WORLD'S LEADING INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Top 10 FAQ's
Most of our internships are unpaid. As such, we cannot guarantee anyone a paid internship. You may request a paid internship from your Placement Agent, but you cannot limit your placement to paid internships only. If you require a paid internship in order to be able to participate in the program, then our service is probably not the right fit for your needs. We have a great variety of internship opportunities available.
The deadline to apply for the summer internship programs offered through the University of Dreams is available at: http://www.summerinternships.com/students/dates-and-deadlines.php. For any additional information Contact Your Enrollment Advisor.
The program price varies by destination ($4,999 to $9,999) and includes your housing, transportation, meals, exciting weekend activities, internship placement and more. For specifics for the program you are interested in, please visit the Program Price page for your city.
Your participation includes:
- A guaranteed internship in your field of study
- Lodging for eight weeks at one of our host universities
- Transportation to and from work
- A meal plan that includes breakfast and dinner every workday at the campus dining hall (NY participants receive dinner on workdays and $40 each week instead of breakfast)
- 6 planned weekend activities
- Professional resume revision & Interview Coaching
- Career development seminars once a week
- 1 Academic credit through our host University
- 24/7 Professional staff assistance
- A welcome orientation dinner and graduation event
- Additional gift items
Financial aid is offered by the University of Dreams through loans, grants, scholarships and payment plans. Please review our financing options and contact our Enrollment Advisor.
After you have been accepted into the program, you will be assigned a Placement Agent, who will work with you to professionally revise your resume and begin working on phone interview preparation before setting up interviews with companies you are interested in.
After interviewing, you will have the final say on if you accept the position. The placement process will continue until you are satisfied with the company you will be interning for.
University of Dreams is an all-inclusive program for all participants, so we are unable to remove any elements from the program.
Yes, visit the Internships page of your program of interest for a partial list of participating employers. Once you are officially enrolled in the program, you will be supplied with a list of internships and job descriptions from which to choose. If you would like to know specifics, please contact an Enrollment Advisor.
Yes, if you go to our Contact Us page and scroll down, you will find a list of alumni who have volunteered to answer questions from this year's applicants. Each has provided his or her E-mail address. Feel free to send questions to any or all of these alumni.
We guarantee that we will place you in your industry of choice or your money back. Since 2000 when we began running our internship programs, we have successfully placed over 99% of our enrolled participants. If, however, we do not succeed at placing you in your desired internship, you are eligible for a full refund.
Internships Selection
We guarantee that we will place you in your industry of choice or your money back. Since 2000 when we began running our internship programs, we have successfully placed over 99% of our enrolled participants. If, however, we do not succeed at placing you in your desired internship, you are eligible for a full refund.
1. Apply to the University of Dreams program
2. Review your Acceptatnce
3. Enroll in the program
4. Interview with companies
5. Choose your internship
To read a more detailed description of this process, please see the Internships page of your program of interest.
Yes, visit the Internships page of your program of interest for a list of participating employers. Once you enroll in the program, you will be supplied with a list of internships and job descriptions from which to choose.
Most of our internships are unpaid. As such, we cannot guarantee anyone a paid internship. You may request a paid internship from your Placement Agent, but you cannot limit your placement to paid internships only. If you require a paid internship in order to be able to participate in the program, then our service is probably not the right fit for your needs. We have a great variety of internship opportunities available.
Yes, you would simply be responsible for purchasing a spot in our program for the full program fee and would receive all the same benefits of the other program participants. The only difference would be that we would not have any contact with your employer. If you are interested in this option, once you enroll, simply let your assigned Placement Agent know that you will be obtaining your own internship.
Typically, the average work hours are no more than 40 hours per week and take place between the hours of 8 am to 6 pm. Some of the West Coast financial market positions start earlier to keep pace with the opening of the stock market, but they typically end their day earlier between the hours of 3 and 4 pm. Unless you are issued a train pass or drive yourself to work each day, you will be required to depart at a designated time each morning and be picked up from work at the same time each day. The company at which you are interning will set your work hours in conjunction with our daily transportation schedules.
The likelihood of any company making an intern a full-time job offer depends on that company's need and ability to hire a new employee, as well as the intern's performance, qualifications and fit for the open position. We can report, however, that from the University of Dreams Class of 2007, over 47% of survey respondents received offers to return as full-time employees or interns.
All participants will receive academic credit for participating in a University of Dreams summer internship program. Our accredited academic partner, Menlo College, will issue the academic credit. All University of Dreams participants are automatically enrolled in a class with Menlo College specifically designed to meet the needs of our participants and employers.
