<p>Which women's college had this? I could be hallucinating but I could have sworn that there was a women's college that guaranteed a paid internship to any student that wanted it. Anybody have the answer?</p>
<p>Yes it’s called West Point</p>
<p><em>buzzer sound</em>
I’m pretty sure no, try again!</p>
<p>Well, Connecticut College does this, but it’s no longer a woman’s college. They’ll pay you $3,000 if your internship doesn’t pay that.</p>
<p>Kinda like recycling tuition dollars, IMHO.</p>
<p>For future reference, someone PM’ed me informing me of Praxis, a program at Smith.</p>
<p>Yes, I think you’re thinking of PRAXIS, which is a Smith program that garauntees every student $2000 for one summer after either their sophomore or junior years to offset the cost of doing an unpaid internship. It has to be a summer internship and at the end of it you have to write a report about your internship and the kind of work you did. They file all the reports together so that students can read about internships other students have done in the past. Other than that, you just prove you have a real internship and Smith just cuts you a check.</p>
<p>Thanks Smithie! Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.</p>
<p>It is a pretty sweet deal. But keep in mind that only the money is garaunteed, finding the internship is 100% up to you. And $2000 doesn’t go super far if you’re spending the summer away from home to do your internship, though it does help.</p>
<p>Wellesley has a similar summer stipend program that gives something around $2500-3000. You have to apply for the program, and the money is contingent on you getting an (unpaid or pretty close to it) internship.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr also funds unpaid summer internships with $3,600 to $5,000. The stipend is not guaranteed the way it is at Smith, but I have heard of few rejections and we can get funded for multiple summers.</p>
<p>Smith’s fund is not guaranteed if you are a second year and is not available for firsties.</p>
<p>^ Not true. I give you from the Smith website: “Administered by the Career Development Office, the program gives each Smith sophomore or junior access to a one-time $2,000 stipend that ensures she can afford to participate in a summer internship that draws on her academic background and builds on her career goals. Praxis allows students to use their stipend for internships in fields where funding is not typically offered, such as the arts, start-up businesses and some media as well as for collaborative activities with faculty.”</p>
<p>It is guaranteed to sophomores or juniors, though it is a one time use grant (you can’t do it both years. Though if you do the semester in washington program you get a grant equal to praxis because the program requires you to intern for the summer and the fall semester). It was never guaranteed to first-years, i.e. you can’t use it the summer after your first-year. I assume this is because fewer first-years choose to do a full time internship program and the internships you get as a first-year student are often not as directly connected to your future job prospects and/or are often not as crucial as the ones you get after sophomore and especially junior year. </p>
<p>You have to fill out some paperwork detailing your goals and you have to give an email or letter showing that your internship meets the minimum hours requirement and is unpaid, but after that the funding is guaranteed, it’s not really a formal application process (i.e. you can’t be turned down unless you aren’t fulfilling the minimum hours)</p>
<p>-To SmithieandProud
How many summer internships do you think you could get a Smith total? If you’ve used up your $2000 on an internship in your sophmore year, can you find internships your junior and senior years and get funding though Smith for them as well?</p>
<p>…bump </p>
<p>o_o</p>
<p>It really depends on your field and your preparation. Ideally you’re interning every summer you’re at Smith (so three summers). Praxis is a one-time thing, so you can only use it one summer, but depending on your interests and field you can find other sources of funding or even paid internships that will make it easier to pursue your goals… </p>
<p>I had two summer internships that were funded through Smith and one summer that I spent interning but living at home. I did the Semester-in-Washington program, which actually requires that you intern for a summer and a semester and provides Praxis level funding for the summer part of your internship (and then you don’t pay Smith room and board for the fall semester, just Smith tuition, so you have that money to spend on rent/food). That was the summer between sophomore and junior year. Then I did a summer internship funded through Praxis between junior and senior year. And between first year and sophomore year, again, I lived at home and interned part time while working part time. </p>
<p>So again, it really depends on 1) your personal circumstances and 2) your field. If you’re interested in advertising or banking for example, going to any of the 7 sisters makes you a very competitive applicant for well paid summer internships at DeutcheBank or Ogilvy and Mather. If you’re into sciences, most summers you can find a paid or partially paid research gig. Some departments offer special stipends for particular kinds of summer internships. And paid internships exist if you’re willing to be flexible and know where to look. </p>
<p>The point of Praxis is to provide a baseline. So that everyone could afford to spend a summer interning, not just the wealthy girls. Which is very important as internships become such an important part of getting hired in many professions. But the hope is that you’ll be able to do it more than one summer, even if you can only do it part time.</p>
<p>Great responce. Thanks!</p>