Are Summer Internships Worth it?

IxnayBob
Wed, 01 Jan 2014 08:33:22 +0000

It made a difference to my son, but he got “lucky” in that his internship had him working with researchers in a lab. He worked hard and was sufficiently useful that the head of the lab got to know him well enough to write a supplemental LOR.

It is difficult to know how much difference the LOR made, but it did not hurt him any, and I’m personally convinced that it was a big help. IMO, Adcoms see so many awards and EC bonus points handed out by the HS administration that their eyes glaze over; a 3rd party acknowledgment of work ethic, knowledge, dedication, passion, etc. just counts for more.

Otoh, some internships are bogus (filing and coffee fetching); those sound like a wasted summer to me.