Academic Internship Program

OFFICE: Literature Building, Second Floor, Warren College
http://aip.ucsd.edu

Courses

The Program

The Academic Internship Program (AIP) offers qualified juniors and seniors the opportunity to acquire valuable work experience related to academic and career interests. Although most internships are in the San Diego area, the Academic Internship Program is national in scope, including the popular Washington, D.C. program, and international, including the London program. Housing arrangements and orientations are parts of both programs. An extensive library lists more than 4,000 available internships in varied settings including, but not limited to, TV and radio stations, law offices, medical research labs and clinics, government agencies, high-tech and biotech companies, engineering, advertising and public relations firms, and financial institutions. Students also can work with the internship office to set up their own positions.

The program operates all four quarters; students intern a minimum of ten hours per week and may receive upper-division credit. Students may enroll in a maximum of four internships and/or earn sixteen units of internship credit during the course of their junior and senior years. The number of units earned corresponds to the number of hours worked, actual job description and the length of a research paper/project. The research paper/project and relevant readings comprise the academic component of the program, which is directed by a faculty adviser selected by the student. All internships require assigned faculty advisers and program evaluations. All students earn grades of P/NP and receive transcript notations.

The AIP serves students from all six colleges and handles all undergraduate majors. Students planning to participate in the Academic Internship Program should apply at least one quarter before they want to be enrolled in the program, or two quarters prior to a Washington, D.C. or London internship. Students planning to set up their own out-of-town internships are encouraged to apply two quarters in advance. In cooperation with AIP and UCSD’s Programs Abroad Office, students also may participate in, and earn academic credit for, other established internships abroad.

To be eligible for the program, students must have completed at least ninety units of credit with some related upper-division course work and have a minimum 2.5 GPA at the date of application.