US Department of State Internship

<p>Im going to be a freshman in college this fall but Im alrady looking into internships that will help me decide what profession I want to persue. I found online the internship for the US Dept of State. I was wondering if anyone knew the probabilty of getting accepted or how competitive it is to apply. Also, any feedback in general on the program is welcomed and appreciated : ) thank you!</p>

<p>I haven’t applied myself but my friend did and it is EXTREMELY hard to get into even though it is an unpaid position. As a very competitive applicant with 2 summers of middle east experience my friend didn’t end up getting it but he ended up with a boren scholarship instead.</p>

<p>For the summer I’ve heard its around a 10% acceptance rate, but if you can take a semester off the fall and spring are a lot less competitive.</p>

<p>blondie, that’s great news. i found out about the internship late, so i applied to fall 2010. deadline was late Feb, and the last update on my application via USAJobs was " Eligible – Application Referred to Selecting Official" back on March 11. i hope to hear something back from State soon, so I know whether to sign on for a new lease with my roommate or to get ready to throw my stuff into storage. <sigh></sigh></p>

<p>okay i figured it would be a low acceptance rate such as that. But yes, that is good news to hear that its less comptetive during the fall/spring semesters. Thank you all!</p>

<p>i applied for summer 2010 and became waitlisted</p>

<p>stats:

  • speak 2 foreign languages
  • worked nearly full-time as full-time student my third year of college; graduated a year early; come from disadvantaged background thought not an URM
  • read foreign affairs, economist… and a plethora of other sources
  • wrote about tocqueville in one of my essays
  • 3.50 overall GPA and 3.8 major GPA @ UCLA in History </p>

<p>i wanted to work @ the bureau of democracy/human rights/labor</p>

<p>anyway i couldn’t do it because i had already graduated… i would been able to if i was going to matriculate in fall '10 as a graduate student . . . i was in the process of filling out the latter applications but could not finish them in time. alas.</p>

<p>I have a buddy who interned there, it really didn’t lead to much.</p>

<p>If you read government job postings, you will see that internships don’t even give enough experience to meet minimum qualifications for GS 7 positions, which most of the more desired positions start at, sometimes GS 5.</p>

<p>Don’t sweat it, there are lots of great internships available. Don’t overlook your state government or local government either, that will teach you more about government than anywhere else.</p>