Hello everyone, my son just completed his freshman year at Wake Forest - - and loved it. He is trying to figure out the timing of studying abroad as well as getting a good internship the summer of 2018. Can anyone share advice on the best way to secure an internship on Capitol Hill in DC as well as any recommendations on study abroad locations? Any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks!
I’m interested in this too. I know there are advisors within both Personal and Career Development and the Global Studies departments who can help. The timing (to fit in to your major) of these is pretty important although I’m sure there’s some flexibility. My son is a freshmen and wants to study abroad at some point. He mentions fall junior year as the most popular time slot but I think he should do it in the spring of his sophomore yr as Fall junior is the start of the business school program. Seems like you would want to be on campus for that.
Wake is pretty upfront about the fact that internships are obtained through parental and faculty connections. There’s a page about it on the OPCD website, and in their meetings with students the “coaches” emphasize that as well. Students without parents/adult friends in their target areas are encouraged to cultivate their professors to find internship opportunities. The OPCD advisors are helpful for resume editing but for most other job or internship-related tasks they encourage the student to figure things out independently via internet resources.
Reply to Boston48: Here’s a BU-sponsored internship opportunity in D.C. that looks good. Tuition is $9000, but our experience (and that of other parents both at Wake and other mid-tier private colleges) has been that unless your family has excellent connections, or you have an unusually gifted student, a lot of their summer experiences (short of having a real-life job such as waiting tables, babysitting etc.) will have to be paid for.
http://www.bu.edu/abroad/programs/washington-dc-summer-internship-program/