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How to Avoid Bad Pre-College Programs

Posted on December 6, 2021 by Craig

Not all summer opportunities for high school students are created equal! Learn how to select pre-college programs or other summer activities that will help your chances of college admission.

Your College Application Must Demonstrate Addiction

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Craig

The most successful college applicants (the ones who get into America’s top colleges) demonstrate interest AND demonstrate addiction. Yes, you read that right. Watch the video to learn more.

The Two Most Important Parts of a College Admissions Interview

Posted on July 7, 2021 by Craig

There are so many ways to ace a college admissions interview; however, two parts of the interview are most crucial: the beginning and the end. Whether you interview in person or virtually, you should implement as much as possible of the advice in the video below into your college admissions interview game plan. Good luck!

Another Reason Why Your Common Application Essay is So Bad

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Craig

If your attempt at writing a strong Common Application essay is failing, you very well could be making this major mistake in the drafting process. Fix it and you will give yourself a fighting chance to write an essay that is actually decent.

But, guess what? This is only the #2 reason your Common App essay stinks! Learn about the the #1 reason your essay is bad here.

Write an essay worthy of getting you into your dream college! Expert college application essay review and editing are just a click away!

Use Winter Break to Make the Most of Summer Break

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Craig

Take time in December to apply to the most coveted summer academic programs, internships, jobs, or community service activities if you want to have the best shot at getting them.

How to get into the Ivy League – Ethically

Posted on November 5, 2019 by Craig

So much of what you read, watch, or hear in the media is there to make you feel like it’s impossible to get into Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale without cheating your way in or using some unsavory connection to worm your way in.

Yet, a successful – and ethical – formula for getting into Ivy League colleges does exist and is pretty straightforward.

Below, I share the simple four-step formula for getting into Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, or Yale, which has helped 100% of my students who have followed it get into one or more Ivy.

Step 1: Take Rigorous High School Courses and Get As in Them

Notice how it didn’t say “be smart” or “pursue your academic passions.” Such entreaties sound lovely, but they’re beside the point. The foundation of your campaign to get into an Ivy League college depends on you willingness and ability to consistently take the most rigorous courses at your high school and then earn A grades in all such courses as well as whatever other courses you are also taking. If your school reports A grades via a range (such as A-, A, A+ or 90-100), work your hardest to get the highest As possible (A+ or 97+). If your school grades on a different scale than those mentioned so far, simply aim for the top of it.

Every high school is different, but in many cases, taking the most rigorous courses at your high school is synonymous with one of the below three scenarios (or some combination or permutation thereof):

A. Running the table with as many Advanced Placement courses as you can take each academic year and taking all of your other academic courses at the highest levels on offer

B. Taking the most challenging courses offered to students in your high school during your first two years in high school, then becoming a full-fledged International Baccalaureate® (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) student at the start of your junior year, and finally completing the full IBDP with both predictions and final cumulative scores aligned in the 40-45 range

C. Taking as many Honors, High Honors, Gifted, and/or Dual Enrollment courses as possible throughout your four years in high school

In no grade in high school should you take fewer than five academic courses (though I prefer six if you can swing it), and if you are being strategic about things, no matter the exact curriculum on offer at your school or official names of courses available at your school, at minimum, your four-year academic course load in high school should include the following:

Freshman Year:

Most Rigorous English Course Available to 9th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous Math Available to 9th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous History Available to 9th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous Science Available to 9th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous Foreign Language Available to 9th Grade Students – 1 Credit

Sophomore Year:

Most Rigorous English Course Available to 10th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous Math Available to 10th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous History Available to 10th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous Science Available to 10th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous Foreign Language Available to 10th Grade Students (Same Language as Last Year) – 1 Credit

Junior Year:

Most Rigorous English Course Available to 11th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous Math Available to 11th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous History Available to 11th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous Science Available to 11th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous Foreign Language Available to 11th Grade Students (Same Language as Last Year) – 1 Credit

*Or, if an IBDP student:

