<p>Very helpful letter - thank you. He actually had 700 hours volunteering for a hospital. The volunteers’ office referred him to HR, and HR notified him that their internships were already filled (kids of hospital workers? kids through nearby colleges? accounting or nursing majors?). Very disappointing. He also volunteered at an Assisted Living Facility and interned for a US Congressman last summer while holding down a paying job. While the experiences were great, it’s not solving the Internship problem. He’s working as a TA, and has a good GPA. He did get offered unpaid Washington/Harrisburg opportunities, and just heard of another unpaid internship. With the suggestions here, I think he’ll ultimately be able to find an internship even if it ends up being unpaid. </p>
<p>I’m cranky. Not only does PSU cost over $20K a year (we’re not getting aid), but it appears to me that his Department uses the students as its prime resource to find internship and job leads. They supposedly advise that the process of finding an internship is valuable in itself…and warn it’s the students’ problem. It might be due to the fact that Happy Valley is too far from the bigger cities of the State, which have their own colleges trying to place interns…well, I suppose this is another valuable lesson in real-world competition.</p>