Here’s some background - My S is a very happy junior at Elon. He is double majoring in English and Communications. He would like to be a screenwriter someday, but may become an English teacher. In order to graduate with a communications degree at Elon you must do an internship. He has been working with the career center, the communications department and on his own to obtain an internship for the summer. He was offered an internship this week with a company he found through internships.com. He’s excited about working in their communications department.
He went to the Elon communications department to obtain approval for this internship and they basically said no. They said that it was not a “cinema” internship. His area of concentration is Cinema and Television Arts. Do you know how hard it is to find a screenwriting internship? Well I do, because I’ve been looking.
Anyway, I have been so frustrated with Elon over this internship. Their guidance has been unbelievably poor. They gave him a list of internet links and told him that was how he should find his internship. I went through each link and about 80% were broken - one was to a porn site! I’m sure they had some summer intern in the office put a list together years ago.
Sorry for the long post. Just looking to CC for some rational advice before I let my anger get the best of me. Thanks.
Wow, so sorry to hear this - has he been in direct contact with his adviser and /or department head? My son did the COE 1 credit class on internships in January led by his department head and that was very helpful. Could he intern for a tv station? I have seen many of those - would that be acceptable? Can his advisor give him a list of actual internships that students in that area of concentration did over the past 2-3 years?
The internship requirement is well-intentioned, but a bit tricky. We found some internship opportunities that required you be 21, or that were not giving tge required 400 hours. Of course, you also have to pay Elon for the internship as a 4 credit summer class at $450/credit. And they are generally unpaid, so instead of earning $2200 or so this summer, my son is interning for no pay and we are paying $1800 for the pleasure of him doing so.
Let us know how this is resolved. I do think it is an area that could stand a little tweaking.
@rockvillemom So glad you responded. You always have such good advice. I think he needs to speak to his department head. He has not done that yet. He did attend one of the required internship seminars, but it was not helpful. I think there may be TV station internships, but he just hates the idea. It’s usually video editing and he says he’s just not good at it. They did give him a list of past students to contact, but that went no where. These kids aren’t working at their internships anymore and most are not in the business (it is cinema after all).
I did not realize I have to pay for this too. Yuck! Will keep you posted and thanks for the support.
Yes - that is one detail I keep bugging my son about - how/when to register with the registrar for the internship and to check with the bursar’s office as to when that pymt is due.
Beyond giving him a list of past students to contact - they should simply give him a list of where they had internships - so that he has examples of internships that were approved.
Isn’t there an Elon in LA program? Would that have potential? This is a link to the Elon in LA program from summer 2014. Have no idea if this woukd fulfill his internship requirement, just a thought.
http://www.elon.edu/e-net/Article/95993
Wait…Can you clarify this thread? The students have to find their own internships and then have to pay the college? I would think that Elon would at least find the internships. When I went to college back in the 80’s I had to do a semester internship and pay for the credits, but the university provided the complete list and everyone in that major competed for their top choices but automatically got SOMETHING!
I don’t want to overgeneralize - I don’t know the requirements for every major. So, I am just going to speak to my son’s Sport and Event Management major within the School of Communication. His major requires SEM 381 for graduation which is a 4 credit class requiring 400 hours at an approved internship. Most students do this during the summer prior to junior or senior year. We have to pay for this class - 4 x $450 per credit. My understanding is that his advisor will receive and review weekly reports from him and there is some type of final projest at the end of the internship, hence treating it as a class and having to pay for it. Dies not thrill me, but I guess I get it.
He took a 1 credit class in January led by the department advisor to prepare for the internship process. They provided all kinds of ideas and support - but there was no “list” as students will intern all over the country, depending on where they live and where they want to intern. So he did have to find his own internship.
I think this differs if you go to a school that generally draws from the local area. For example, I looked at Towson University for internship ideas in the sports mgmt field and they did have a list of internships in the Baltimore area available for their students. So, they had a list of pre-approved internships to work from.
While having to find your own internship is a bit stressful and more work, it’s good practice for the job hunt next year - when there is no “list”. He used websites that are geared to jobs in the sports industry and other more generic job search websites. He went through the process of applying for jobs online and interviewing. So it really mimiced a real job search. Pros and cons either way.
