I’m mixed on this topic. I think many posters here are way in the extremes (as always on DCUM) when it comes to applying to opportunities, since most of their kids are in business. For 90% of industries, the internships just dropped. Every single firm DS has been eyeing for data has just opened their applications for summer 2025. I’ve also never had anyone in my family apply to 200 internships for one offer, more like 15-20 with multiple choices.

If you’re from an ivy, it is much easier to get an interview offer, so I think OP’s child should check for interview prep at brown’s career center. Should colleges lay internships at your feet? Ideally yes, and I’d say some do (my Alma mater Harvard essentially is a stomping ground for this), but of course initiative matters. Like every topic, there’s a balance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:most internships for this summer were filled in the fall (or earlier).

go to every career fair. talk to people. even if not looking yet, it is good practice. work on an elevator speech.

some career centers are good. many are not.

like in the real world, you have to get out there and find something yourself.

This is not true. Only one industry hires this early, many are actively searching right now. Not everyone is into finance.

well, actually you are wrong about that. finance hires very early, that's true i guarantee you most big companies that attend career fairs which were held in august/september have mostly filled their intern spots.

You just repeated exactly what I said

no. you said only one industry hires that early. many industries besides finance hire in the fall for their summer internships.

Yet you only brought up finance. We have an illiteracy crisis.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD attends a top 10 university and is a math/cs double major. Recently I sat down and asked her about how she’s doing in her internship search, since we never talked about it during the year. She explains that she’s been doing pretty poorly so I tell her to go to the career center; to which, she complains is useless and isn’t helpful. When we toured this school, we were stoked for its career offerings in specific which were highlighted by our guides (both when we first visited and during admitted students week). Apparently the career treks are super competitive and only take 30 students, the advising often comes from students not career counselors (!!!) and students are doing the heavy lifting for everything! This is shocking to me, does anyone else’s college act like this?!

Current sophomore CS major at UMD sent out 190 resumes/applications from August-October 2024 to get ONE interview and job offer for summer of 2025. Not sure what they promised, but it would appear you have to be early and persistent.

Yep, the application world is insane right now. Currently, summer 2026 internships are already being posted and interviews being filled. Most students start too late

My son is a sophomore accounting student and I really hope he has the ambition and drive to apply soon for internships.

Note that some accounting internships are offered during spring semester (tax season), which can be an option if you arrange your classes to allow for this. If summer internships don't work out, take classes over the summer and intern during the following spring semester.

PP, my daughter is an accounting major - the Big 4 recruitment season for summer 2026 is right now. Literally, right now... my DD had her B4 internship for Summer 2025 secured in February of 2024. They are recruiting that far out. She secured an industry accounting summer internship for summer 2024. She applied for both B4 and industry at same time and got the offers really close together.

Anonymous wrote:The undercurrent of this whole discussion is that we as parents are presiding over a whole generation of kids who don’t know how to hustle or make things happen on their own, regardless of their natural talents and work ethic. The parents who expect the university career office to magically get their kids internships and jobs truly scare me. It takes enormous effort and discomfort for one to get his first professional gig. It is a painful and incredibly necessary process to figure out who they are and what they want to do with their lives. We all went through it. They will eventually figure it all out. My own parents (that generation) never would have dreamed of blaming the university career office for my inability to get an internship; they would have blamed me.Yeah, Bill Gates’ dad probably facilitated that House of Representatives page internship but it had absolutely nothing to do with his later creating Microsoft.

Most posters disagree with OP. At least two UMD posters in this thread submitted 200 applications to get internships. Don't think it's accurate to generalize.

Anonymous wrote:Were you expecting the college to give your child a job? Careers require ambition and hard work, not handouts.

Exactly. No one goes to college due to the strength of the "career planning office". I went to an ivy and my CP&P was fairly mid.

It's up to you to have the initiative to find a job. A diploma is simply a credential. Colleges need to challenge you. Colleges need not come with a concierge. It's not a hotel or vacation destination.

Anonymous wrote:The undercurrent of this whole discussion is that we as parents are presiding over a whole generation of kids who don’t know how to hustle or make things happen on their own, regardless of their natural talents and work ethic. The parents who expect the university career office to magically get their kids internships and jobs truly scare me. It takes enormous effort and discomfort for one to get his first professional gig. It is a painful and incredibly necessary process to figure out who they are and what they want to do with their lives. We all went through it. They will eventually figure it all out. My own parents (that generation) never would have dreamed of blaming the university career office for my inability to get an internship; they would have blamed me.Yeah, Bill Gates’ dad probably facilitated that House of Representatives page internship but it had absolutely nothing to do with his later creating Microsoft.

Yep.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:most internships for this summer were filled in the fall (or earlier).

go to every career fair. talk to people. even if not looking yet, it is good practice. work on an elevator speech.

some career centers are good. many are not.

like in the real world, you have to get out there and find something yourself.