-Three HLs in areas you are most passionate about and that are likely to align with your potential college major(s)
-Three SLs in areas you are also deeply passionate about
-Of your six IB courses, only one (max) should be arts-related unless you plan to major in one or more art in college
-If your school offers Mathematics: analysis and approaches HL, you should take it and get an A (or Predicted 5+ minimum) in it

Senior Year:

Most Rigorous English Course Available to 12th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous Math Available to 12th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous History Available to 12th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous Science Available to 12th Grade Students – 1 Credit
Most Rigorous Foreign Language Available to 12th Grade Students (Same Language as Last Year) or Double Up on English, Math, History, or Science, but only with an Advanced/AP/IB/Honors+ Course – 1 Credit

Or, if an IBDP student, continuation of * detailed above.

Notice how I didn’t mention elective/arts courses. They are nice to take too, especially if you need to or want to pursue your passions through them and have the horsepower to do so, but to be completely honest, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale are focused on your academic courses, not PE, Health, Arts (except for AP or IB), Personal Finance, etc. courses.

Remember, the above academic course progression is only a minimum goal; you can always do more, and that would be great – just keep earning As if you take on more rigor/courses than the progression outlined above.

Step 2: Score Very Well on the SAT and/or ACT

To be blunt – aim for 1450 on the SAT or 33 on the ACT minimum. To pump up your standardized test profile also aim to take and submit scores of 750 or higher on at least two SAT Subject Tests. For most people this requires a great deal of studying and a history of actually being a serious student in school. Do students get into Ivy League colleges with lower scores than those stated above? Yes. You should assume that you are not going to be one of them.

– Time Out –

Before we move on to Step 3 and Step 4, I should note that many students around the world are able to beautifully accomplish the aforementioned Step 1 and Step 2; yet, the majority of such students will not get into Ivy League colleges even if they try. This is for the same reason that most professional baseball players have no problem hitting a double but very few will ever hit an inside-the-park home run: they are unable or unwilling to go past second base. Below you will learn how to go beyond second base and return to home plate without being called out.

FUN FACT: the majority of students, parents, talking-heads/influencers complaining about how hard it is to get into an Ivy League college are doing so because they don’t want to or don’t know how to put in the effort necessary to complete Step 3 and Step 4 below.

Step 3: Strategically Differentiate Your Life

Everyone wants to win the lotto these days (hit the jackpot without the effort). But, again, if we are being real, very few billionaires just fell into their money. They or their predecessors developed a plan and executed on it in order to make it big.

The same idea applies to getting into Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, or Yale. You need to sit down like a young adult, think critically, develop a plan, and execute on it if you are going to give yourself the best shot of getting into an Ivy League college.

What should the plan look like? It should not look like any other student’s plan, that’s for sure. That’s why sitting down like a young adult and attempting to think critically all alone is often not enough for many teens with Ivy League dreams. Most teenagers with big goals really do need to sit down with at least one older and wiser strategic thinker in order to game plan out a strategy that can be tactically and earnestly implemented.

Sadly, many students only turn to a mom, dad, sibling, friend, or teacher who means well but doesn’t know much about what Ivy League colleges are really attracted to in students. Other students go to their high school’s college counselor hoping he or she will be the “older and wiser strategic thinker” that they are so desperately looking for in order to give themselves the best shot of Ivy League college admission. Pretty soon most students figure out (if they do at all) that even if their college counselor is well-meaning and knowledgable (the student would actually be very lucky to find these characteristics in his or her college counselor), very few high school-based college counselors have the time, interest, and/or ability to provide the personalized and highly strategic college admissions coaching students with Ivy League goals need.

For example, so many students go to their high school counselors looking for advice on how to get into Ivy League colleges and their counselors summarily advise them to consider other colleges all together because, “fit matters more than rank, Johnny” or, if the students are lucky, maybe the counselors will advise the students to become extracurricular leaders! Woopdidoo!

