<p>I recently applied for the summer White House Internship and I was wondering a couple of things. First, did anyone else appy? Secondly, does anyone have any experience/knowledge about this internship. More specifically how significant would getting it be?</p>
<p>I did. so did someone else on CC (DA09), I started a thread 2 weeks ago or so about it, but it’s kind of been dead for a while.</p>
<p>Anyway, to answer your questions.</p>
<p>Getting the internship is super significant. It’s a bit hard to get into, since I think they only accept about 100-200 applications out of over 1000 or some ridiculous number. Also, it’s the WHITE HOUSE. Think about it for a sec.</p>
<p>If you’re writing a resume and you put down 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, as a former work address what do you think that says about you? (answer: awesome!)</p>
<p>Basically, A- It’s a great oppotunity to work inside the White House and see how a Presidential Administration runs; B- It’s a great leg up to starting a public service or political career; C- It’s fun and unique (from what former interns seem to say).</p>
<p>I wouldn’t turn it down if I got it (plus why go through all the hassle of essays and rec letters and resumes in the short turn-around time if you aren’t going to accept).</p>
<p>With that said:</p>
<p>When did you go complete and get your confirmation email?</p>
<p>(I’m bumping this) Has anyone heard back yet?</p>
<p>I haven’t heard anything yet. I wouldn’t expect to hear anything until late this week at the earliest.</p>
<p>yep, that’s when I think I’m supposed to hear back (Saturday, not sure if they’ll call on the weekend). I’m nervous!!</p>
<p>I am trying not to think about it, so I am not disappointed. I can’t begin to imagine how many people applied.</p>
<p>My guess is not as many, I mean, normally people get months to prepare applications (if you saw the website recently, the application for the fall term is already up), and we got 3 weeks. Not a lot of time to get all the necessary papers & recs etc together.</p>
<p>Whatever, I’ll try to keep it in the back of my mind for now :P</p>
<p>Looks like next Monday the 20th is the day. This is now posted on the internship page:</p>
<p>Application for Summer 2009 Internship</p>
<p>The summer application process is closed. Applicants will be notified by April 20th of their acceptance into the White House internship program. The program will begin the end of May and end mid-August.</p>
<p>are they calling? emailing? sending a letter? how will they contact you to let you know whether you got it?</p>
<p>Last year people got “interview calls” where people from departments they listed would call them to see if they were a good fit. Never actually know how they knew they were <em>IN</em> though. My guess is either a call or an email. Snail Mail seems to not be their thing 
Plus calls/emails are easier to confirm contact etc.</p>
<p>So which departments do you guys want to work in? My top three were White House Counsel, Energy & Climate Change, and Office of the First Lady (I really like planning events).</p>
<p>mine were the office of the first lady, management and administration, and scheduling and advance. i like to plan too :)</p>
<p>Okay, major question. I applied, and I got everything in (as far as I know from my references as well) on March 22 at like 2 pm. However, I have yet to receive a confirmation email. I am not sure whether to be worried or to just not expect anything. I know that some others have received one. Does anyone know what the deal is? Or am I just most likely not in the running due to some flaw either on my part or my references didn’t get in on time?</p>
<p>Question:</p>
<p>did you email your rec letters in yourself or tell your teachers/whoever to? I got electronic copies of my letters and emailed everything myself so I know it all got in but it took I think almost a week to get a confirmation email. I know DA09 didn’t get one for a while, unless they have by now (DA can you confirm this?)</p>
<p>Who knows. I actually got my confirmation email twice…sooooo I’m sorry but I have no idea!</p>
<p>I told my recommenders when the deadline was and to confirm when they had sent it by sending me an email. All of them got back to me by the 21st of March… unless one sent it wrong or something. So I am pretty sure they all got in, or at least according to my recommenders they did. I myself made sure my part of the application was perfect (labelling wise I mean, copying the example of labelling the documents and all to avoid confusion).</p>
<p>I don’t know, I am just worried about it, and I don’t know if maybe they started sending out then stopped because they had so many applicants or something, or my stuff just didn’t get in.</p>
