A:  The competition has increased over the years. Recently we have accepted about one in three applicants.

Q:  On what kinds of projects have interns worked?

A:  Instead of doing traditional engineering work, our interns work on science and technology policy.  They have aided in the development of bills related to information technology, broadband Internet, biomedical ethics, and energy policy. Students have written policy papers on space tourism, mine detection technologies, the electroplating industry, nanotechnology, biomedical ethics and others.  Click here to see reports on their research.

Q:  Can I do classified work?

A:  Although you may work in an office that requires a security clearance, the majority of your work must be unclassified. You will need to write and talk about your work publicly. The director will need to be able to visit you and your mentor in your office. This requirement precludes working at some agencies, such as the CIA.

Q:  Do I get paid? 

A:  The program provides a stipend of $3000 for food, transportation, and other necessities.The stipend is the same in all cities. Sometimes host offices pay a stipend. If that stipend is more than or equal to ours, the intern will not receive our stipend. If it is less, we will pay the difference between the host office stipend and ours. When combined with housing, the compensation works out to about $15 per hour.

Q: Is housing provided?

A: The program provides housing in shared dormitory rooms. DC interns stay at George Washington University, Richmond interns stay at Virginia Commonwealth University , female interns in Paris stay at Foyer Jeune Cordee, and male interns in Paris stay at FIAP Jean Monnet.

Q:  Why do UVA interns live and attend speaker events with MIT students in DC?

A:  Our DC coordinator, Jim Turner, also coordinates the MIT program. One of the great benefits of interning is widening one's circle of friends and acquaintances with similar interests. Living in a dormitory facilitates friendships and personal ties that can last a lifetime.

Q:  What about travel expenses?

A:  The stipend is intended to cover local travel, so DC interns receive no extra travel funds. Richmond interns have a small budget to cover travel to DC for speakers and other internship events. For Paris interns, we pay round trip airfare between Washington and Paris.

Q:  Do I get academic credit?

A:  Yes. All the interns take a preparatory course on science and technology policy spring term with the director. It is a three unit, 200-level STS course and fulfills the STS 200 requirement. It may also be used for a humanities or general elective. The course meets Friday afternoons. At the end of spring term, all the students receive incompletes. The summer internship is part of the course, and students receive credit for the papers they write during the summer. At the end of the summer, the incompletes convert to letter grades.

Q:  Is fluency in French required for the Paris internship?

A:  No, but it increases your chance of acceptance.

Q:  What are the dates of the internship?

A:  The internship lasts ten weeks, typically the last week of May through the first week of August. The exact dates depend on the opening and closing dates of the dorms at George Washington University. We receive those dates in the spring.

Q:  I need to study for the LSATs, and my family is going on vacation.  Is it ok to take some days during the internship for those things?

A:  Sorry, no.  We have more qualified applicants than positions, so the program must devote its scarce resources to students who will give and get the most from the experience.  Interns are expected to work at their offices for the whole ten weeks.  (Some interns travel as part of their office duties.  We welcome such trips and count them as being 'in town' for this purpose.)  Most evenings and weekends are free, but we encourage interns to stay and take advantage of Washington and Richmond's resources as much as possible.

Q:  In what activites do interns participate other than work?

A:  Other activities include a preparatory course, a speaker series with high-ranking policy makers, service activities, and social activities. Interns in this program have gone canoeing and camping, watched movies on the mall, attended concerts, toured museums, and watched baseball games. You will not find yourself short of fun things to do outside of work hours.

Q:  What do former interns have to say about it?

A:  "The best summer of my life."

"The program gave me a really good real world appreciation. As an engineer I didn't know I could work for human rights. As an engineer I thought you work for a company - I didn't know you could work for a cause."

"The people making big decision on technology policy don't know much about technology; we got a chance to help shape and change opinions."

"This internship was different from the ones I had before - in the past had two typical internships and I sat in front of a computer all day. This time I got an understanding of how government works, especially for technology policy standpoint, which I think can be useful in a lot of future careers, if you go into business for example."

"Not all things can be learned in school. I feel like I got a course in politics 101 and that could not be put in a textbook, could not be taught by a professor. There's just no substitute for that real life experience."

"Opportunities as an intern in DC are really endless. There are always discussion, and hearings going on. I didn't know these things were so accessible and the program just made them more accessible and supplemented them." 

Q:  Can I get more detail on what it was like to participate in the program?

A:  Yes.  Go to Previous Papers and read the papers interns wrote about their experiences.  Talking with former interns is a great idea.