Both scenarios make my blood pressure rise, though at least in the latter case the counselors are respecting students’ questions and goals. Yet, as attractive as student leaders are to Ivy League colleges, there is a very important characteristic that trumps leadership in the eyes of Ivy League college admissions officers:

The earlier in high school you can sit down with someone who actually knows what he or she is talking about and has the time and interest to get to know you and your goals well the more likely you will be able to strategically differentiate your life choices over the course of your high school career while also aligning your life choices to your unique value system. This in turn will allow you to stand out for all the right reasons to Ivy League admissions committees and ultimately reach your full college admissions potential.

Step 4: Communicate Like a Teenager from a Bygone Era

There has been a complete implosion of English instruction in K-12 education. As I have alluded to before: most students capable of getting straight As in high school English classes can’t write well or speak well. This is because most students capable of getting straight As in high school English classes have never learned how to think critically, which is a prerequisite for eloquent writing and speaking. Many students get As in English – even AP-level English – without actually being able to think, write, or speak that well.

Layer on top of that travesty the advent of smart phones and other forms of electronic communication, which have corrupted teenage minds and writing skills over the past twenty years, and you have a nightmare scenario for the future of humanity.

Yet, in this living nightmare there is an opportunity for those high school students who have actually – miraculously – been taught how to think, write, and speak clearly – like mere peasants, high school dropouts, and ragamuffins could in 1938. I mean this seriously. I was looking through an English test that my grandmother had to take in eighth grade in a Baltimore public school, and it was far harder than any English test I EVER took in high school or college. As a point of reference: in the last twenty years I’ve earned an MA in Education Administration and a BA in History (the latter from Penn no less…). Maybe I would have been better off being born in 1922 and simply graduating high school in 1940 (as long as I survived the war)? I digress.

If you are in high school and open to actually learning how to think clearly and write and speak articulately, the world is your oyster. Frankly, the Ivy League would be luck to have you – and their admissions officers know it. Thus, if you pull off high level thinking and communicating in your application to an Ivy League college, you are going to set yourself apart from the average Ivy League applicant.

Many students (and their parents) realize that they need help in the communication portion of their college applications. That’s why every year in late spring I start getting calls from rising high school seniors and their parents begging me to help edit college applications – specifically extracurricular resumes and college application essays.

Frankly, I find providing developmental editing, substantive editing, copy editing, proofreading, and constructive critiquing for rising seniors increasingly tedious and often painful because it’s pretty time-consuming and emotionally draining for me to fix over a several-week period what took twelve years to do to you, namely, destroy your ability to communicate effectively. That’s why I much prefer meeting with students early in high school in order to start the important process of teaching them how to think deeply and write and speak well. This is also a reason why I developed the How to Build and Extraordinary Extracurricular Resume short course; creating a good resume is pretty much a science, but it’s a repetitive one.

To meet your full potential on college application essays, only personalized coaching can get you there – especially if you have not benefited from the rare instances of proper English instruction that still remain in this anti-intellectual age. As such, I do still take on a limited number of clients each year for college admissions coaching services (resumes, essays, interview prep, college list development, extracurricular planning, etc.) even though such work becomes harder each year because of the daily devolution of institutionalized K-12 education.

Long story short, the earlier you become a master communicator the more likely you will actually be able to share both your own voice and a voice worth listening to on your college applications and in college admissions interviews.

Conclusion

It’s really that simple. If you can tackle the four steps above with grace and gusto (and dare I suggest, gravitas), you are extremely likely to get into Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, or Yale. Yet, even more important than getting into any Ivy League college, if you can accomplish all of the above, you will have learned a lot and grown a lot as a person and remained ethical in so doing.

Princeton University

When to Start Working with Your College Counselor

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Craig

Many high schools don’t provide proactive college counseling to students until the end of eleventh grade. Don’t wait until your school gets around to it. Find out when to assertively approach your counselor.

When should I start working with my college counselor?

Posted on July 11, 2019 by Craig

Many high schools don’t provide proactive college counseling to students until the end of eleventh grade. That’s not going to work for you!

Don’t wait until your school gets around to it. Find out when to assertively approach your college counselor by watching this Thorwback Thursday (TBT) classic.

