<p>Hi. My son applied for Cornell NBTC, UPenn M&T SI, LBW, NIH, HSHSP, and Rosewell Park Cancer Center and was accepted by M&T SI and HSHSP and rejected by NBTC and RPCC so far…My son is a junior now and he went Awesome Math in 2007 summer. Last year he went STARS program, a 6-week research program in Washington Univ. St. Louis and, with the research results, he received an award in state science fair. It was awesome! Now, since my son will start college application in this fall, we wonder which program makes his college application looks stronger between M&T SI and HSHSP. He highly advanced in math and wants to major in math/economics or pre-med (yea…he coudn’t decide it yet).</p>
<p>If I were the director of a program, I would probably not admit students if I knew they chose my program simply because it looks good.</p>
<p>Likewise, he should join whichever one he feels he will be happiest in - no matter how great it looks that you go to Program X or Program Y, his experience will be miserable if he’s miserable. College adcoms can tell if you’re just doing something because “everyone else is doing it.” </p>
<p>There’s no right answer here.</p>
<p>Well maybe it is time to decide even though he can change his mind later. If he’s more inclined to do math/economics go for M&T, if pre-med has more pull then go for HSHSP and try to get a project related to medical or biomedical. College app consideration should be secondary, and I think each program helps just a little bit depending on what major he is applying for, but should not make a great deal of difference. Going to the program and confirming the direction that he wants to do is probably a lot more important, the two interests are quite different and far apart in terms of career.</p>