NCA - Summer Internship Grant Program (SIGP) Evanston Campus Application (and SoC Awards)

The Summer Internship Grant Program was established to support current Northwestern undergraduate students with a demonstrated financial need who are participating in unpaid internships. This is a funding source for undergraduates who have secured (or who are planning on securing) an unpaid internship or summer experience. SIGP is also a career development program and provides learning opportunities as students engage in the summer experiences.

Since 2007, the Summer Internship Grant Program has made it possible for undergraduate students to pursue unpaid internships. In 2024, 382 Northwestern students received grants of $3500 to participate in unpaid summer experiences. For more details, visit: https://www.northwestern.edu/careers/programs-opportunities/sigp/

For mor information or any questions, please contact:
Maggie Smith
Assistant Director | Northwestern Career Advancement
sigp@northwestern.edu

School of Communication (SoC) Internship Award Program – NEW combined application with SIGP
To streamline the process and eliminate redundancy, the SoC Internship Award Program has merged its application process with SIGP. The SoC Internship Award Program is funded by generous donors to support students who have secured unpaid or low-paid internships. For more details, visit: https://epics.soc.northwestern.edu/internships/funding-your-internship/

For more information or questions related to the SoC Internship Award Program, please contact:
Kimberley Cornwell
Associate Director | EPICS
k-cornwell@northwestern.edu

Award
Varies
Scopes
Career
Deadline
03/13/2025
Supplemental Questions
  1. Students with majors in the School of Communication will automatically be considered for both the SoC Internship Award Program and SIGP (both awards are $3500). SoC majors, please complete the SIGP application and make sure you answer the question below marked “For School of Communication Majors ONLY”. This will enable the selection committee to determine applicable donor grants if you’re selected for the internship award.
  2. Campus:
  3. What is your hometown? Please list city and state (and country if outside the United States).
  4. Permanent Address:
    • 1. Permanent Street Address:
    • 2. Permanent City:
    • 3. Permanent State/Province:
    • 4. If you indicated "Other/ Non - U.S. resident" above, please list the country. Please write "N/A" if you are a US resident.
    • 5. Permanent Zip Code. Please list "00000" for Non - U.S. residence
    • 6. Permanent Country:
    • 7. If you selected "Other", please list your country below (write "N/A" if it is listed):
  5. Have you applied for an appeal with the Office of Financial Aid within the last two months of the academic year (end of Fall Quarter/ beginning of Winter Quarter)?
  6. Are you a student-athlete? (this DOES NOT include intramural or club sports)
  7. What sport do you play? (Please select "N/A" if you aren't a student-athlete)
  8. How did you learn about SIGP and/or the SoC Internship Award Program? Check all that apply:
  9. If you selected "Other" above, please elaborate. If you did not select "Other", please write "N/A".
  10. Have you *already* accepted an unpaid summer internship/experience?
  11. If you have accepted an unpaid summer internship/experience, please answer the following (please answer "N/A" to all questions if you have not secured a summer internship/experience):
    • 1. Name of organization where you have secured your summer internship/ experience.
    • 2. Title of your position
    • 3. In which industry is this summer internship/experience?
    • 4. If you selected "other" above, please list what industry your summer internship/experience is in. Please write "N/A" if you selected an industry from the list above or have not accepted/secured a summer internship/experience.
    • 5. What is the location of your summer internship/experience? Please list city and country if outside the United States.
    • 6. Short two or three sentences that describe the experience.
  12. If you have *not* accepted an unpaid summer internship/experience, please answer the following:
    • 1. In which industry would you like to secure an unpaid experience?
    • 2. If you selected “Other” above, please list what industry you would like to secure an unpaid summer internship/experience in this summer. Please write “N/A” if you selected an industry from the list above.
    • 3. Please describe the type of experience you’re working to secure this summer. Please be specific about the type of role.

      If you have accepted a summer internship/experience, please write "N/A".
    • 4. What is your intended location for the summer? Please indicate city and country.

      If you have accepted a summer internship/experience, please write "N/A".
    • 5. For School of Communication majors ONLY. Please indicate whether the internship/experience you plan to secure will be in one of the following cities:
  13. Are you planning to travel outside of the United States of America for your summer internship/experience?

    If you plan to travel outside of the United States for your internship/experience, you must inform SIGP and complete University Travel Policy requirements by May 30, 2025.
  14. Please answer the questions below about the location of your summer internship/experience:
    • 1. List your destination country or countries here:
    • 2. Is this summer internship/experience located in your country of citizenship and/or permanent residence?
    • 3. Pre-Departure Requirements: If awarded and traveling outside of the United States, I acknowledge that I must complete University pre-departure requirements. If I decide on an experience within the United States, I will not have to complete pre-departure requirements.