Best Summer Programs in Europe for High School Students

Posted on February 23, 2019 by Craig

High school students in Barcelona with Columbia University

For many high school students, summer is a time to disconnect from school year stress. For many parents of high school students, summer is a time fraught with anxiety over whether their teens are “making the most” of their time away from school. How sad! Whether your are a student or a parent, please don’t sweat summer.

Even if you are a student or parent who has no money to your name, there are plenty of ways high school students can stay active and engaged over the summer while developing their interests and building important life skills.

Yet, if you do have some dollars to spare, there are some wonderfully enriching summer programs for high school students out there – and I mean way out there – in Europe. My five favorites are detailed below.

These programs will give curious, adventurous, intellectual, and inquisitive high school students the chance to burst out of the often-banal high school classroom and into the “old world” in order to engage in an amazing experiential learning opportunity that will be both perspective-expanding and a chance to take a deep dive into preexisting interests. This is so important because no matter what a student does over the summer, it should present value added to both the student and to colleges the student may want to apply to later.

Before we start the countdown, an important disclaimer: exploring pre-existing interests deeply over the summer in Europe seems like a win-win to me; however, the following list won’t be for everyone, and it shouldn’t be. The most important thing for students and parents to remember is that students should pursue their passions deeply over the summer. If they can’t afford to take part in the programs below, that’s fine! They still should develop skills and knowledge over the summer that can only come through some sort of immersive summer experience. Again, I detail some closer to home and dirt-cheap options here.

But, without further ado, for the purposes of why we are here today, let’s hop on the plane to Europe!

#5. TASIS: The American School in Switzerland Summer Programs

Student taking part in TASIS summer program in Lugano, Switzerland

In 1956, M. Crist Fleming founded The American School in Switzerland, the first American boarding school in Europe, in order to apply the American independent school tradition to Europe. All these years later, the school has grown leaps and bounds, and other TASIS schools operate in England and Puerto Rico. TASIS’ summer course options in Switzerland really wow me.

Students pick one class from a diversity of options, which means that a diversity of students will be intermingling on this lovely southern Swiss campus for the duration of your stay. Class options offered in 2019 include English as an Additional Language (EAL), EAL Academic Writing (1st session only), Intensive Italian (1st session only), Intensive French, International Baccalaureate Preparation Course (2nd session only), Fine Art Portfolio (new for 2019, 1st session only), Lean Startup Masterclass (1st session only), Musical Theater, Digital Photography, Architecture & Design (1st session only), and Fashion & Textile Design (2nd session only). My favorite option, however, is La Cucina Italiana: Italian Cooking (2nd session only), in which students learn to cook authentic Italian food after choosing ingredients at local Italian markets, touring Italian cheese and meat factories, practicing knife skills, and learning how to perfectly balance spices.

Why I love this program: As a former “undecided” student as I began my college career, TASIS’ diverse offerings speak to the undecided teen in all of us, and the overall program certainlys attract a diverse mix of summer students from all over the world. Students need more opportunities to simply try something new and meet peers with diverse interests, and TASIS’ Switzerland summer program certainly allows for that in a location that can’t be beat. If you can’t get inspired to learn more about yourself and the world around you while on TASIS’ Lugano campus, you can’t get inspired anywhere. Another upshot of this program is that all high school students, no matter their grade level, are able to take part.

Who it’s perfect for: Students taking part in this program should have the desire to immerse themselves in one course and maybe one sport (sports cost extra but include Milan Academy Scuola Calcio, Olimpia Milano Basketball, and Crossfit) in the unsurpassed setting that is Lugano, Switzerland, which is also a wonderful jumping off point for educational European excursions near and far. Students who are undecided on their path in college and beyond will find something to try at TASIS over the summer and have the chance to do so in an environment that seems almost too perfect and made for life-long memories. Students whose interests align with one of the course offerings are in the unique position to build upon this preexisting interest in the company of peers who may have very different academic and personal interests but who share an interest in spending time in the pre-Alps over the summer.

