I just took a step toward resolving my summer, and I need to document it.

I had a job offer with the Industrial Assessment Center that would include work starting at the end of the month and last until I graduated, including up to 30 hours during the summer. The pay is low, that's the downside. It's flexible and will work well with my research project. It also will give me good "mile wide, inch deep" engineering experience.

I had sent a resume in for a Manufacturing Engineering internship with a company in Portland. I haven't heard from them. They'd pay more, I'm sure. Probably less flexible, would give me a more in-depth manu engineering experience.

I didn't know whether to just take the IAC job, or wait and try to call the other company to see if they were going to be calling applicants soon.

I took the IAC job. The thing that pushed me over the edge was the fact that I'm not going to be a Manufacturing Engineer, so an ManuE internship won't be of huge career value to me. In a way, the IAC thing won't either, because in all likelihood I won't end up being an "engineer" at all, but the IAC will give me a breadth of engineering experience, which I don't presently have. It will expose me to many manufacturing environments, sharpen my writing/analytical/problem-solving skills, and might even have the potential for allowing me leadership experience. I feel good that this is the best choice.