Hello My daughter who is a junior got accepted into the Summer music business institute for 2 weeks in July . She is very much into music as a hobby and business for career. She also has the opportunity to be a market research intern Unpaid virtually for summer for 5 weeks with overlapping the music program. She can only pick 1. Can I get advice on which would be a better option for her. She is fine with both. Which would make more sense to a college applying for business?
I think either would work as long as you weave it into your story.
My '24 D is doing an accounting internship this summer.
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I guess it depends on what you mean by this part.
Both are business-related. A summer pay-to-play program likely won’t be highly regarded by any college, but she may personally get something out of the experience.
You didn’t give much detail on the unpaid internship, so it’s hard to guess what she will get out of it. Colleges will see it as an exploration of her interest in business, but how much value they give to it depends on what she is able to contribute and learn through it.
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Thank you. Is your daughter doing paid internship? Is she appying for a business major?
She will be a marketing research intern for a start up basically gathering data, analysing it and presenting it to the company.
Although NYU is a pay for play it did need recommendation, transcript and essay to get in and is only for seniors in high school so thinking may be more selective ? Not sure.
Yes. It’s paid. She will be applying to business schools in the fall.
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I agree that you should not do a pay for play no matter how selective. Between the 2 choices, you’re probably better off with the non paid internship if you want to list it on your college app.
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What about a plain vanilla job working in an actual business (with a paycheck?)
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I agree.
If it’s between these two options, the unpaid internship would be considered more favorably by admissions, but an actual paying job of almost any type would likely be better for her and for her application.
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Honestly either activity will be just fine – the idea is to spend the summer doing something positive (rather than sleeping until noon and playing video games).
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The one advantage of the non paid internship is if it’s business related and they offer her a paid internship in the future.
I’d consider the networking aspect if you think it could lead to something in the future.
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Yes. considering that and looking for jobs. Thank you.
Wouldn’t any summer job by relevant to business?
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Completely agree Blossom.
No summer internship experiences for my D23. Instead she started working at a retail store last summer making minimum wage and has continued working through out the school year. And yes, she does love that paycheck:)
She hopes to study marketing/PR and is currently deciding between USC, UVA, Pitt, and UNC.
Sometimes, the biggest challenge is just keeping it simple!
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I agree on job 100%. I am trying to motivate my daughter for that.
I was wondering about job opportunities and quality of education after graduation from Pitt versus Fordham versus Drexel for business. Can anyone help with this?
Out of state for Pitt
I agree with @blossom. My son had a job 35 hours a week at a camp, and then took a Python class at the CC at night. He had so many great experiences which gave him some really good writing material for his application essays. He continued to work during the year as well on Saturdays at this camp. He is in engineering and the job technically had nothing to do with engineering (he’s a Freshman now), but the job taught him so much.
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Some schools weight part time work heavily in the admission process. Some not at all. Check each school’s CDS.
Pay to play can help students decide a career path but most likely won’t move the admissions needle. S21 did one in high school. Great experience for him but I don’t think it helped him at all with admissions.
He also did an unpaid intern at a startup after freshman year. Another great experience and I’m pretty sure it’s helped him land other internships and gigs. The best way to learn how to work is get a job. Any job.
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I agree.
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S20 applied to all three on your list. All three are excellent. We liked that they were small and direct admit. Fordham was his favorite by far. Great business school. Didn’t quite get enough merit to make it work.
Pitt was his last choice but that’s because we live here and I’m a Pitt grad.
I was very pleasantly surprised how much I liked the Drexel program. If you like co-ops it’s a good option. The drawback was Philly. Do your due diligence.
I don’t know what the cost constraints are but Fordham and Pitt would be my choices. Different environments. I think your D would quickly find a preference.
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