Applications for Summer 2024

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APPLICATION OPENING: Applications for Summer 2024 are TBD.  

ELIGIBILITY: All currently enrolled Harvard undergraduates who intend to be enrolled at Harvard College the fall semester following their internship are eligible. Students who participated in the IOP Summer of Service virtual program during Summer 2021 and 2022 are eligible to apply.

  • STUDENTS ON LEAVE: If you are on leave during the Fall or Spring semesters, you may be eligible to apply. You will need to petition, and receive approval from, the Administrative Board for approval to use the CARAT Application Portal. Contact your Resident Dean to initiate the petition process as soon as possible. Please note that students on leave will not be eligible to apply until the Administrative Board has approved any request. We recommend students on leave begin this process as soon as possible, as the IOP is not able to expedite it.
  • FORMER INTERNS: Students who interned with a Director's Internship host organization in summer 2022 and 2023 are eligible to apply for a Director's Internship for summer 2024. To promote equity of opportunity across applicants, students who participated in the Director’s Internship program in summer 2022 and 2023 are not eligible to apply to intern with the same organization for summer 2024. A list of our summer 2024 Director's Internship hosts will be available in late fall 2023.  
    • NOTE: The Hometown Director’s Internship opportunities are exempt from this rule. Students who held those positions in summer 2022 and 2023 may apply for them again for summer 2024.

Application Requirements

Applicants must submit the following for consideration:

RESUME: 1 page. 1” margins, 11 - 12 point font. You can find resources and templates for resumes here.

STATEMENT OF INTEREST: Write a one-page statement that demonstrates your knowledge of, and interest in, the organization to which you are applying.

  • Basics: The statement should be one page in length, single spaced, with Times New Roman, 11 - 12 point font, and submitted in PDF format.  ​
  • Tone & Format: The tone and format of your Statement of Interest may vary depending on the organization(s) to which you're applying. The format can range between a college application essay and a traditional cover letter. This range is meant to allow you the freedom to choose what best suits you and fits the organization to which you’re applying. Your Statement of Interest can fall anywhere in that range (i.e. if you'd like to submit a traditional cover letter, you're free to do that).
  • Salutation: If you’d like to use a salutation, you can address your Statement to the organization or to some variation of  “IOP Director’s Internship Selection Committee.”

REFERENCES: In one PDF document, you will need to provide the following for TWO references: name, title (if applicable), email, phone number(s), and one to two sentences about how you know the reference. You can find a template here. A reference can be anyone you choose - a professor, a coach, a tutor, a boss, etc. Depending on your class year, you may decide to choose someone from your time in high school. Your reference should be able to speak in detail about the positive skills and traits you possess. Please inform your reference that they may be contacted by the Director’s Internship selection committee and/or the host organization during the course of the selection process.

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS: After the IOP application closes, some host organizations may request that finalists submit a letter of recommendation, writing sample, or other materials directly to their office. Please review the internship descriptions for the positions to which you are applying to confirm whether additional application materials are required of you AFTER the application deadline. NOTE: You DO NOT need to submit these additional application materials to the IOP application on CARAT. 

NOTE: The IOP Director, Executive Director, and the Internships and Career Services program staff are not able to serve as references for the Director's Internship application.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Applications Deadlines for Summer 2024 are TBD.

STUDENTS WILL RECEIVE FINALIST EMAILS BEFORE: TBD.

ALL HOST DECISIONS WILL BE SHARED WITH STUDENTS BEFORE: TDB.

Students are eligible apply to a maximum of TWO Director’s Internship positions.

PROGRAM PARAMETERS

  • FORMAT: Please be sure to review each internship description carefully, as there may be particular format requirements for individual internships.  
  • PROGRAM DATES: Students who are selected for the IOP Director’s Internship program will receive a $6000 stipend for 10 weeks of full-time work to take place between the first week of June  and the second week of August.
  • HOST ORGANIZATIONS: A list of Director’s Internship host organizations will be announced in mid-November. Students may apply to a maximum of TWO Director’s Internship positions.

FUNDING POLICY: Students must disclose if they are receiving Harvard funding for any other projects at any point throughout the summer, the amount of the award, and the dates of the other project as soon as possible and no later than June 1 of the year of the award. The IOP reserves the right to modify awards accordingly. Failure to promptly report other Harvard-funded summer activities may be reported to the Administrative Board.

For questions about the Director's Internship Program, please email IOP_ICS@hks.harvard.edu.