<p>:/ no idea. I sent my stuff in early saturday morning so I don’t know. I’m guessing they just got overwhelmed and never finished sending out confirmation emails</p>
<p>It very well could be an error on their part. I tried sending in my completed application the first day it was released and there were a myriad of problems. First the pdf document was double coded so when you filled out one section it showed up in other sections which made it impossible to complete. I called and talked with them about it and they ultimately ended up converting the pdf to doc. Then after that problem was resolved the email system for the ENTIRE White House CRASHED!!! So there I was again on the phone with them for a second time lol. It took them a day or so, but they finally got it together and I got my application in. </p>
<p>I’ve received a couple of emails letting me know that my app was complete and in review. I was fortunate enough to actually speak with the office staff about a few things on the phone before they started simply ignoring everybody. </p>
<p>I would say send an email now asking, as the actual Intern Program Office work flow should have slowed down a tad bit since the departments are making final decisions this week. If no reply, don’t be discouraged. This is simply the first of many chances to work under the Obama Administration.</p>
<p>Yeah, I had filled out the original PDF one at first, and had some trouble with it, but luckily I then downloaded the new one they posted and filled that one out. That is the one I sent in. </p>
<p>I have emailed 2 times, once a week or so. But maybe it has slowed down by now. I’ll try again. I am a little discouraged… a bit irritated. But I know there are other chances. I’ll just apply for a job that actually pays instead, haha. </p>
<p>Thanks for the info about the underlying issues with the process at the White House though, maybe it was just some glitch… I’ll keep my fingers crossed until the 20th. If not, it will be some summer classes and hopefully employment for me! Thanks.</p>
<p>i would say call them but it’s already been established that the phone is not being answered. i had the same problem for a while and was worried that they hadn’t received my information because i hadn’t received a confirmation email. i emailed them about it and about a week later i received a confirmation email. so i’m not sure exactly what’s up; it’s probably just a glitch or something. from what others have said, i get the feeling that there have been a few problems along the way so i don’t think i’d worry about it.</p>
<p>DA09: good to hear you got that email ;)</p>
<p>prophet: have you heard back from them yet? Just wondering.</p>
<p>Apparently this week is the week! Assuming they <em>dont</em> call/email on weekends and you have to know <em>by</em> Monday we should get news by Friday at the lastest??? Just guessing :D</p>
<p>Good luck to us all, I hope we all get in! I really want to meet you guys :)</p>
<p>Nah, I haven’t heard anything since around the beginning of the month. I just checked my past emails and pretty much every email I got from them came on a Friday after 12…sooooo HOPEFULLY this Friday will be the day…this is killing me seeing as how my application has been ready pretty much since January 19th lol. I’m not even logging into my email account until Saturday afternoon because the anticipation officially has me going crazy. </p>
<p>Funny story to lighten the mood…so every major thing I’ve ever gotten/done in life I’ve prayed about. So last night I proceeded to pray about my acceptance into the White House Internship Program, BUT I was completely exhausted from everything that had happened during the day. Long story short I ended up falling asleep in the middle of praying. Consequently, I woke up about every 30 minutes throughout the entire night…and I was either still praying or automatically started back praying before I even really gained clarity. Its safe to say the man upstairs had a pretty good laugh off of this one. Especially since I had to be up at 7AM this morning…can anybody say RUNNING ON FUMES lol. </p>
<p>I wish everyone the best and I really do hope that we all get it and meet each other. I’ll be sending up prayers for you all tonight…hopefully not in the same manner as last night or I might die from exhaustion lol. </p>
<p>SIDE NOTE: If we all do get this…we will be the first intern class under the Obama Administration involved in the celebration of President Obama’s first birthday since taking office. Just thought that was kind of cool. </p>
<p>EVERYBODY MAKE SURE TO POST HERE WHEN YOU FIND OUT OFFICIALLY…AGAIN BEST OF LUCK!!!</p>