Any tips for applying to a SULI internship?

[rgoreb18]

Hi! I'm currently a sophomore in college and applying to internships. One that sticks out to me is SULI. I'm a Material Science and Engineering major. Currently a 3.3 GPA but should go up after this semester is over. Also working in a research lab and I have leadership experience with an exec board position in my material science club at my school. My letters of rec should be killer, one being my Calc 2 TA and the other being my professor I am doing research for who has 10+ years in the industry and has a ton of connections. I know this is not enough information to judge an applicant, but any tips for this application would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[WWGD]

@Choppy , @ZapperZ , @ Dr. Courtney @Vanadium 50 . Another one for you.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

Hard to get very enthusiastic about a 3.3 GPA unless your rec letters say you're in the top 1% of research students in your mentor's experience. The reputation of your school and other issues are going to matter here.

In short, the better internships are a long shot for that GPA.

 

[rgoreb18]

Thank you for the feedback. I hope the internships I am applying for will take into account that I am just a sophomore with not too many grades under my belt so one or two b minuses and one or two a minuses could skew my CUM. After this coming semester it should be up to a 3.5ish

 

[ZapperZ]

Thank you for the feedback. I hope the internships I am applying for will take into account that I am just a sophomore with not too many grades under my belt so one or two b minuses and one or two a minuses could skew my CUM. After this coming semester it should be up to a 3.5ish

This all depends on who is in competition with you for those limited spots. Remember, we are not doing this in a vacuum.

Here's what happened when I last was a supervisor in a SULI program. I received a list of students that I guessed had been whittled down, with their application info, their letters of recommendation, etc... etc. Often, this numbered in the 10's, i.e. I have between 10-30 candidates to pick from. Remember, I was picking JUST ONE.

So it isn't just about you, or what you did or didn't do, etc. It is also about who are the rest of your competition. I have to judge and compare you to all the others.

What is it about you that makes you UNIQUE from the others, and what makes you the most suitable candidate for me to select when compared to others? Ask yourself this and write your essay accordingly. But don't oversell yourself so much that you can't deliver.

Zz.

 

[rgoreb18]

This all depends on who is in competition with you for those limited spots. Remember, we are not doing this in a vacuum.

Here's what happened when I last was a supervisor in a SULI program. I received a list of students that I guessed had been whittled down, with their application info, their letters of recommendation, etc... etc. Often, this numbered in the 10's, i.e. I have between 10-30 candidates to pick from. Remember, I was picking JUST ONE.

So it isn't just about you, or what you did or didn't do, etc. It is also about who are the rest of your competition. I have to judge and compare you to all the others.

What is it about you that makes you UNIQUE from the others, and what makes you the most suitable candidate for me to select when compared to others? Ask yourself this and write your essay accordingly. But don't oversell yourself so much that you can't deliver.

Zz.

Thank you, that is some really good advice! I have been putting a lot of time and effort into these essays. Hopefully some of my past experiences can set me apart from the rest.
Thanks!

 

[Jody]

I was a participant several years ago and I don't think my GPA was higher than 3.3. I did have a prior internship experience; I co-authored a manuscript on that work and it was published.

Anyhoo: There's no doubt that GPA matters a lot and I have definitely experienced barriers from having a low one, but it was still possible... I worked hard and milked opportunities, but I think some luck was involved... right time and place... try helping not hurting your odds by applying for lots of opportunities too ;) I've seen lots of very talented and stubborn friends only go for the gold with hungry competition out there. When they were done with their degree it was hard to get a job because they had almost no experience.

 

[rgoreb18]

Thank you to everyone for the great feedback, almost ready to send in the application so we'll see how it goes. What would any of you recommend as the best site to use for finding internships and such? I have been using Indeed but I did not know if there is a better site.

 

[WWGD]

Thank you to everyone for the great feedback, almost ready to send in the application so we'll see how it goes. What would any of you recommend as the best site to use for finding internships and such? I have been using Indeed but I did not know if there is a better site.

Not sure if the best overall but ZipRecruiter has 1-click applications and has listings for internships. So you can apply for 50-60 in less than 30 minutes.

 

[rgoreb18]

Hard to get very enthusiastic about a 3.3 GPA unless your rec letters say you're in the top 1% of research students in your mentor's experience. The reputation of your school and other issues are going to matter here.

In short, the better internships are a long shot for that GPA.

Just an update on my application, I received my acceptance for SULI at my first choice laboratory today. Thankfully they were enthusiastic about my application and did not just look at my gpa

 

[dlnelson]

Just an update on my application, I received my acceptance for SULI at my first choice laboratory today. Thankfully they were enthusiastic about my application and did not just look at my gpa

Congratulations on your acceptance! May I ask how long it took from when you submitted your application? And did they call you first? I got a call from someone at Argonne almost a week ago and have been emailing him since, but haven't received an email saying I will receive an offer so I feel kind of blind and confused at the moment.

 

[rgoreb18]

Congratulations on your acceptance! May I ask how long it took from when you submitted your application? And did they call you first? I got a call from someone at Argonne almost a week ago and have been emailing him since, but haven't received an email saying I will receive an offer so I feel kind of blind and confused at the moment.

I never got a call from them, but I received an email basically saying I was accepted and describing the project I was accepted for. I have not been sent a notification about the official acceptance yet however

 

[dlnelson]

I never got a call from them, but I received an email basically saying I was accepted and describing the project I was accepted for. I have not been sent a notification about the official acceptance yet however

Hmm okay weird. It seems like everyone’s experiences are all a little different so I guess I’ll just keep waiting and see what happens. I’m just getting so anxious about it. I figured once I got a call that I was pretty much in, but now I haven’t heard much of anything else so I don’t know.

 

[Jody]

Hopefully it eases some pain and anxiety to share my experience although it was about 5 years ago... I didn't receive my offer until March. If you're not hearing back from the coordinators today or this week, then it's okay because you've still got time.

I think many of you have a good shot at it, but don't put all of your eggs into one basket. You can apply for many programs. If more than one comes back to you, then you can choose what you want to do.

 

[ZapperZ]

Congratulations on your acceptance! May I ask how long it took from when you submitted your application? And did they call you first? I got a call from someone at Argonne almost a week ago and have been emailing him since, but haven't received an email saying I will receive an offer so I feel kind of blind and confused at the moment.

Assuming that these are for your summer SULI internship, it is still early in the year, so you may not hear much from them till probably late Feb. or even mid March. You may hear from your future supervisor ahead of time, but the dept. that processes and administer the SULI program will be the one that will make all the official arrangements. I believe at Argonne, it is still the Division of Educational Programs.

Zz.

 

[dlnelson]

Assuming that these are for your summer SULI internship, it is still early in the year, so you may not hear much from them till probably late Feb. or even mid March. You may hear from your future supervisor ahead of time, but the dept. that processes and administer the SULI program will be the one that will make all the official arrangements. I believe at Argonne, it is still the Division of Educational Programs.

Zz.

Awesome, thank you for the insight! I'm hoping I'm good and that things are just taking a bit. Guess I'll see!