This option, provided by Menlo College, is an added benefit to our participants because the majority of employers require interns to receive academic course credit for their internships. The majority of employers will require documentation in the form of a letter on school letterhead stating that you are receiving course credit for your employment at their firm. Students that cannot secure this documentation are not allowed to begin work. This is a real problem for college students because many schools either do not issue course credit for summer internships or simply charge too much for the unit(s) to make it worthwhile. Other schools put prerequisites on who can receive course credit for an internship. For instance, they may require that you have a certain major or be a junior or senior.
Finances, Admissions, and Enrollment
See the Tuition page of each program's Web site for pricing details. Within 15 days of applying, you will receive an enrollment decision from us. To accept our enrollment offer and secure your spot, you will need to pay an enrollment deposit payment, agree to our online Participation Agreement, and fill out our online enrollment sign-up form.
If you cannot afford to pay your tuition by the start of the program using the above options, you may apply for financial aid through University of Dreams Financial Aid. To learn more about each of these options, visit our Financing page.
All program fees must be paid in full by the start of the program. If you elect to pay in full, you will be asked to pay the balance of what you owe within 45 days of submitting your enrollment deposit payment (unless there are less than 45 days left before the start of your selected program, in which case all payments must be made in full prior to its beginning). If you select an installment payment plan, you will be asked to begin making monthly installment payments within 30 days of your enrollment deposit payment. With the exception of students on Financial Aid, all participants must be paid in full by the start of the program in which they are enrolled. For a breakdown of our installment plan options, please see our payment options.
Upon receiving Intern's enrollment payment and signed Participation Agreement, UOD agrees to place Intern in a desired internship by the placement deadline, at least 14 days prior to the commencement date of the Selected Program. If UOD is unable to place Intern in an internship that meets the Intern's sole approval by this date, a 'Failure To Place' will be declared by UOD and Intern will be given the option to (i) drop out of the Program and receive a full refund of Intern's initial deposit payment and all additional Program payments made, or (ii) request that UOD continue the search process until Intern is placed. If UOD is unable to place Intern within the extended time, Intern will receive a full refund. However, if Intern withdraws from the Program for any reason other than UOD's failure to place by the placement deadline, or if UOD determines, in its sole judgment, that Intern has stopped participating in the placement process prior to 14 days before the Commencement Date, UOD shall be entitled to retain Intern's entire initial deposit payment plus 25% of all other Program payments made by Intern. If Intern withdraws from the program for ANY reason after agreeing to accept an internship offer from a Participating Employer, UOD shall be entitled to retain Intern's entire initial deposit payment plus 50% of all other Program payments made by Intern. If Intern drops out of the program after the Commencement Date for ANY reason, UOD shall be entitled to retain Intern's entire initial deposit payment plus 100% of all other Program payments made by Intern. All refund requests must be put in writing and mailed to our headquarters at 455 Los Gatos Blvd. #208, Los Gatos, CA 95032.
There are three primary ways to finance your participation:
Financial Aid: Financial Aid is available to University of Dreams candidates. If you would like to apply or learn more about financial aid, please contact the Recruiting Advisor of the program in which you are interested or visit our Financing page.
Fundraising: Many students finance their participation by reaching out to immediate family, extended family and family friends to ask for donations to support their summer plans. This form of "sponsorship" has been surprisingly successful for those students who are able to express how truly valuable they feel this experience will be toward their future.
Pre/post-program employment: As University of Dreams is only eight weeks long, most students have at least four weeks left in their summer before and/or after the program. Working in paid jobs during these times can help to offset program expenses.
Please see our Eligibility page for the specific requirements for U.S and International students interested in our domestic and international programs.
We have a selection committee that reads through all of the applications. They will closely review your application and will then handpick the candidates they feel have the strongest credentials for our program and the best potential for placement into one of our internships.
We have a rolling admissions process. This means that we evaluate applications as they come in, rather than waiting until everyone has applied to make our decisions. Within weeks of submitting your application, you will be contacted regarding your opportunities with the program. We will take applications until the first day of May, or until all spots are filled. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. We anticipate making enrollment offers starting in June.
Please see the Dates and Deadlines page for details.
Program
Your participation in our summer programs include a guaranteed internship, lodging for eight weeks at one of our host universities, meal options, participation in organized activities, career development seminars once a week, academic credit, professional staff assistance, a welcome orientation dinner and graduation event as well as other gift items. We will also help you professionally rewrite your resume and coach you on interview strategies prior to your internship placement. Last but not least, all University of Dreams participants are enrolled as members into the University of Dreams Alumni Foundation upon graduation, which continues to benefit alumni long after their participation.
