<p>My D did the program in 2008 in Los Angeles. Clearly, one is paying for the housing, transportation and other events, not just the locating of the internship. Some students were extremely happy with their internships, some less so. My D was disappointed because she felt she got no feedack on her work, no mentoring and thus it was not a growth experience. Also, the program decided to scrap the car transportation for most locations and provide bus passes. LA is not a city that works well for public transportation. It is expensive but a great way to try out an unfamiliar city and have a built in social network.</p>
<p>Is it really that easy to get an internship on your own? Everyone is saying how easy it is to get a paid internship in the city of your choice. Is that true this year too? My daughter is a junior majoring in business - marketing, organizational behavior and intl business and Spanish. She’s going to Madrid for a semester in the spring. I’m really afraid she won’t find something on her own. Would employers know that you paid for the internship? Couldn’t you just put the job on your resume?</p>
<p>Sometimes it is easy to get an internship on your own, but even with a high GPA it can be difficult if you are looking in a city far from home. And a student may put whatever they want on their resume- so nobody knows they “paid” for it.
And as a side note, my internship will pay thousands more than what I paid for the program.</p>
<p>So you did University of Dreams and got a paid internship? Why would it be harder to get an internship far from home? My daughter lives in New Jersey so New York / New Jersey would be her top choice but she goes to school in the midwest so she’s also applying to internships there because those companies are recruiting on her campus. She thought it could be easier to get an internship in Minneapolis or Kansas City because there may be fewer people who want to go there. Also, her GPA is only 3.1 - it’s a prestigious university though and she has good extracurriculars - a lot of leadership positions and is head research assistant for a professor now superivising 8 other students. She’s looking for something in Marketing or Human Resources.</p>
<p>She also would be interested in something in London, Spain or Costa Rica. These would be really hard to get on her own although I think she has the documentation to work in England and maybe Europe because her father works in London and she lived there for a year and has something in her passport that she is legal to live in the UK.</p>
<p>The fact is it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain a paid internship. In light of the recent recession the vast majority of employers have been forced to cut their paid intern budget. Internships are now a necessity. 25% of recent college graduates are unemployed.</p>
<p>I wanted to briefly explain how the program works to help answer your questions. There is a tuition associated with the program, just as there would be with a study abroad program, for example. However, this cost is not to pay for your internship, but rather to cover many of the major expenses of living in a major city for the summer. This includes housing, transportation to and from work, weekend activities, a weekly seminar series, as well as a meal plan in most of our programs. Along with arranging all these logistics, we also guarantee placement in an internship in the industry of your choice.</p>
<p>I did the program twice. Yes, I paid for both and am actually still paying. It was worth every penny. I interned in New York one summer and London the next. They were both amazing and different experiences. Not every day on the job was wonderful, but you reap what you sow. I graduated in December with a job offer and am now working.</p>
<p>I don’t think it is worth paying $8,000 for an unpaid internship for just 1 credit.</p>
<p>If you want a good paid internship, I would recommend the Disney College Program. You can intern at either Walt Disney World in Florida or Disneyland in California. All you pay is a deposit and rent for the housing, which at the most was $85 a week (I did the program in the Spring of 2007). The apartments were new and looked like small condos. You can intern in a variety of areas in the parks or resorts. You can also take specified courses, and get up to 9 credits transferrable to any college or university either directly or through a deal Disney has with the University of Michigan and several other schools without paying that school’s tuition or having to enroll in that school. If you want a good internship, I strongly recommend that you check it out!</p>
<p>Hi everyone! I see that there is some skepticism among the bunch about the University of Dreams. Being and Alumni myself I am here to tell you that it is an absolute amazing experience. Yes it does cost a little money, but you have to consider that the money is paying for you to live, travel, eat and vacation in the place of your dreams. You also get so many absolutely AMAZING opportunities to meet people that will remain lifelong friends and perhaps even allow you to make great networks. From my experience personally, I worked with a magazine in NYC and now I am good friends with the Editor-In-Chief, who has many connections all over the world. Talk about a great hook up once I am in need of a job!! I was skeptical at first as well! If you have any other questions or concerns feel free to message me!</p>
<p>I wonder if it’s too late for this year.</p>
<p>8000 USD for 6 weeks unpaid internships is way too much. But that’s just why personal opinion. </p>
<p>There are so many other ways to get a great unpaid internship, like the one Disney is organizing. Nice highlight on the CV as well!</p>
<p>If you have the disposable income it sounds like a good way to secure an internship of your choice.</p>
<p>DS attends a Business Week top 20 Undergraduate B-school. Decent GPA but not top of the class. Management major. Was a state debate champ in HS and has excellent communication skills in person. I think he’s handsome. He had appropriate interview clothing to wear. Had prior relevant work experience, leadership offices, volunteer work and references. Resume had good skill set words.</p>
<p>Submitted resume to 21 on-campus recruiters. Got invited to 14 interviews. The night before interview, each company gave a presentation that interviewees were required to attend. Attended them all. Texted me that he thought interviews went really well but that there were anywhere from 50 to 150 classmates also waiting to be interviewed the same day. Rejections from all 14 came in the form of a auto-reply e-mail within 72-96 hours.</p>
