors. I remember there is Iowa sstp, https://belinblank.education.uiowa.edu/students/sstp/
UC Davis Young Scholar, UCSC SIP. The UC ones may be a little less competitive but they are more CA in-state.
Figure out a reach, a target, and a safety. Alternatives are local paid internships and part-time jobs.

For taking courses, DC's friends took them at northwestern talented summer program. Not competitive.
And there is always Chicago ED0 programs that earn you a seat for ED0.

OP here. I was looking at the Aspiring program. It just seems super competitive and not sure he has the background now to get into that. Did anyone's highschoolers have luck with that program? It looks amazing.

Hopkins has a strong summer engineering program that is residential. My kid really enjoyed it and worked hard. (Caveat - it’s $$$; DC was Baltimore public school kid so went for free.)

Anonymous wrote:My son is going to be a junior next year. He is interested in engineering - likely mechanical. We are located in the Springfield, VA area. Does anyone know of any summer programs for rising juniors that might give him research experience or other experience in science or engineering. It could be courses too. We are close to George Mason.
TIA!

GM has a truly outstanding summer program: https://science.gmu.edu/assip

Look no further.

The nationally known Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP) provides transformative research opportunities for high school and undergraduate students. Selected participants work one-on-one with faculty researchers at George Mason University and collaborating institutions using state-of-the-art technology across many disciplines.*

VT might have summer program. Did he apply for Governors School?

My son is going to be a junior next year. He is interested in engineering - likely mechanical. We are located in the Springfield, VA area. Does anyone know of any summer programs for rising juniors that might give him research experience or other experience in science or engineering. It could be courses too. We are close to George Mason.
TIA!