@lookingforward - Just asking here. Why would high school STEM activities be preferred over a real-life part-time job in an STEM environment? Granted, a part-time job in a lab is not something every kid has access to, while most kids do have access to some STEM EC at their high school. But it seems to me that the part-time job in XYZ for a kid who can get it, makes better sense for that kid interested in XYZ than some other random part-time job or EC-type experience in XYZ.