      Northwestern undergraduate travel policy: https://www.northwestern.edu/global-safety-security/travel-policies/undergraduates/international-travel-policy/
    • 4. Travel Advisory: I understand that applying for SIGP with a summer experience outside of the United States requires me to take an additional verification step. To minimize health and safety risks, the University has approved policies to govern undergraduate travel based on advice from the US Department of State and the CDC. If your destination is on the University’s Restricted Travel List, you must submit a Travel Permission Request. Contact Andrea Mendoza, Office of Global Safety & Security (andrea.mendoza@northwestern.edu) and SIGP (sigp@northwestern.edu) at least 6 weeks before departure to begin the travel permission request. Restricted Travel List: https://www.northwestern.edu/global-safety-security/travel-policies/undergraduates/international-travel-policy/restricted-travel-list.html
    • 5. Experience Location Change: I understand that if the location of my summer experience changes from domestic (United States) to international or to a different international country than I am originally applying with, I must inform SIGP (sigp@northwestern.edu). Changes to travel plans need to be approved by May 30, 2025.
  15. Have you applied to summer internship funding in the past?
  16. Have you attended or viewed an information session? Please note, your answer does not affect funding.

    You can view the virtual information session here: https://www.northwestern.edu/careers/programs-opportunities/sigp/how-to-apply.html
  17. Are you planning to live at home and/or with family or family friends during the summer internship/experience you have secured or planning to secure? Please note your answer does not affect funding.
  18. Are you receiving any money (stipend or hourly wage), housing assistance, or any other form of compensation from the employer to complete the summer internship/experience?
  19. If you are receiving any form of compensation from your summer internship/experience employer, please answer the questions below (please write "N/A" for each question if you are not receiving anything).
    • 1. What is the amount or form of compensation you will be receiving?
    • 2. What is this intended to be used for?
  20. Are you receiving academic credit for the summer internship/experience? As a reminder, SIGP cannot be combined with programs within Northwestern that offer credit including, but not limited to: Chicago Field Studies, GESI, Engage Chicago. SIGP funding cannot be used for academic programs or coursework.
  21. If you are receiving academic credit for your summer internship/experience, please answer the following (if you are not receiving academic credit, please write "N/A" for the questions below):
    • 1. What program/school are you receiving credit from?
    • 2. How much credit will you be receiving?
  22. Do you plan to take classes over the summer (in addition to your summer internship/experience)?
  23. Please list any additional summer funding you have applied for at Northwestern (ex: Weinberg Summer Grant, Summer Undergraduate Research Grant, etc.):

    If you have not applied to any other funds on campus please write “N/A”.
  24. Photo Release:
  25. Thank You Notes:
  26. SIGP (and SoC Awards) strives to relieve the financial burden for students who are pursuing unpaid summer internship/experiences. In addition, SIGP (and SoC Awards) provides learning opportunities and support as students engage in and connect their summer internship/experiences to their ongoing career development. Your response to the following essay questions will give the review committee more insight into your goals, interests, and career development.

    Please be sure to write your essay in a word processing program such as Microsoft Word and then copy and paste the text into the text box to assist with grammar and spell check. This will allow for the reviewers to more easily read your application.

    The word count should not exceed 900 words in total.
    • 1. Please write an essay that details your summer plans and how your summer internship/experience connects to your experiences and interests. Your response needs to address each of the following:

      • A detailed description of your summer internship/experience. If you have not yet secured an internship, choose an opportunity you’d like to secure or plan to pursue. If you have applied to multiple opportunities, choose one to focus on for this essay.
      • What do you hope to learn or gain from this internship/experience? Please be specific and provide multiple examples.
      • How does this summer internship/experience connect to your academic studies and/or extracurricular activities? Please be specific and provide multiple examples.
      • How will this experience impact you or the Northwestern community?
      • How does this summer internship/experience align with your academic and/or career goals?
    • 2. Supplemental Essay: If you have any financial information or additional details about personal or family circumstances that are not reflected on your One Form General Application or in your financial aid package from Northwestern, please elaborate on your financial need, and provide any relevant information you are comfortable sharing. We encourage any student who is not on full scholarship to respond to this optional essay. Your response provides the SIGP review committee with relevant details to best assess your application. (NCA will have access to your level of need based on your current financial aid package. Many students already receiving aid will not have additional details to share). PLEASE WRITE "N/A" IF YOU ARE NOT ANSWERING THIS QUESTION.
  27. Please upload a copy of your resume as a PDF file using the naming structure “Last Name_First Name_SIGP Resume”.

    Do not include any special characters in the name of your file. One Form will not accept the upload with anything other than an underscore:"_"
  28. I understand that if I have any questions or additional notes for the SIGP committee to consider, I will email sigp@northwestern.edu directly. For questions related to the SoC Internship Award Program, please reach out to k-cornwell@northwestern.edu.
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