<p>I think that Garcia is the best program ever for anything engineering. We spend like two weeks of the program just going through everything in all fields of engineering- there is seriously a project for everyone. I would say you have good chances of getting in based on what I know from others. The SAT is a little low, but everything is considered and if you have good letters of rec and ECs you should be fine. It’s so much fun and you meet so many cool people but the research is intense. You may end up spending 24 hours straight in the lab. This program is one of the best, and colleges will weigh it very heavily in their admissions decision. Most of the students who do GARCIA go to ivies or MIT or caltech, and they dominate all competitions. Prices went up this year, but it’s still 8 weeks long and if you look into the Simons program at SBU you might be able to get $1,000 to pay for the research fees and get a mentor from the engineering department. Definitely look into both programs (I vote GARCIA).
Simons- [simons</a> page](<a href=“http://www.stonybrook.edu/simons/]simons”>Simons Summer Research Program | Stony Brook University)
GARCIA- [SUNY</a> Stony Brook :: Materials Science and Engineering](<a href=“http://polymer.matscieng.sunysb.edu/srprog.html]SUNY”>http://polymer.matscieng.sunysb.edu/srprog.html)</p>