Undergraduate GVPT majors are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the university's close proximity to Washington D.C. and Annapolis by completing at least one internship experience. The GVPT Advising Office advertises internship opportunities weekly on the undergraduate blog, and advisors can assist students in identifying other internship opportunities.

Common Myths about Internships

  1. Internship credit will fulfill my major requirements.
    This is not always the case. Most internships are for 3-9 credits, yet at most 3 credits will count towards the GVPT major requirements. The remaining credits count towards electives that you need to reach the 120 credits required for graduation. It's best to save some elective credit for internships.
  2. I have an internship which means I can receive credit.
    Not true! Not all internships are acceptable for credit. All avenues for receiving credit require permission and often have deadlines the semester prior to the start of your internship.
  3. I have a job that takes a lot of time; I can receive credit for it.
    We understand that many students have significant financial obligations for their education, however, unless your current job is related to political science and includes substantive work in the area you may not use this for internship credit through GVPT.
  4. I didn't receive credit while interning but I can earn the credit now.
    Unfortunately, once you have completed your internship experience you will no longer be able to earn credit.
  5. I can receive unlimited credit for internships.
    The university does not allow more than 12 credits of internship (in any department) to count towards the 120 needed for graduation. The GVPT department limits internship credit counting towards our requirements to 6 credits (remember only graded credit applies to our requirements).

GVPT Internship Opportunities

GVPT internship programs:
There are three ways students may obtain GVPT credits for an internship experience.

  1. The Capitol Hill Internship Program
  2. The Public Policy Internship Program
  3. The Maryland Internship Program

The Capitol Hill Program involves working approximately 20 hours weekly in a Congressional office and participating in weekly seminars on campus.

Internship admission is extremely competitive and requires strict standards of a 3.0 overall GPA, 56 credits earned, and GVPT major. Please note, deadlines for GVPT internship programs are the semester prior to the internship. In addition there is pre-requisite course work that must be completed in order to be accepted into the internship programs, so students should plan ahead. Students interested in specific details should pick up the internship information sheets available outside of the advising office.

Where to Look for an Internship

The Career Center - (3121) Hornbake Library) (301) 314-7225 : The Career Center has a number of services including:

  • Terp On-Line: a database of organizations with part-time, full-time and intern positions.
  • Career Center Resource Room: The resource room has more general information on various career fields. This type of information is great to narrow down the various options for types of internships you might want to look for. Don't be afraid to contact an organization that interests you and ask them if they offer internships or if they might consider the possibility. Just because an organization hasn't sent a listing to the university doesn't mean a bright student couldn't work for them.

GVPT Undergraduate Blog

Please visit the new GVPT Internship Database to get an idea of some internship opportunities in the field of Government and Politics and see where other GVPT students have worked in the past.

GVPT Advising Office : (3104 Tydings Hall) We keep info on some internships via the bulletin board and file cabinet outside the GVPT Advising Office, however we try and send everything that comes to our office to the Career Center - so make sure to visit them for complete listings.

Internship Opportunities: We receive information about internships continuously and will post links to them here regularly.

 

Last modified
12/13/2018 - 12:33 pm