I’m curious how much of a factor internships play into college admissions (from your experience). Are internships usually taken more seriously by colleges than volunteer work? If I don’t have an internship (and won’t until next year) should I give up on applying to UC’s? I feel like everyone I know who is applying to these colleges in the fall has at least one (past or ongoing) but I mostly stick to volunteering (in my own defense, many internships I’m interested in cost too much money due to transportation/board, require connections I don’t have, and take place during dates in which I’m not available because of my volunteering). I guess my question is, will this seriously negatively affect my admission chances to UC’s? For background, I’m a junior, and I currently volunteer at a hospital 4 hrs/week (about 6 months now), volunteer as a tutor at my school for the community (3 hrs/week, about a year now), and am otherwise occupied with schoolwork; in addition, I’ll be absent for most of this summer as I’m visiting my home country.
Not having an internship will not harm your application.
Having an internship can help your application.
Honestly, high school “interns” are rarely more than gophers. They have minimal coursework is subjects that could help them be an asset to a company. I don’t think colleges are very impressed by them.
I think the most useful thing about internships is what you can learn from them. They might make good material for a college essay for example. I bet the kids who spend the summer in the building department stamping plans, learn a lot about zoning, illegal apartments, and boards of architectural review if they keep their ears open.
That said, if there are other things like a real job (even if it’s less interesting), or volunteering (especially if it involves something related to your interests) can be just as valuable.
If it is an established internship program- it may do a lot of good. However, if it is an internship that is secured just because of family contacts, it is unlikely to do much good, unless you do really great things within the internship. Generally, I would not take internships that will prove to be too much of a financial burden, especially in high school.