@nebarnacle Yes, the Elon communication majors have to find their own internships, which must adhere to strict requirements, and then they have to pay the school for it.
@rockvillemom He applied to Elon in LA last year, but was denied due to “lack of experience.” He refused to try again this year. It does fulfill the requirements, but is not designed for writers. I think it’s for people interested in acting and video production. It is also very expensive.
I appreciate the suggestions and a place to vent my frustrations!
Well keep venting - I want to hear a happy ending.
Does he know seniors who are in the same major that he could go to for suggestions? Where did they intern?
What about other juniors in the same major? Where are they looking? Have any of them found internships that were acceptable? He could take an idea from another student and search for something similar in your state.
I found that my son was reluctant to follow these suggestions. I gave him a crash course in networking and explained that he should not hesitate to ask for suggestions and help now, and then should also be willing to help younger students by sharing his experience later. Again - developing life skills that will be useful when they are job hunting next year.
Thank you both for your insights about the communications internship requirements. My D is an incoming Strat Comm major, so she too will journey this path. It’s good to have a better understanding of how the process works (and to know now that she should spend her upcoming summers putting away enough money to compensate for a summer where she may not earn wages!)
We attended Fellows Week-end this past week, and spent a significant amount of time in the School of Communications, talking with both students and professors. We also attended a panel session led by Communications Fellows, and had the opportunity to sit in on a Q&A session with the Dean of the Comm. School. The kids we spoke with were all actively engaged in extracurricular activities within their chosen field of concentration, and we definitely got the sense that these kids had the passion, drive and initiative to go after the opportunities and get as much experience as they could right from the jump-start (Org Fair Freshman year.) They were all pretty impressive in what they were doing and had accomplished, which probably speaks to the “not enough experience” rejection that College Fan’s son got for the popular LA program. I would suggest that if he doesn’t already have strong relationships in the Comm School, that he start to be proactive in building them now. He absolutely should go in and meet with both the Chair of the department and the Internship Coordinator in person, and if that doesn’t prove to be helpful, make an appointment to see the Dean. My personal experience with Elon (S1) is that the administration is very supportive of student success and outcomes, but you have to proactively seek out the assistance you need.
I am wondering, College Fan, why you are doing the research about the internships for your son? While I certainly understand wanting to do the discovery to reduce your own anxieties about how this will shake out, just make sure you aren’t compensating for his reluctance to actively seek the help he needs - I’m not saying that any of that is true for the two of you, I just know from experience how easy it is to fall into that trap, and RVM alluded to her own S’s reluctance to do the networking. His best chance of success is having conversations, not just doing internet research. RVM is right that the flip side to this situation is that it is giving him a real dose of how the post-college world works. He will learn from this whole experience for sure! And, we heard numerous times over the week-end from an alumni panel how helpful the internships are for securing those post-college jobs, many of which now require not just a degree but experience. So while the frustration is high, the potential reward of finding the right internship is also high.
I do think his narrow focus (English as his first major, Cinema as his second, but only interested in screen writing - no tv production) is making things tougher for him than it might be for other comm majors with a broader scope of interests and skills, and/or more opportunities to have gained on-campus experience (Elon TV news, Live Oak, Pendulum, etc.) This means he has to work doubly hard to find the resources he needs to help him secure an approved internship. Those in-face meetings are critical to a successful outcome.
Wishing him good luck in his search!
Embrace - wonderful input, thank you.
I see, at least with my sons, more comfort level with texting, email and online job/internship hunting - and a reluctance to pick up the phone or ask other people in person about their experiences. Not sure if this is just my sons or is a characteristic of this age group. So yes - I see reluctance to network as an issue. My Elon son does have his internship lined up and I am hoping he will be more willing to network next year.
Good news! The internship was approved. Thanks for your support!
I am so glad to hear that! How did he get it from rejected to accepted?
I’m not really sure! My understanding is that Elon sent a list of requirements to the company and the company agreed to their terms. I think the key may have been the attitude and flexibility of the company.
Update regarding the internship. It has been great! He is writing and he loves it. He wants to work there throughout the summer even after his required hours have been fulfilled.
Here’s the lesson for other Elon kids. Stick with what you want to do even though it might not fit the Elon mold perfectly. You’ll just need to try harder to get it approved. It was worth it to us!
So glad to hear it! Good advice for other students.