Ucdc program

Students enroll for fall, winter, or spring quarter, earn 12 to 17 course credits, and continue to be registered as full-time students.

Applicant selection is based on academic record, a written statement, a letter of recommendation, and in some cases a personal interview. The UCDC program is selective rather than competitive. UCR has 20 openings each for the fall, winter, and spring quarters with 15 openings for summer. Typically, we get about applications for the most popular quarters spring and summer.

This varies every quarter, so apply if you are interested! Once you are accepted to the program the UCDC staff works closely with you to assist with your resume, cover letter, phone interview techniques, and general internship search resources. Additional support is provided from the staff at the UC Washington Center who work with internship sites in D.

It is extremely rare for students to leave Riverside without an internship secured because there are literally thousands of opportunities in D. We work closely with you to keep you on track with the search and help you present the strongest application materials to each internship site on your list.

The few students who have arrived in D. We encourage you to apply, but we caution that as a student abroad you may face obstacles.

During the application process, we ask applicants to be present for an interview. You'll need to be prepared to conduct this interview via telephone or Skype. In addition, accepted students are expected to attend regular meetings both with the group and individually with program staff. Because you won't be in Riverside, you'll miss out on these group meetings and you will have to find a way to access the information that you miss. Finally, as a UCDC participant living abroad, you will need to be prepared to conduct interviews with potential internship sites.

These interviews most often take place by phone so you'll need to be prepared for extra costs you might incur. All of this is possible and has been done before, but will require more work and dedication on your part. Yes, all students are required to earn units to go along with their internship experience.

You don't earn the units just for working at your internship site. You'll also complete academic work for a faculty member back here at UCR. Visit the courses section of this website for more information about the curriculum. The Academic Internship Program takes place during the fall, winter, and spring quarters. Students are expected to enroll in at least 12 units in the academic program.

The summer UCDC program has two different options. Students can enroll in 4 or 8 units of an internship course 6 units of enrollment are required for financial aid for summer UCDC participants. Alternately, students may opt to participate in the summer UCDC program without enrolling in units.

Students who do not enroll are not eligible for financial aid. The summer program costs a bit less than the regular academic year program because students pay fees in summer on a per-unit basis. The cost of fees, therefore, depends on the number of units a student chooses to enroll in. Other costs housing, food, personal costs, etc. Students interested in applying for sites that have early deadlines i. In addition, more motivated students tend to seek and apply to internships before they get accepted into the UCDC program.

Here is a list of undocufriendly internship sites that you can participate in not extensive list as a UCDC student. Seminars meet once a week for three hours, usually during the day; on occasion there is an evening seminar offered. Students take off from their internship on the day that their seminar meets to attend class and address other course requirements. Students are free to choose the seminar that best suits their interests or internship.

Most seminars combine research papers with a substantive focus on Congress, the Supreme Court, the media, the presidency, elections, and international relations. Another seminar focuses completely on research and allows students to write an in-depth research paper on a topic related to the work of their internship organization. Depending on the seminar, students may share internship experiences, hold discussions on Washington policy, learn research techniques, take field trips to Washington landmarks, or participate in skill-building workshops.

Electives usually meet in the evening once a week for three hours. Its been great! State Dept. My semester in Washington D. I was able to observe recommendations affecting public policy from a first-hand perspective and develop my writing, networking, and communication skills.

My experience at the UCDC was the single most important program in my college career. The time spent in D. I had planned on attending since I was accepted into the university and it did not disappoint. My participation in the UCDC program It also has shown me the importance of working in a career that I am passionate about.

It was truly inspiring to study in the heart of the nation's capital, with access to some of the greatest libraries and most prominent scholars. Additionally, my UCDC professors brought a wealth of experience from the field and the professional world that provided an enhanced perspective to our academic studies. UCDC will forever be the definition of my undergraduate experience.