Internships for a better admissions transcript Answered
Hi, I'm a sophomore in high school. Recently I've been interested in interning anywhere in the biology/biomedical/healthcare area. I heard that they are a good addition to my college application.
I don't know much about internships, and I don't know what internships are looking for in a student, so I wanted to ask some questions.
- Is it possible to balance an internship with school/sports/extracurricular at the same time? I'd like to be in an internship as soon as possible because I will be away this summer, but idk if i can handle it all.
- Are internships easy to get into, or are there specific requirements and expectations to get in? Do I have to appear as some pure genius student? How is the atmosphere?
I think I have listed my main concerns. Please be very honest, thanks!! <3
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2 answers
- Depending on your extracurriculars, it is possible to balance and internship in there too, I've seen some of my peers do this. If you'll be away for the summer maybe try for an internship between junior and senior years or there are virtual internships available too which can be as great as an in person one if done right.
- It really depends on the internship on how competitive it is. And you don't have to appear as a genius. The atmosphere varies between internships. I'm a senior and got a plant biology internship at a farm and it was super chill, while I know some people who were working in labs morning to evening.
For somebody interested in biology/healthcare, I would recommend looking for internships at hospitals or research centers. I know NIH, NIST, AEOP, and NASA have lots of good ones that look really good on college apps and also can be good learning experiences, but these are often crazy competitive. My recommendation would be to start cold emailing professors of Biology and Chemistry at colleges near where you live to see if they'd be willing to let you help out at a lab or look into what research they're doing. That can be really helpful and you also learn more about research which colleges value a lot. Many professors will say that they're only looking for college students/grad students, but don't get discouraged. It just takes one yes!
Hope this helps!
It is very possible to balance it by having a routine and organized goals I suggest remote internships over anything or some of the exclusive prestigious ones you can find digging through the internet a bit, might sound cringy but you want to be one of those It girls who have a morning routine are productive and nourish their wellness.
A site I recommend is Forage it gives you a certificate as well and sometimes recommendation letters depending on how outstanding your work was.
GL <3
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