Hi - I’ve been accepted into GWU’s Class of 2022 and I wanted to know if it is common for freshmen to score internships? Is networking very strong?
In general, what have been some highlights of your freshman experience at GWU?
Thank you!
GW was ranked #1 for internships by the Princeton Review for several years in a row, so it is definitely common for freshmen to have internships. A lot of freshmen even feel pressured to get one freshmen year, and a lot end up interning on the Hill, which is what I did.
You asked an extremely broad question in regards to networking. What do you mean by “very strong”? Networking is literally defined by just meeting with professionals, which DC is full of. People network through simply messaging people through LinkedIn, going to professional events at GW (which there are so many of every week), and some one credit courses even help you learn how to network.
Sorry for the vagueness, but yes that’s what I was referring to by networking. Thank you so much, your answers were very helpful!
@liveyourlife26 do freshmen usually get internships in the summer? I’m kind of confused on how you get an internship and juggle clubs/classes/social life at the same time in the semester
@imobamaself Most get summer internships, but there are definitely many that obtain them during the school year as well. I have had six internships - four (two being part-time during one summer) in the summer and two during the school year. Interestingly enough, my highest semester GPAs were during the semesters I interned (although I have worked part-time every semester of college as well). Obviously, causation does not equal correlation, but I would guess having a lot to do forces me to prioritize very well.
@liveyourlife26 Wow thanks! Doesn’t the school also offer students to exchange internships for credits? What were the hours you worked in school and were they hard?
Also I know this is off topic but I just finished organizing my courses and my linked courses and now I have 14 classes per week?? It seems like A LOT and I have 5 classes on Wednesday…is this normal? I wanted to see if upperclassmen had the same schedules too or am I just going crazy, thanks!!
@imobamaself while I’m not certain, I don’t believe you can obtain credit for an internship, unless it’s a program tied to a specific course (some schools/programs have “independent study” with a professor).
14 classes? How many credits does that come out to? Regardless, some semesters will be busier than others, but that sounds awfully ambitious for a first semester. I guess you might have four classes that meet three times a week and one class that only meets twice? If that’s the case, I hope you’ve got good time management skills and are ready to work, lol.
@imobamaself It really varies on your major because some departments allow internship credit while others do not. All internship credit is graded on a pass/fail basis though, so it does not do anything to your GPA (unless you actually fail somehow). However, there can be restrictions based upon the department. For example, for both business and political science (I have not looked into other departments), you have to be a junior or senior to obtain credit. You can earn 1-3 credits, which is dependent upon how many hours you worked.
My freshmen year, I worked 18 hours/week at the Senate and 8 hours/week for my work study job. My GPA that semester was great, but I was dying by April. I stopped interning at the Senate the first week of April to give myself time to finish the semester off strong. This past semester, I interned 12 hours/week and my work study job (different than the one I had freshmen year) was an average of 10 hours/week. I interned through finals (I amazingly had hardly any this past semester) and I am able to do homework during my work study job, which made things easier. Both my internship and job are flexible, which definitely time management easier for me. This past semester I obtained my best semester GPA yet.
Typically, freshmen will spend more hours in class per week than upperclassmen because many freshmen have large lecture classes and discussions. However, upperclassmen typically have more homework, so it balances out. I just checked my freshmen year schedule. For fall, I had 11 class “slots” for 12 credits (fall semester) and 10 class slots for 15 credits (spring semester), so 14 class slots seems reasonable if 1) you are taking a UW (as that adds an extra credit) and 2) are taking 17-18 credits. Next semester, I will have 8 class “slots” for 15 credits, although 2/8 slots are 2.5 hour classes.
@imobamaself I just looked at my freshman classes and I had 13 “slots” in the fall (thanks to UW) and 11 in the spring. While 13 was very challenging for me, my time management could have been better, so I think 14 isn’t ridiculous if you’re disciplined.