What about inquiring with faculty? Or alum?
Have career center review resume, practice an interview, etc.
Ask friends who have internships.
Ask your friends and family.
Summer before junior year can be tough.
D22 is continuing to be very happy ant her school and with her major. She had a difficult Fall breaking 2 vertebrae at the beginning of the semester. She had to navigate all the doctorâs appointments by herself as I am a 4 hr flight away. She handled the whole situation with a lot of maturity and strength but she had her moments. Hardest of all was not being able to run for several months- she gets so much joy out of that activity so it left a big hole. She is gradually getting back to running. And is thrilled about this.
She is off to Madrid this coming Fall and is looking forward to that. As far as summer jobs, she is hoping to work as a Physical Therapy aide. She has some leads but discovered last year that most of those jobs donât hire ahead of time so she will start looking closer to summer break.
10 Likes
My S22 had a similar experience of having a tight friend group in high school, which made his initial transition to college disappointing because he couldnât âfind his people.â But eventually he made friends with a group of kids that are nothing like his HS buddies, yet also great friends now.
7 Likes
She has done all of the above. I think itâs just a tough time right now with all these companies announcing layoffs.
Sheâll keep trying!
3 Likes
Thatâs great, it is all good experience to take these steps.
Will be a breeze for next year when many more internships seek upperclassmen.
A regular summer job will be fine.
Lots of time, still.
2 Likes
So fun to see all these updates!
My S22 was just accepted to a student exchange program with a university in Tokyo so he will be there for all of his junior year. Heâs very excited about it. At first he was torn about whether or not to go because he realized he wouldnât be able to fulfill more than one, possibly two courses he needed for his major. But we encouraged him to go anyway because studying abroad will be such an incredible experience. It just means that his senior year he will have to cram in a heavy course load to complete his major. He will, on the other hand, be able to complete a minor in an area he has developed an interest in since he started college.
He had a summer internship last summer in NYC and it was through his connections there that he heard about an internship (for a different company but similar field) thatâs located in LA for this summer. They also wrote a recommendation for him so I think that definitely helped.
I donât know why my rural kid from a town of 1,400 keeps gravitating to these massive cities! Lol! Heâs planning to get an apartment with two other friends from Berkeley who are interning at other companies over the summer. The thought of him driving in LA completely freaks me out. Our town literally has about 5 stop signs and not a single stop lightâŠthe closest city with over 10,000 is two hours drive from us. Oh well, he always said he wanted to get out of Dodge and see the world! 
13 Likes
Your poor D22 must have had an excruciating fall semester just trying to get to classes, much less doctorâs appointments. Good on her for figuring out how to navigate the whole medical treatment labyrinth on her own. Thatâs complicated even for us experienced adults. Glad to hear sheâs healed and back to her running. Itâs so important for them to have their activities outside of classes.
Neat to see how many of our kids are heading abroad for their junior years! Hope she gets a PT aide position for the summer!
1 Like
DD has a great internship lined up for 2025, but has not looked hard for summer 2024. She is up for a promotion at her on-campus job and is inclined to spend this summer taking a class, maybe doing research for her honors thesis, and traveling.
Classes are going great. One professor in her major even reached out to congratulate her on her work.
And her social schedule has been packed with everything from attending basketball games to doing a polar plunge for charity to line dancing and indoor climbing walls. She got strep throat, too, but that was but a blip.
So far, so good. Itâs really heartwarming to see her thriving, particularly because her high school experience was less than ideal.
16 Likes
help with a question:
would you let your college sophomore (not sure if it matters differently for junior yr) to fly away for 2.5days to check out/potentially apply for Summer 2025 investment banking internship during Finals week?
itâs getting pretty impossible to get great internships,
but GPA is also important.
Finals: 5/17F-5/22W
not sure if he can reschedule the 5/17F, if he has one/two that day
studying for finals?
company X university recruiter found son on LinkedIn
5/16Th-5/17F: âParticipants may be invited to a modified interview process for our Summer 2025 X Internshipâ
thanks.
Hello there!
I would not. Mainly because this is a potential 2025 opportunity. Many more opportunities will come for 2025 (most banks start recruiting in June/July), and itâs not worth sacrificing grades for something thatâs far from a sure thing. Also: not attending this event will not prevent him from applying to an internship at that bank through the regular application channels.
