About Our Students

The Boston University Washington Internship Program is proud of the caliber of its students. A student participating in the Washington Internship Program has the opportunity to study any place else in the world, but he or she chose Washington, DC. The reasons may have been to develop skills not taught in the classroom, to secure a recommendation from a respected professional in his or her field, to improve a graduate school application, or as a spring board to launch a career.

Qualifications of Students

To participate in the program the student must meet the following requirements:

at least Junior or Senior class standing,
a minimum of a 3.0 out of 4.0 grade point average (or equivalent), and
approval of a faculty advisor

Comprehensive Program

Unlike some semester in Washington programs, the Boston University Washington Internship Program is a comprehensive program of internship, seminars, and classes. We also realize the main reason student's decide to participate in our program is because of the internship. For that reason, students work four full-time days each week at your work site (five full-time days in the summer).

Extensive Orientation

During our orientation sessions with students, we emphasize the skills needed to be a successful intern. Students receive a realistic overview of what to expect at the work site including the ups and downs of working in an office, how to deal with the slow time, how to ask for more work, and the importance of cheerfully completing mundane tasks in the hopes of receiving more challenging work assignments.

Courses

Students are taking a full load of classes while participating in the Boston University Washington Internship Program. All courses at the Boston University Washington Center are offered in the evenings and should not conflict with a normal work schedule. During the fall and spring semesters, students are taking three courses in addition to the academic work required for their internship. During the summer, they are taking one additional course that meets two nights per week.

Class at the George Washington University

In the fall and spring semester programs, students have the option of taking one course at the George Washington University. Since it is not possible for us to offer classes in every conceivable discipline, students avail themselves to this option if they are in need of a specialized course such as a foreign language course. This class typically meets two days per week and may be during the normal working day. The understanding of the internship supervisor is appreciated.

Washington Seminar

Another option for students is to take our Washington Seminar in lieu of one of the elective courses. This seminar consists mainly of field trips to a wide range of Washington institutions including embassies, executive branch agencies, lobbing firms, the Kennedy Center, and the Supreme Court. In addition to the field trips, students develop an issue briefing to be given in front of the class. In the issue briefing the student takes a position on any issue and asks the class to serve as the decision making body while the student presents his or her arguments on the topic. The Washington Seminar provides students with a varied exposure to the political, educational, and cultural climate in the nation's capital.

Work Product

One academic component of the internship required for each student is to hand in work product. This is defined loosely to take into account the wide variety of internship placements. Students are required to hand in five examples of something the student has done at the internship. These may be a memo, summary of a hearing, a database project, a case file, or original research. Work products are only used for grading purposes, so the internship site is welcome to redact any sensitive information from the documents that may also be returned once grading is complete, if needed. We have never had any issue with work products, but supervisors are welcomed to call the director, 202-756-7800, to discuss any concerns.

Speaker Series

Each semester sees a variety of speakers come to the Boston University Washington Center. Usually journalists, historians, or academics promoting a new work, the speaker series exposes the students to ideas they may not receive in the classroom. Visit our special event's page to view the most recent guest speakers.

Expectation Setting / Job Description Exercise

We ask our students to complete a job description with their immediate supervisor in the first few weeks of the semester. We have found it helps the student to focus on goals for the semester, and it also gives the supervisor an opportunity to detail the expectations of the work place. The job description exercise is also useful to track progress during the semester and as a reference document long after the semester is completed. A copy the exercise may be found on our academic forms' page.

Community Service

A semester in Washington, DC is more than just working at an internship and taking classes. It is an opportunity to participate in a new community for many. No service is done for the students by keeping them behind campus walls, so every effort is made to integrate them into the community. One way we do that is by providing opportunities for community service. This could be volunteering at a neighborhood park or participating in any number of hundreds of programs through Greater DC Cares.