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Internships

The Department recognizes the value of on-the-job experience to the educational development of students. We strongly encourage majors to pursue internship experiences as part of their academic program.

Students can receive academic credit for a qualifying internship. A student participating in an internship who wishes to receive academic credit must register for COMP 4911/6911. A qualifying internship satisfies 3 elective credits in the computer science major; however, a student may apply an internship to an elective credit only once.  Note that registering for COMP 4911/6911 incurs tuition fees as usual.

Advice for Seeking Internships

Most computer science internships are paid. If it works with your schedule and career goals, seek out a full-time summer internship at a technology company in a place like the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Boston, or Seattle. Big software companies generally have active, ongoing internship programs, and completing an internship at one of these places can give you a taste of what it's like to be a full-time employee.

Before you apply for an internship, get your online and professional presence in order. This includes:

  • Create or update your LinkedIn profile. Connect with at least a few people you have a professional connection with.
  • Update your resume, and make sure it's publicly accessible.
  • Create a GitHub account to showcase projects (both academic and personal) that you've worked on.
  • Put your contact details in your email signature. You don't need to include your signature in every email, but have them ready so you can quickly pop in a signature in professional correspondence.
  • Your social media presence can be a liability when employers are doing research on candidates. Clean this up if necessary.

Resources for Seeking Internships

Procedures

If you have an internship position that you would like to apply towards COMP 4911/6911 credit, please contact the Department's internship coordinator, Dr. William Baggett, before the semester in which you plan to receive credit.

We ask for a copy of an offer letter (from the employer to you) with the following information:

  1. A job description
  2. The start and end dates of your internship
  3. The number of hours you will work
  4. The email address of someone who will be able to evaluate your work

If the internship is approved, you will be issued a permit to register for the COMP 4911/6911 course. Note that this incurs the university's standard tuition rates.

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