Cost (in 2019): Payment is quoted in Swiss Francs, but for 2019 the exchange rate with the dollar is roughly 1:1; therefore, depending on the session, standard costs range from $6,700 to $8,200, and participants should expect costly add-ons including flights and special bonus programming.

Learn More: Click here.

Alternative worth considering: TASIS also has intriguing summer options for high school students in England, France (see more below), and possibly in the future again in Puerto Rico (recent hurricanes have led to the suspension of those summer programs for the time being).

#4. University of Notre Dame: Pre-College Program in Ireland

High school students taking part in Notre Dame’s pre-college program

It shouldn’t be so surprising that the Fighting Irish run a summer travel tour seminar worth one college credit for rising high school seniors in Ireland. Notre Dame’s Pre-College Program in Ireland allows rising high school seniors to explore “bustling Dublin,” “bucolic Connemara,” edgy Belfast, and so much more during a twelve-day jaunt through the Emerald Isle.

“Guided by Notre Dame faculty and local scholars, students will embark on an exploration of Irish culture, history, and landscape through what Notre Dame’s O’Connell House calls ‘learning through the soles of your feet.'”

Why I love this program: It’s pretty immersive in terms of ground covered and it’s pretty cool that students live and learn at the Kylemore Abbey Global Center, which is right next to a castle, during the last leg of the program.

Who it’s perfect for: Students taking part in this program should have demonstrated academic achievement in high school and some sort of preexisting interest in Ireland, Irish Heritage, Irish History, Catholicism, Protestantism, place-based learning, European culture and/or History, 20th Century History, European History, the British Isles, castles, and/or the Northern Ireland Peace Process in order to get the most out of this experience and in order to have it align with other activities they’ve pursued in the past.

Cost (in 2019): $7,075 (including application fee cost; does not include cost of passport)

Learn More: Overview and More Details

Alternative worth considering: Notre Dame also has a summer program for rising high school seniors in Rome.

#3. The New School: Parsons Paris Pre-College Studies

Sunset in Paris, France

If you are an artist, there are few better places to visit for inspiration than Paris, France. Did you know that Parsons School of Design, part of The New School in New York City, has a campus in Paris where rising high school juniors and seniors – they must be sixteen by the time the program begins – have a variety of summer art course options from which to choose? The immersive courses of study at Parsons Paris last just over three weeks in July and cover topics ranging from “Explorations in Drawing,” “Fashion Design Process,” and “Fashion Photography: History and Process” to “Graphic Design Workshop,” “Introduction to Design and Management,” and “Fashion Illustration.”

Why I love this program: This program is for serious artists; each class meets daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., so it’s for those who are energized by developing their craft. All Parsons Paris Summer Intensive Studies courses are not only educational in their own right; each course counts for three college credits and may also be used by students to develop a portfolio for their upcoming college admissions process. Students also have the chance to take part in excursions, including crepe tastings.

Who it’s perfect for: Students taking part in this program should have demonstrated artistic achievement in high school and some sort of preexisting interest in Art generally or specifically fashion, fashion merchandising, drawing, graphic design, photography, and/or art history in order to get the most out of this experience and in order to have it align with other activities they’ve pursued in the past.

Cost (in 2019): $7,650 (including application fee cost; does not include cost of flights or passport, but does include Metro pass for getting around Paris)

Learn More: Overview and More Details

Alternatives worth considering: If you don’t need to be in France, but want a lot of what Parsons Paris’ summer courses offer, Parsons also has a pre-college/intensive summer programs for high school students at its main campus in New York City. Meanwhile, if you would love to spend several weeks intensely pursuing your passion for art in France but don’t need to be in cosmopolitan Paris, TASIS (mentioned more above) has an intimate one-of-a-kind at program in the south of France called Les Taipes, which accepts an extremely limited number of students each summer.