No. You must attend the program on the dates listed on our Dates and Deadlines page. If you have any conflicts with this time commitment, you must first clear it with University of Dreams before officially enrolling. We have accommodated a few late arrivals with prior approval in the past.
The program will cover all your transportation and lodging costs for all organized activities. Additionally, we provide breakfast bagels and juice in the morning for all long rides and at least one planned meal per organized activity. Also, we will cover the cost of any entrance fees or recreational activities that we sponsor.
You will be inspired, equipped and challenged by top-notch professionals from a wide array of industries to seek your passions, enhance your skills, follow your heart, and pursue your dreams.
All of our weekend excursions, seminars and activities are 100% optional, but your job is not. As a University of Dreams intern, you may not miss work for any reason other than health and family emergencies. For example, you may not leave early on a Friday to make a trip back home or miss any part of the work day for personal reasons unless previously approved by both the University of Dreams Program Director and your employer. You are free to come and go on weekends, but we encourage you not to miss out on our planned excursions and activities. Our weekend excursions are typically attended by over 90% of our program participants. If you intend on completing your pass/fail requirements for your academic credit, you must attend a minimum of four seminars.
Most of our rooms are doubles, so roommate selection is important. We send out a roommate questionnaire that does an incredible job of matching like-personalities. However, should the system fail you, our staff will do its best to accommodate a switch.
We have a selection committee that reads through all of the applications. They will closely review your application and will then handpick the candidates they feel have the strongest credentials for our program and the best potential for placement into one of our internships.
Single bedrooms are not available. Participants should expect to be living with one roommate and two additional suitemates.
Yes they can. Many participants bring their friends or parents in for the weekend. When possible, we try to accommodate them on our weekend excursions and at our seminars. We cannot promise that there will be space for your family members or friends on the excursions, and we may have to charge them the cost of the trip if they do attend. Each dormitory or building has its own security with different overnight guest policies. The building's policies supersede our guest policies, which are to allow guests to stay up to four consecutive nights and no more than seven total nights for any one guest for the summer. If you are going to have more than one guest stay overnight, you must first approve it with your suitemates—this is out of courtesy for your roommates and other participants. Any guests visiting for longer than five days must secure their own accommodations off campus and cannot attend more than one weekend excursion and two seminars.
To learn more about our campus housing, please visit the Accommodations pages on each of our program Web sites. Detailed descriptions, along with photographs, are provided for each facility.
With the exception of our Los Angeles program, we will be purchasing public transportation passes for all of our participants for the summer. It will give you unlimited train or bus rides anywhere in your host city for the duration of your stay; it is your key to the city. For our Los Angeles program, we lease 15-passenger vans to carpool participants to their job sites. The vehicles depart from the dormitory each morning and pick you up from work at the end of your day.
The majority of our host Universities provide free Internet access from your housing unit. As this service varies from program to program, we cannot guarantee that you will have free Internet access. Some of our University Housing partners do charge a small monthly fee.
Our host Universities typically offer phone service for a fee, but the majority of our participants bring their cell phones. Some of the dorms have pay phones, as well. University of Dreams staff members have a 24-hour hotline that parents can call if they need to reach you. We will furnish you with that number once you enroll in the program.
This varies from program to program. Many of our host Universities offer free access to their weight-room facilities, but it is not guaranteed, and in some cases you may be charged a per-use fee to work out. Our Chicago and New York programs offer free membership to their fitness facilities conveniently located on campus. We are also happy to offer membership for our Los Angeles program participants to the UCLA fitness facilities. The fitness facilities at NYU and UCLA are amazing, complete with Olympic-size swimming pools, full basketball courts, and full cardio and weight rooms. The Chicago facility is mostly cardio equipment, but there are some free weights as well. Most of our International Housing locations do not have fitness facilities. Our Barcelona housing does, however, offer a very small gym to residents.
University of Dreams is an all-inclusive program for all participants, so we are unable to remove any elements from the program.
Visas and Passports
We do not sponsor international students, but we do assist them with the visa application process.
All students without U.S. citizenship wishing to participate in our U.S. programs must have a valid passport and obtain a J-1 Visa to legally participate in the University of Dreams program. University of Dreams will provide guidance to enrolled international students in this process. Some of our participating employers will not hire international students, even with the proper documentation, so please discuss this with your Placement Agent before beginning the placement process. You must make your agent aware that you are an International student. Certain industries are notoriously tough on allowing international students to work for their company, such as the finance companies with which we work (Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS Financial Services, Smith Barney, and Citigroup). Such companies may require additional documentation or not allow international students at all.
