Hi! DD (currently HS junior) has applied for three internships and she is very interested in all of them but due to time constraints must choose one. How do you evaluate how “good” a certain internship will look on a college application? Honestly this is a big reason why she is doing an internship in the first place though once she started researching them she got really excited about them for their own sake. One sounds impressive but may have less actual hands-on; one seems less selective but she can really delve deeply into it and have a lot of great experiences. So as a parent I’m thinking #2, but the #1 super selective and impressive one may actually make a difference on an application??? What do you guys think?
The answer probably varies by college and major. How could there possibly be one single best answer? All you can do is try to put yourself in the place of an AO for the types of colleges she’d be considering. Will they know how one is more selective than the other (probably not in most cases)? If one of them inspires her the most and she’s able to spring from that into other experiences including writing great essays, isn’t that valuable, too? Also, assuming she’s going to request a recommendation from one of them, wouldn’t both the prestige of the recommender and what that person would say about your DD important as well?
Do your best to ask questions, guide DD and then let her do her own thing here. Good practice for her to evaluate alternatives. And congrats about having such good options.
My advice would be don’t do anything for the sake of admissions – do it for the value of the actual experience. If she will challenge herself, learn more about her interests and strengths in the second one, then that is the one to do. She can then use the valuable, substantive experience to strengthen her application, and the second one sounds like it would give her more fodder for interview conversations, possibly short answers on supplements etc. On the other hand, a recommendation from an internship supervisor, when the internship involves less hands on work, is not going to add much to a college app in any event. Reasonable minds can differ on this, but my suggestion would be go with the one which is actually more of a learning experience.
My kids did zero internships. They did work fast food, receptionist at a doctor’s office, the usual babysitting/youth leader jobs. I continue to believe that there is nothing more impressive than a kid who can earn a paycheck.
Agreed.
It won’t. Applicants (and their parents) need to eliminate the word “impressive” from their vocabulary until after college decisions are made. It is the rare application/course schedule/EC that will “impress” admissions. Perhaps the AO that read Malala’s application was “impressed” but she set the bar high. IMO, the best EC is the one that allows the applicant to grow his/her leadership skills/maturity/team skills/intellectual curiosity/pick any other attribute. In almost all instances, this skill will be displayed through the essays and/or recs, not by the filling in the activities box on the app.
Why is she picking an internship based on impressing a college? Presumably, all of these opportunities have value. Heck…being a bus boy “intern” has value.
She should pick something SHE likes to do…and her zeal for that is what will impress the adcoms…not the name of the actual internship.
HS internships are often really gopher jobs, and colleges know it. Kids just don’t have enough skills yet to be very helpful. She should pick one that helps her explore career goals — it is probably the best thing she could get out of it.
Thanks, folks. These are more like programs through institutions that have a formal application process and job description. One is the supercomputer at UCSD and it’s a formal mentoring program paired with a professor. Another is the San Diego Zoo, helping introduce animals/exhibits to the public. I have heard the supercomputer one is known as more selective so I’d think prestigious?
Would your daughter prefer to work at the zoo?
If so…let her work at the zoo.
Forget about the “prestige factor” for these summer experiences. Like I said…her passion for whatever she does will be what I presses the adcoms…not the brand name of the program.
The mentoring program at UCSD sounds nice…but ONLY if your kid WANTS to do it. Adcoms can see right through set ups.
@JDCaliMom Is your daughter planning on applying to UCSD? Is it one of her top choices? If so, that may be the way to go. My daughter did a summer program at her #1 choice and we’re pretty sure that’s what got her into their honors college program.
Rephrasing my earlier post:
More selective ≠ better
Prestigious ≠ better
Missing from your comments: What does your daughter want to do?
She likes them equally and is super busy. This is adding something extra that she’d otherwise not be doing in hopes of adding some real world experience to her admissions info. So if choice A and B are both equal in her mind, I’d like to see her do the one that also could help her with admissions.
She does not want to apply to UCSD - just really didn’t like the feel or location of the campus AND they were really scary about the odds of getting in as bio major.
SkiEurope - likes them equally (said in my first post) — Maybe shell only get accepted into one and the decision would be made for her??
If she is interested in being a bio major, then wouldn’t the zoo make more sense than working with a supercomputer?
The supercomputer project crosses several disciplines so kids give their top three choices of professor to be paired with as mentor. DD chose genetics, genomics, and psychobio.
It’s the MAP program at UC San Diego if anyone in the San Diego area is interested. For both of these, we don’t live in San Diego County which is a stated requirement. We live in an adjacent county and both gave her permission to apply. I’m not sure if that helps, hinders or is neutral in her chances of getting it. I’ve heard the MAP is very selective.
Maybe it’s me…but the zoo job sounds like more fun…and it IS summer.
Thumper, it’s not summer, it’s during the school year. She’s already going to be gone all summer doing something else. These kids are busy!
Well…then if during school…even more important that it be something NOT overly stressful.
I’m sorry but I would not be picking a program based on inpressing college admissions. Just wouldn’t.
What @thumper1 said.