#2. Columbia University: Summer Immersion in Barcelona

Students exploring Barcelona, Catalonia

While this three-week Columbia University pre-college program run in partnership with the venerable University of Barcelona won’t earn you any official college credits (only a Columbia University Statement of Completion and evaluation letters from University of Barcelona teachers), it will still immerse you into a kaleidoscope of knowledge pertaining to Barcelona, Spain, and Europe and allow you to gather this knowledge in the company of earnest and thoughtful peers as eager as you hopefully are (if you choose to apply) to explore Barcelona and its slice of European culture. All student participants take all four of the following courses:

~Barcelona in Historical Context: Roman Origins to the Spanish Civil War
~Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, and the European Union
~Modern Architecture, Urban Development, Art, and Design in Barcelona
~Spanish Language Workshop

This ain’t no teen tour; open to rising high school juniors, rising high school seniors, and rising college freshmen, all those attending will take part in rigorous study while doing some serious place-based learning. Students live at the University of Barcelona’s modern Sant Jordi residence hall, which is located in Sarrià and only one block from Avenida Diagonal, a major thoroughfare that runs right through the city.

Why I love this program: Side trips to Figueres and Tarragona are nice, as are the variety of extracurricular activities available to students in and around Barcelona, but the biggest reason I promote this program is because my students who have taken part in it all come back appreciably more thoughtful, worldly, and mature individuals.

Who it’s perfect for: Students taking part in this program should have demonstrated academic achievement in high school and some sort of preexisting interest in Europe, European History, Spain, Spanish History, Catalonia, Catalonian History, Latin cultures/heritage, Mediterranean History, the European Union, Architecture, Urban Design/Development/Planning, Art, and/or Spanish language  in order to get the most out of this experience and in order to have it align with other activities they’ve pursued in the past.

Cost (in 2019): $11,208 (this does not cover flights or passport, but does cover the application fee); and Columbia recommends that students bring $900 in spending money to boot!

Learn More: Click here.

Alternatives worth considering: Brown University offers short “On-Location” pre-college programs for high school students in Segovia, Spain and Rome, Italy.

#1. University of Dallas: Study Abroad for High School Students in Rome

University of Dallas summer high school students on a excursion to Capri

Simply put, the most college-esqe of the courses you will find available to high school students in Europe over the summer are offered by none other than University of Dallas (go figure!). No matter which of the three course options you complete, you will earn three college credits, and the course content is pitch-perfect to study while in Rome. Italian cooking (see TASIS above) is fun, if not a bit trite and short on academic heft; nobody who takes one of UD’s courses can be accused of being unoriginal or an academic push-over.

Why I love this program: I love Italy, I love Rome, and I’m all about ROI (return on investment). If you are interested in the content of one of these courses, this pre-college program represents a really great deal and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study on location – though the formal campus is just outside of town – with passionate University of Dallas professors doing what they love. The three course options are “Shakespeare In Italy” (did you know a full third of his plays were based in Italy? It wasn’t by accident), “Latin in Rome” (learn about Roman history, politics, art, and architecture while engaged in advanced study of Latin and the people who spoke it), and “Rome and the Catholic Church” (again, this is not fluff course by any means, as it “explores the truth, goodness, and beauty of Catholicism as manifested in great theological texts, lives of saints, artistic masterpieces, historical landmarks, and miracles connected with the Eternal City”).

Who it’s perfect for: Students taking part in this program should have demonstrated academic achievement in high school and notable preexisting interest in at least one of the subjects covered in one of the courses on offer in order to get the most out of this experience and in order to have it align with other activities they’ve pursued in the past.

Cost (in 2019): $3,500-$3,900 depending on exact course (there is no application fee, participants will need to budget roughly $2,000 more for a round-trip flight, and a bit more for a passport if not already in possession of one)

Learn More: Click here.

Summer internships for high school students

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Nancy Griesemer

While colleges increasingly emphasize the value of “experiential” or “hands-on” learning within their own communities, high school students are discovering real benefits in setting aside time during their high school careers for internships or other out-of-classroom experiences. In fact, they are finding that internships provide amazing opportunities to gain significant work experience while exploring long-term career options.

But these opportunities don’t magically appear. You have to plan ahead and do a little networking.

And now is a good time to begin nailing-down plans for next summer.

