Does this internship set me apart from other applicants?

Applying to College
1

I’m a HS rising junior who’ll be doing an internship at a local commercial bank in the spring. I’m interested in finance (also an officer in a school business club) and am looking at HYPSM, Wharton, and Cornell Dyson for reaches.

Since I plan to major in finance (if applicable) or statistics/quantitative finance/economics (at schools without finance undergrad), do you guys think this’ll set me apart from other college applicants?

**P.S. I’ve heard that a bank internship is rare in HS! Is this true? For me, I’m doing it through my school’s internship program.

2

Any sort of internship will set you apart from other applicants. However, the fact that your school has a special program for this might hurt you in the long run, as colleges will see that it wasn’t quite 100% self-driven

3

It is a nice thing to have on your resume but it won’t get you into a college you are not otherwise qualified to attend.

4

What type of work will you be doing at the bank?

5

@ConcernedRabbit How so? In my situation, the bank website states that interns have to do it through a local school program or have to be at least 18 years old. My HS internship program doesn’t place people specifically into the bank; it places students with various mentors since our teacher has many connections. I cold-called the bank because I saw this opportunity and the guidelines on the website and they arranged it with my teacher (so I feel this was self-driven)

6

@happy1 true; I know that there are many parts of a college application, but I’m hoping if my academic stats meet the benchmarks, then maybe my EC’s and this internship could boost the application a bit? There’s also essays of course, but I’ve had many interesting life experiences so I’m not a robot

7

@TomSrOfBoston I’m not sure yet actually. Probably just menial work like filing papers or front desk duties, but maybe they’ll let me talk with clients. Will my duties affect the “prestige” of my internship? Adcoms won’t know what exactly I did, will they?

8

It will be seen as another part time job by the adcoms.

9

It’s impossible to know what weight, if any, any particular school or adcom reading over your app would give this internship.

10

I’m just saying that the school will tell colleges that you apply to that your high school has an internship program. You also said that you are doing the internship through your high school internship program, which is different from not having a such a program and then finding an internship all by yourself.

11

@ConcernedRabbit oh okay I see what you mean. It’s really difficult to find a bank internship by yourself as a high school student though, unless you has connections.

12

I know. That’s why it’s considered rare, and something to be celebrated when the internship are found without connection.