Your son can ask the recruiter if there are additional dates available after the 22nd, or the week prior to the 17th. They might be able to accommodate.
13 Likes
Agreed with the above. This is actually an opportunity to display to the recruiter that your kid is responsible and has their priorities right.
Your kid should tell the recruiter that they take their academic responsibilities and outcomes very seriously, the same way they will eventually prioritize their work product. Unfortunately, this specific timeframe conflicts with finals but you would hope not to be penalized. Is it possible to visit on a different date or participate remotely and then follow up with a visit when (not to be overly optimistic) it goes great.
Express if possible specifically why the opportunity is of great interest but reiterate they just canât afford to compromise academic performance.
I would be shocked if this doesnât work and to be honest who would want to work at a place that didnât understand.
Congratulations on the early opportunity.
13 Likes
Glad to hear everyoneâs updates. My S22 is thriving in his communications studies at NYU, with a great friend group and strong grades in classes heâs mostly enjoyed. He also has a part-time job, as a ref with the intramural sports league, and heâs already received a promotion that apparently goes to sophomores only rarely. Our D19, who works as an art gallery assistant, did a quick calculation and realized S22 is making more than her salary on an hourly basis. He and a friend are working on an extracurricular project that they conceived entirely on their own, not for credit: Theyâre shooting a docuseries about the intramural league. They told us excitedly the other day that the initial interviews have gone really well and the players are participating eagerly.
S22 applied for one summer internship, with a local pro sports team, but was rejected. We knew it was a long shot because the listing said they mainly hire seniors, recent grads and graduate students. He isnât too worried about it because his league job continues over the summer and will already demonstrate dedication and responsibility to future potential employers.
Heâll probably study overseas somewhere during junior year, but he isnât sure where yet.
12 Likes
My D22 is currently spending spring break with a friend who lives in a warm weather state.
She doesnât have anything lined up for the summer and is getting very stressed out. Sheâs an engineering major and has applied to numerous internships (some career fair, some online). Sheâs received 5 initial interviews and two second interviews, but no offers. I keep telling her it only takes one yes, but itâs getting tough - it was easier to deal with rejection in the fall, but as summer approaches her optimism is fading and the stress is increasing.
Other than the internship hunt, things have been going well and sheâs happy with her college choice.
8 Likes
Hang in there. Keep looking
4 Likes
D22 is in a similar boat. internship hunt seems to be quite tough. Hope there are alternate options that kids can explore this summer if internships donât work out.
4 Likes
My kid is spending three weeks in the middle of the summer doing her field work in volcanology, exact location unknown but probably somewhere in Northern California.
She will spend the rest of her break working her usual lifeguarding job and taking a couple more Gen Ed classes at a local Community College.
Other than that, she is doing well, putting in a lot of hard work and effort, but loving it.
9 Likes
Happy to read these updates today!
D22,is thriving this year, found her people and activities sheâs passionate about. Added a challenging minor in Applied Analytics. Last year was rocky with hs boyfriend breakup and homesickness. Her freshman roommate is her best friend and theyâve already secured an off-campus apartment for next year. Retains a 4.0.
She has been fortunate with internships â in the district office of a US Senator last year and this year selected for a fellowship that places you in government posts in DC. I would say some tips would be to establish meaningful connections with professors through office hours and campus activities for good letters of recommendation and really network both on campus but also in your hometown. Work with the campus career center on a solid resume, spend time drafting a LinkedIn profile.
13 Likes
Itâs been four weeks since my last update and D22 still doesnât have an engineering internship lined up for summer.
But she has had two interviews in the past two weeks and was called to set up another interview today. Fingers crossed!
Companies are definitely still hiring summer interns and some are actually just getting around to posting positions. So while a lot of companies do hire their interns in the fall (she started applying back then), I think there is still hope.
10 Likes
My S22 managed to get an internship in CS about a week ago. So there is still hope. Good luck!
10 Likes
D22 does not have her summer lined up yet. She is a creative writing major. She had an unpaid internship over January term and enjoyed that but would like to make some money too. Also looking at some regular summer jobs. She got approved to do study abroad in London in Spring 2025 so us excited about that and thereâs the potential for an internship there too.
7 Likes