<p>Submitted over 90 online applications on-line sites like monster.com, etc. Got 7 telephone interviews. Auto rejection e-mails for all.</p>
<p>Finally landed an internship with a healthcare advocacy organization-unpaid.</p>
<p>My point? The competition is rough and there were less internships offered on campus than in prior years. </p>
<p>I did check into University of Dreams and sort of objected to the concept although I truthfully wish
I had thought of it first. If he had not gotten a position on his own, we would have probably put our money down.</p>
<p>I am in the university of dreams right now. Spring in San Francisco. I would not recommend it to anyone. I paid almost $7,000 to live in a halfway house with no meal plan and no transportation plan. I applied thinking my program would be 30 or more people only to find out it is a pilot program with only 7…SURPRISE!!!</p>
<p>Seriously a joke. I want my money back…</p>
<p>Okay- first of all, I’m doing this program this Summer. Here are the reasons why:</p>
<p>A) As a college sophomore it is nearly impossible to be eligible for any competitive internship anywhere, regardless of how qualified I am, it just doesn’t happen
B) I’m double-majoring in International Business and Finance. I am doing an International Business internship NEXT Summer, and want experience in BOTH majors when I graduate to make me more marketable to employers
C) One tuition cost which covers housing in Chicago, 2 meals a day, and ALL of my transportation is quite convenient. Not cheap to the naked eye, but much cheaper than it would be if I did this all myself. Housing alone would be $2,000, throw in meals in downtown chicago, at least another $2,000 for the 8 weeks you’re there. Throw in transportation, utility bills, etc? You’re up to the $6,000 they charge.</p>
<p>D) No dumb graduate puts “university of dreams” on their resume. they simply put “Internship through ‘company’” The fact of the matter is, I may or may not be paying to do the program, but I’m still in the workplace, and I’m still gaining the experience and knowledge. Does it matter if I paid to do the program or not? When I’m competing for a job when I graduate, I may have paid to do it, but the bottom line is, I will have done the hands-on stuff that the kid next to me didn’t… I will have gained that knowledge and experience firsthand, while the kid next to me DIDN’T. </p>
<p>I could give a crap less if I paid for this one or not, as long as I can knock some experience out of the way toward my finance major AND be able to do my International Business internship later in my college career.</p>
<p>Oh, and I’m not a rep for u of d- I actually just made an account because some of these posts were completely closed-minded and completely rude about the whole idea of the program. </p>
<p>Look less at the cost, look more at the reasoning why students might choose to do it. Especially sophomores, who really can’t find internships like that, or might want to do more than one and want to knock one out before they’re a junior or senior.</p>
<p>I might be paying to go and do it, but I’ll know a hell of a lot more than the students sitting next to me in my finance classes next year, and thats knowledge I’m willing to pay for- just like I pay for the material I learn in classes.</p>
<p>Don’t do it. It is a waste of money!</p>
<p>Oh, well. We just gave them a deposit of $1000. Daughter is having an experience similar to DRWHOFAN1’s son. She’s had pretty good response to resumes on her own. She flew in for an interview from Spain and thought it went great but didn’t get the job. Had phone interviews for a bunch of others and so far striking out. I thought we better hedge our bets. If she gets something else it’ll be great.</p>
<p>How was the New York program in terms of accomodations, etc.?</p>
<p>Jessica- It isn’t true that sophomores in college can’t get competitive internships on their own. I have a great internship with a large communications company this summer, and I’m going to be a college freshman in the fall. I didn’t get it through connections ect;- just old fashioned application and interview.</p>
<p>“No dumb graduate puts “university of dreams” on their resume”</p>
<p>“I could give a crap less if I paid for this one or not”</p>
<p>“…want to knock one out”</p>
<p>“I’ll know a hell of a lot more than the students sitting next to me”</p>
<p>Jessica = Rahm Emanuel?</p>
<p>Just because “you” or someone you know got an internship on your own doesn’t mean that everyone can. And it does seem like you wouldn’t have to tell future employers that that was how you got the internship. They also include room and board which is not attainable on your own in New York. I don’t think the dorms they put you at are available if you’re not taking classes at NYU over the summer. Only un-airconditioned dorms.</p>
<p>Hey guys, I am thinking about this too. What do you guys think? Is it a scam or is it legit? For my case, I am very disgusted at “credit internship” that most employers require outside the company. There are very few paid internships on job markets, especially in finance industry. All unpaid internships require college credit. For my school, 1 unit=$1100, and usually a job can be equivalent to like 3-5 credits. What I want to emphasize is that, in today’s economy, a lot of college students are forced to pay thousands to college plus additional $k for housing etc to get an unpaid internship. Yes it is very ridiculous, but that’s the reality in the real world.
Anymore past participants willing to share experience?</p>
<p>I was a past London participant, so in my biased opinion, it was a really valuable experience. It was incredible to spend a summer in London riding the tube, immersing myself in the culture, and making weekend trips to Paris, Bath. I miss it already… There were 150 students from all different universities there with me (so it made for a diverse and fun group of people). Plus, I feel my international internship experience will give me an advantage when I graduate. </p>
<p>In my opinion, they over-delivered on even my expectations (which were really high due to the price). The staff in the program are helpful, as they show you the city, but they are young and fun, so they don’t act like babysitters to you. The internship selection was pretty easy as well, and the companies were legit. I had a guy with a british accent helping me choose between a couple of the companies that wanted me to work for them. There were so many weekend/day trips included in the tuition, that made for incredible stories for my friends back home. </p>
<p>I would do the London program again in a heartbeat… Or maybe I would go to Sydney next time?</p>