summer internships for college students

[Anonymous]

DC is a junior in college and has applied/is applying to countless summer internships, and has not even been called for an interview yet. Almost every application has its own short answer questions, writing sample requests, or other written product request, so each application takes DC some time. DC is a humanities major and a good student at a T25 university.

I know someone at one of the companies where DC applied, and asked her if she knows anything about the internship process. She told me that within 5 days of posting the opening of apps for the internship, they received over 6000 applications for the 20 internship slots (and they are still taking applications until mid Feb). This is not a FAANG company, nor is it consulting, finance/business, tech or stem.

I am trying to be encouraging to DC, but this seems harder odds than admittance to college! How are kids getting internships? Any encouraging words for me to pass on to DC?

[Anonymous]

DC had to apply to ~150 companies to get his internship for this summer. That's just how it is nowadays

[Anonymous]

All I know is, I hear you. My sophomore college kid is in the same boat and has not done nearly as much to apply

I don't think the typical apply online and wait to hear back approach works as well anymore. Not saying don't do it, but realize the ratio of return is low.

Instead, kids need to apply to summer retail or service jobs (waitstaff, clothing stores, etc.) and just get SOME work experience.

I also think they need to rely on networks with friends from high school, friends from college, and unfortunately, parents and friends of parents. I personally hate this nepo-baby era, but from what I saw of the 100 intern slots at my corporate Fortune 500 last summer, probably 1/2 were friends or relatives of employees. (It annoyed me to no end but that unfortunately is the way of the world.)

[Anonymous]

Mine hasn’t started college yet but this really sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC had to apply to ~150 companies to get his internship for this summer. That's just how it is nowadays

I’m OP. Back in the mid 90s when I was in college, I applied to 150 companies to get an internship, and I had a resume and basic cover letter for each not additional short answer Qs and essay requirement, at least not until I had made it past a first interview (sigh, I still remember feeding the resume paper into the printer 😊). DC will need to apply to so many more to get returns, and has to do more work on each application.

Probably a big part of the problem (like with college admissions), it is just too easy to apply online so the number of applicants greatly increases. I realize that is at odds with my complaint about these companies requiring students to spend time on essays before they even know if they get an interview, but I suspect a lot of kids just churn those through chat gpt while my kid labors each individually (which I know is an issue, that my kid needs to learn how to “work smarter,” but that doesn’t come naturally to them).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine hasn’t started college yet but this really sucks.

Let them know to start applications early.

DC is a math/CS major, and they started applying at the end of summer 2025 for summer 2026 internships. As a PP stated, once the internship app opens up, they get flooded with applications (welcome to the age of the internet).

Most students need to apply to like 150 internships in hopes of getting one hit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC had to apply to ~150 companies to get his internship for this summer. That's just how it is nowadays

I’m OP. Back in the mid 90s when I was in college, I applied to 150 companies to get an internship, and I had a resume and basic cover letter for each not additional short answer Qs and essay requirement, at least not until I had made it past a first interview (sigh, I still remember feeding the resume paper into the printer 😊). DC will need to apply to so many more to get returns, and has to do more work on each application.

Probably a big part of the problem (like with college admissions), it is just too easy to apply online so the number of applicants greatly increases. I realize that is at odds with my complaint about these companies requiring students to spend time on essays before they even know if they get an interview, but I suspect a lot of kids just churn those through chat gpt while my kid labors each individually (which I know is an issue, that my kid needs to learn how to “work smarter,” but that doesn’t come naturally to them).

Your kid will need to learn to use chatgpt to work faster and smarter. Most companies are looking to weave AI into their workplace.

[Anonymous]

DD - environmental field - has applied to about 60 so far. Had 3 interviews. One didn't move forward, two are still in process. From past summers, she's found more success with smaller organizations. It's especially indicative that the competition pool will be smaller if the org asks you to directly email a resume/cover letter vs. putting you into portal hell. However, those are also the places that don't have large intern programs and a strong likelihood of leading to a post-grad job.

She's still applying to a few a week.

[Anonymous]

OP, is your kid maxing out with the career services office and asking each professor for help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All I know is, I hear you. My sophomore college kid is in the same boat and has not done nearly as much to apply

I don't think the typical apply online and wait to hear back approach works as well anymore. Not saying don't do it, but realize the ratio of return is low.

Instead, kids need to apply to summer retail or service jobs (waitstaff, clothing stores, etc.) and just get SOME work experience.

I also think they need to rely on networks with friends from high school, friends from college, and unfortunately, parents and friends of parents. I personally hate this nepo-baby era, but from what I saw of the 100 intern slots at my corporate Fortune 500 last summer, probably 1/2 were friends or relatives of employees. (It annoyed me to no end but that unfortunately is the way of the world.)

It worth doing both. Also, see if your college publishes a list of first-destination employers and keep an eye on their career pages and/or try to contact alumni at that employer. My son got his junior year internship and post-grad job from a company where he cold-applied via Indeed with no connections. However, it turned out the company hired a lot of Virginia Tech grads from his major, so that certainly helped.

[Anonymous]

CS major from UMD
For summer after freshman year: 50 applications from December-February. Paid research through school and govt agency

For summer after sophmore year: 190 applications from August-December. 1 interview which resulted in a job with a small defense contractor

For summer after junior year: 70 applications from August-November. 3 job offers

Apply EARLY and OFTEN

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CS major from UMD
For summer after freshman year: 50 applications from December-February. Paid research through school and govt agency

For summer after sophmore year: 190 applications from August-December. 1 interview which resulted in a job with a small defense contractor

For summer after junior year: 70 applications from August-November. 3 job offers

Apply EARLY and OFTEN

Yes, but also don't get discouraged if it doesn't work out in the Fall. I've seen with my kids in different fields that some are heavy on summer hiring in the Fall but the other saw a ton of places just posting jobs in January (and beyond).

CS major invested a lot of time in applications during Fall semester and secured a good internship by winter break (which then turned into a post-grad job).
Environmental science major is heavily applying right now because a lot of jobs dropped recently with January-February closing dates.

[Anonymous]

It's really, really hard. No offense, but it's even harder for humanities majors. What is their dream scenario?

I would ask any and all friends and family if they have any suggestions. Sometimes, smaller, local companies don't have official internships, but could hire a summer worker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, is your kid maxing out with the career services office and asking each professor for help?

+2 Came here to ask if she was utilizing school resources. My kid is in the career services office quite a lot right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CS major from UMD
For summer after freshman year: 50 applications from December-February. Paid research through school and govt agency

For summer after sophmore year: 190 applications from August-December. 1 interview which resulted in a job with a small defense contractor

For summer after junior year: 70 applications from August-November. 3 job offers

Apply EARLY and OFTEN

Yes, but also don't get discouraged if it doesn't work out in the Fall. I've seen with my kids in different fields that some are heavy on summer hiring in the Fall but the other saw a ton of places just posting jobs in January (and beyond).

CS major invested a lot of time in applications during Fall semester and secured a good internship by winter break (which then turned into a post-grad job).
Environmental science major is heavily applying right now because a lot of jobs dropped recently with January-February closing dates.

PP TRUE!
I should have mentioned that sophomore internship wasn't offered until February. Research after freshman year was April.