Hi there. I am a HS junior who recently applied to 15 nasa internship positions through the OSSI system, for the summer of 2017. I am wondering if anybody else here has done so as well? What has your experience been? Any current applicants like me? What positions have you applied to?
What is the selection timeline for applicants? When/how should I know that I am selected for a position?
Sorry for the number of questions, but thanks in advance!! 
Current college senior… applied to 15 positions… 6 letters of rec… and 3 prior internships. No luck so far 
Not sure if anyone actually looks apps at all. I applied to mostly engineering/structures positions.
I think the timeline is up in the air. The managers choose based on when they have free time to look through the applications. From what I’ve heard, it seems like most times people get a quick “informational interview” email from a NASA manager and they call to see if you’re a good fit or not.
Nice to see a fellow applicant on CC! lol. Welp I only got 1 letter of rec… I also applied to mostly engineering positions.
One of the positions I applied to was filled the second day past the deadline, so I’m getting quite anxious. The remaining 14 are still open though.
Good luck to us both I guess?
Still waiting to hear…my daughter applied to one in Cleveland
@Isodidact I wouldn’t hold you breath waiting for NASA. I’ve received 5 other internship offers from other companies so I already took one of those. All of the 15 NASA internship positions I applied to say “Not filled yet” when I personally know some of them I know are already filled.
I know someone else who got a NASA internship as a freshmen because their ice skating volunteer coach was a manager at JPL. One classmate’s dad works at Armstrong AFB and gave him a position and another because his high school teacher just walked up to him one day and asked him if he was interested.
For me, I’d rather work somewhere else where knowing someone isn’t the easiest way in the door without any indication of knowledge or intellectual drive. There’s probably thousands of more qualified engineering students than those three, but I guess that’s now NASA’s recruiting works sometimes. Not saying all of their hiring works like that, but no point waiting for opportunities when other ones are around (that will more likely lead to long term careers).
Welp, I’m done ranting. But I hope good luck comes your way!
@r77r77 Congrats on the offers! Yeah, I totally understand what you are talking about. I guess who you know is still more important than what you know. :-/
I actually just received an interview recently for one of the NASA positions I applied to. Offers should be going out soon so I hope I get it.
Cheers!
@r77r77 is a college student. I think the OSSI system is pretty well known as a black hole for collegiate applications.
what do you mean?
I mean LOTS of applications go in, but no communication comes out. OSSI is infamous for poor yield, for whatever reason. Lots has been written about how to format a resume and what key words to use, but at the end of the day, it’s sort of lottery like. Many, many VERY qualified students apply and never hear a peep back.
oh. So what do you think a freshman should do to prepare for this "blackhole’ if they want to apply during their junior year?
First thing they should do is to be prepared to be rejected, because no matter what they do, that’s the most likely outcome. It may sound harsh, but that’s the black hole of the OSSI.
Beyond that, they should do what will make them competitive for any internship, keep a high GPA, get involved in a club and/or with a professor’s research, build relationships with the instructors that will eventually write recommendations. Make sure they tailor their resume to every position they apply for and that it is ATS compliant.
Sorry to rain on the parade, but with NASA it is probably as much or more being in the right place at the right time as opposed to merit. Good luck.
Thx. I will GET rejected. But as Justin Beibar once said, “NEVER SAY NEVER!”
You can’t get it if you don’t apply. 
With that said, you can have every duck in a perfect row and never hear a peep back. Who knows why?
Just a quick update. Amongst all my ranting, I seem to have received an offer at NASA Ames. No interview, just straight up offer. So keep up your hopes out there everyone. It seems they are still reviewing applications after all.
@r77r77 hey thanks for the update! Congrats! Yes, I am still waiting for an offer…
Seems like it is time to just move on for me. I interviewed for two different positions, but after the interview, they never communicated with me on the status. I emailed one of the ladies that interviewed me and she said that she just gave her list to HR, but she didn’t even have any idea what was going on after that. The other position (at KSC) called me in the middle of the day and asked if we could have an interview on the spot. I didn’t like not having time to prepare for it, so I didn’t do very well. Of the 15 positions I applied for, 9 have been updated to “Filled”, and the others are still “Not Yet Filled.” I’m not holding my breath on this one.
Hey everyone, just popping in to offer my own update. I applied to 5 biology-centric positions; 2 of them are “Filled”, the others still presumably open. At this point I’m going to have to push myself to move on because of other academic responsibilities and opportunities that I may have a better chance of getting than a NASA internship.
I’m not disappointed with not getting an offer because hey that’s life but I do feel frustrated with how obscure and vague the OSSI system is. I wish there was an exact deadline or day that we find out if we receive offers or not, because it’s exhausting to keep hoping when the position says “Not yet filled” but for all you know it could have been filled a long time ago.
Anyway, congrats to everyone who got an offer, and good luck to those still waiting for one!
I’m in California, applied to 7, 2 have been filled. As a junior in high school I’m not expecting any position.
Hi everyone, a new update that came out of nowhere: I got a call and interview from Kennedy Space Center, and will find out by hopefully tomorrow if I get the position. Don’t want to get my or anyone else’s hopes up, but maybe they really are still going through applications and calling people.
Hey everyone, I applied to 15 engineering positions at GSFC and 11 are still unfilled. I had one interview about a month ago but never heard back. Does anyone have an update on the selection status for GSFC interns or any insight/advice?