This is not true. Only one industry hires this early, many are actively searching right now. Not everyone is into finance.

well, actually you are wrong about that. finance hires very early, that's true i guarantee you most big companies that attend career fairs which were held in august/september have mostly filled their intern spots.

You just repeated exactly what I said

no. you said only one industry hires that early. many industries besides finance hire in the fall for their summer internships.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern has a required course in applying for internships, co-ops, networking, interview skills, resume writing, etc.

I'm not sure why other schools don't do this.

Baylor has the same, at least for the business school. They also have large internship and career fairs starting sophomore year. My DD and her friends had no problem securing good internships. Like the PP, I don't understand why more schools don't provide this type of support.

My kid is looking into a couple living/ learning communities at large publics and we have seen on their social media that they have regular interview practice sessions and resume/job search sessions. Also kid's accounting teacher in mcps had all kids create a resume and linked in profile as class assignment.

Anonymous wrote:DS is at brown and says it’s practically useless if you aren’t interested in consulting. Every time he’s gone to the career office, they’ve obsessed over finance and given him little prep towards a career in his interests (environmental science, sustainability), so he’s stopped going.

My cousin is at Brown and has received excellent advice about internships. Even with all the help he had to apply to a ton because they are competitive. He also applied for internships months or a year in advance for top ones. Maybe your child should speak to their professors or advisor for ideas on where to apply. Also, your child should connect with alumni and ask if there are alumni events they can attend or any alums they might connect with who are interested in interns for ES/sustainability.

Ideas:

Sierra Club
World Wildlife Fund
Woods Hole Institute (Junior Year I think)
World Resource Institute
The Nature Conservatory
Look into sustainability start ups
National Geographic Society
Conservation International
One Percent For The Planet
Jane Goodall Institute (nothing now for internships but might be later)
National Audubon
WeForest
WildEarth Guardians


There must be some on Providence or Boston your child can apply for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, et al, no one or no career office ever bestowed upon them an internship or job. They made it happen, themselves. I am not getting you. I can see you are genuinely upset. Respectfully, I just don’t understand your point of view and your expectations about a career office. I am glad, downright grateful, my DS went through this process and he’s better off for it in the long run.

Your point of view is not in line with the career centers of most universities though. If everyone was an entrepreneur, there’d be no successful companies.

+1, I truly don’t get their point. Most people do not want to be business owners and that’s a good thing. We need workers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:most internships for this summer were filled in the fall (or earlier).

go to every career fair. talk to people. even if not looking yet, it is good practice. work on an elevator speech.

some career centers are good. many are not.

like in the real world, you have to get out there and find something yourself.

This is not true. Only one industry hires this early, many are actively searching right now. Not everyone is into finance.

well, actually you are wrong about that. finance hires very early, that's true i guarantee you most big companies that attend career fairs which were held in august/september have mostly filled their intern spots.

You just repeated exactly what I said

The undercurrent of this whole discussion is that we as parents are presiding over a whole generation of kids who don’t know how to hustle or make things happen on their own, regardless of their natural talents and work ethic. The parents who expect the university career office to magically get their kids internships and jobs truly scare me. It takes enormous effort and discomfort for one to get his first professional gig. It is a painful and incredibly necessary process to figure out who they are and what they want to do with their lives. We all went through it. They will eventually figure it all out. My own parents (that generation) never would have dreamed of blaming the university career office for my inability to get an internship; they would have blamed me.Yeah, Bill Gates’ dad probably facilitated that House of Representatives page internship but it had absolutely nothing to do with his later creating Microsoft.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:most internships for this summer were filled in the fall (or earlier).

go to every career fair. talk to people. even if not looking yet, it is good practice. work on an elevator speech.

some career centers are good. many are not.

like in the real world, you have to get out there and find something yourself.

This is not true. Only one industry hires this early, many are actively searching right now. Not everyone is into finance.

well, actually you are wrong about that. finance hires very early, that's true i guarantee you most big companies that attend career fairs which were held in august/september have mostly filled their intern spots.

True! This weekend my son received an email from Goldman that will shortly begin accepting application for summer 2026!

That is correct. investment banks are all competing for the same kids and they all want first dibs!

My kid went to conferences in her field of study on her own in her home state to find career fair opportunities.

From that she landed 6 interviews and 6 offers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:most internships for this summer were filled in the fall (or earlier).

go to every career fair. talk to people. even if not looking yet, it is good practice. work on an elevator speech.

some career centers are good. many are not.

like in the real world, you have to get out there and find something yourself.

This is not true. Only one industry hires this early, many are actively searching right now. Not everyone is into finance.

well, actually you are wrong about that. finance hires very early, that's true i guarantee you most big companies that attend career fairs which were held in august/september have mostly filled their intern spots.

True! This weekend my son received an email from Goldman that will shortly begin accepting application for summer 2026!