Internship Opportunities for Freshman and Sophomore Students

<p>I might need to clarify my situation. I'm currently a freshman at the University of California, Davis, and I'm planning to transfer to UC Berkeley as a junior-level transfer. I've stumbled a couple of times in high school due to personal difficulties and couldn't get a competitive enough SAT and GPA for a direct UC Berkeley admission. Well, enough of that. I am currently drafting my personal statement, which might seem a little too early, but I want to make sure I have the best chance of getting in, and that means prepping for it as early as now. For those of you unfamiliar with Cal's personal statement prompt, here's the first one for reference:</p>

<p>"What is your intended major? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had in the field—such as volunteer work, internships and employment, participation in student organizations and activities—and what you have gained from your involvement."</p>

<p>This is of course the prompt for transfer applicants. The question might seem a little ambiguous as to whether or not students with internship experience would be more qualified for the transfer, but to me since they wrote it into the prompt, it means that it's important. Now, back to the bedrock of my question, I am majoring in Economics, and would like to find out more about the internship opportunities for freshman and sophomore prospective economics majors. I've looked into banks like Merrill Lynch and Goldman, but it seems like they want junior/senior level interns. Can someone please shed some light on this situation? Thanks</p>

<p>Not sure what you are asking. Do you mean, are internships available to freshmen? My son is a freshman at Berkeley and plans to apply for an econ major in his sophomore year. He is interning as a Cal In Sac (Sacramento) fellow this summer in the Office of the Treasurer, doing fiscal policy analysis. He was also offered an internship at The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. So I guess the answer is that internships are available for freshmen.</p>