Although college students usually stand at the head of the line for internships, businesses and nonprofit organizations are increasingly holding positions open for students currently in high school or those transitioning to college. But make no mistake—these positions are getting increasingly competitive. And many application deadlines are coming significantly earlier than in past years.

It may take advance planning and persistence, but opportunities are out there.

Why intern?

Going through the internship application process teaches much-needed job search and employment skills. Preparing a résumé, asking for recommendations, landing an interview, and understanding what it means to be a responsible employee are all skills that give high school students an edge in college and beyond.

And it’s no secret that internships strengthen college applications, as these opportunities introduce students to career fields or potential majors and reinforce valuable research or lab skills.

An internship helps students understand how professional organizations function in the real world. While learning and working, interns have the opportunity to refine career goals. In fact, a summer internship can serve as a “trial period” to test ideas about professions and industries without making any long-term commitments.

If you’re especially lucky, these kinds of opportunities can also lead to award-winning science fair projects, journal articles, or patents.

Where are the internships?

Local businesses and organizations sometimes have formal internship programs designed specifically for high school students. But for the most part, these programs do not offer housing and are usually limited to students able to commute or living in the immediate area.

For example, here is a sample of the many organizations making internships available to high school students in the Washington, DC area:

  • American Fisheries Society Hutton Program (student applications due February 15, 2019)
  • Bank of America (due February 1, 2019)
  • Carnegie Institution for Science (applications from graduating seniors only due April 15, 2019)
  • Department of Defense/Georgetown University Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (due February 28, 2019)
  • Department of the Navy Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (application typically closes in early fall)
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • George Mason University Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP)  (applications due February 15, 2019)
  • Geosciences Bridge Program (applications from graduating seniors only due April 19, 2019)
  • Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA applications due April 1, 2019)
  • High School Diplomats Program (applications due January 9, 2019)
  • J. Craig Venter Institute (opportunities posted on January 4, 2019)
  • Library of Congress (applications accepted any time)
  • The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
  • Montgomery County Police Department
  • National Agricultural Library
  • National Aquarium (applications due by December 15, 2018)
  • National Archives
  • National Air and Space Museum (application window: January 15 – February 15, 2019)
  • National Eye Institute (applications considered on a rolling basis beginning in mid-December and ending March 1, 2019)
  • National Human Genome Research Institute (rolling application process but all due March 1, 2019)
  • National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (rolling application process but all due March 1, 2019)
  • National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (applications due March 1, 2019)
  • National Institute of Health Summer Internship in Biomedical Research (applications due March 1, 2019)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
  • National Institute on Aging
  • National Institutes of Standards and Technology (applications due February 1, 2019)
  • National Marine Sanctuaries
  • National Science Education Center (Application window: January 1-March 15, 2019)
  • National Security Agency
  • Northrop Grumman
  • Pepco Holdings
  • Research Science Institute (applications due January 15, 2019)
  • Rosie Riveters
  • National Security Language Initiative for Youth (Department of State immersion program for less commonly taught languages)
  • NASA (applications due April 1, 2019)
  • The Smithsonian Institution
  • Uniformed Services University Summer Research Training
  • USAID
  • US Department of Agriculture
  • US Department of Education
  • US Department of State Pathways Program
  • US Secret Service
  • Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (application typically closes in early fall)
  • Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern Program at the National Cancer Institute (applications due December 14, 2018)

For a great list of opportunities outside of the DC area, check the webpages maintained by the Rochester Institute of Technology. Scroll down for high school students and note that while the dates may not be updated the links are).

Be aware that some internship opportunities are “salaried” positions, some have stipends, and some are strictly volunteer. Again, they are generally highly competitive and some deadlines may already be past. So make note for next year.

Also, many organizations don’t advertise the availability of summer internships. This is when you have to do a little investigative work on the internet and through other kinds of public job listings. Use your networks—parents, relatives, family friends, teachers—anyone who may have contacts in businesses or organizations of interest to you.

At the end of the day, internships are great ways to get to know yourself a little better while building skills that will make you competitive for the future.

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