<p>Also, regarding HS internship over the summer, it might be what you make of it. Just because your parents got it for you doesn’t mean you can’t make it a very rewarding experience. I think the most “useful” things on college apps are experiences that are meaningful in some way: for example, my sci fair project only got honorable mention at states last year, no ISEF or anything, but I fell in love with fluid dynamics, got 129487129837 ideas for new projects, and wrote about this in an essay. I think that helped me get in more than just having some award or something would have. Similarly, just having the internship may or may not help, but if you end up learning a lot from it or something, it may be very useful, not for the internship per se, but from the experiences gained.</p>