Northwestern Career Advancement - Summer Internship Grant Program (SIGP) Evanston Campus Application

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 accepted (or who are planning on securing) an unpaid internship or summer experience in an industry that traditionally does not pay their interns. 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 2023, 362 Northwestern students received grants of $3500 to participate in unpaid summer experiences.

Career Development Program
In addition to receiving a grant for living and travel expenses accrued during the summer of an unpaid experience, students will participate in career development activities including: networking, resume & LinkedIn development, informational interviews, and donor appreciation.

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

Award
Varies
Scopes
Career
Deadline
03/28/2024
Supplemental Questions
  1. Campus:
  2. What is your hometown? Please list city and state (and country if outside the United States).
  3. 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):
  4. 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)?
  5. Are you a student-athlete (this DOES NOT include intramural sports)?
  6. What sport do you play? (Please select "N/A" if you aren't a student-athlete)
  7. How did you learn about SIGP? Check all that apply:
  8. If you selected "Other" above, please elaborate. If you did not select "Other", please write "N/A".
  9. Have you *already* accepted an unpaid summer internship/experience?
  10. 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. What is the location of your summer internship/experience? Please list city and country if outside the United States.
    • 2. In which industry is this summer internship/experience?
    • 3. 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.
    • 4. Name of organization for which you have secured your summer internship/ experience.
    • 5. Title of your position
    • 6. Short two or three sentences that describe the experience.
    • 7. Will you be working for a Northwestern alum?
  11. 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 and location.

      If you have accepted a summer internship/experience, please write "N/A".
  12. Are you planning to travel outside of the United States of America for your summer internship/experience?

    Please note that you will have to complete University pre-departure requirements if your summer internship/experience is located outside of the United States.
  13. 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. Please contact SIGP (sigp@northwestern.edu) in the early planning states of your trip. 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 summer experience I accept changes from domestic (United States) to international or to a different international country than I am originally applying with, I must inform the SIGP staff at sigp@northwestern.edu.
  14. SIGP will support both virtual and in-person summer internship/experiences. Please note: If an employer requires in-person work, recipients will have to agree to and abide by federal, state, county, and city COVID-19 guidelines for their summer internship/experience.
  15. Have you applied to SIGP 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?
  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. Photo Release:
  24. Thank You Notes:
  25. SIGP strives to relieve the financial burden for students who are pursuing unpaid summer internship/experiences. In addition, SIGP provides learning opportunities and support as students engage in and connect their summer internship/experiences to their ongoing career development. Your responses to the following essay questions will give the review committee more insight into your goals, interests, and career development. Please answer the following questions as two separate essays labeled “Essay 1” and “Essay 2” respectively.

    Please be sure to first write your essays 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 SIGP reviewers to more easily read your application.

    The combined word count for both Essay 1 and Essay 2 should not exceed 900 words in total.
    • 1. Essay 1: Describe the summer internship/experience that you have secured or would like to secure this summer. What do you hope to learn or gain from this experience? Please be specific and provide multiple examples. How will this experience impact you or the Northwestern community? If you have applied to multiple opportunities, choose one to focus on in this essay.

      Essay 2: How does this internship/summer experience connect to your academic studies and/or extracurricular activities? How does this internship/summer experience align with your academic and/or career goals?
    • 2. Supplemental Essay 3: 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.
  26. Monetary Budget Outline for Summer Internship/Experience (please write "N/A" or the number zero next to any expense you do not have). Amounts must be listed in United States Dollars (USD):
    • 01. Airfare (Round trip):
    • 02. Housing:
    • 03. Food:
    • 04. Local Travel Expenses - (bus or train fares, gas, etc.):
    • 05. Other (please write "N/A" if you don't have any additional expenses to add):
    • 06. Notes (Please include any other information you would like the committee to know about your expenses for the summer. Please write “NA” if you don’t have any notes to add.)
    • 07. Total budget (Please add up all your expenses and list them in total below):
  27. International-Related Expenses for your Internship/Experience (please write "N/A" or "0" next to any expense you do not have). Amounts must be listed in United States Dollars (USD):
    • 1. Entry Visa or Visas:
    • 2. Required Vaccines:
    • 3. Recommended Vaccines:
    • 4. Health Insurance (all Northwestern students traveling abroad with SIGP funding need to enroll in GeoBlue for Students. The current rate is approximately $14/week and should be included in your budget if you’re traveling abroad; you cannot decline the insurance. International students returning home may not be required or eligible to purchase GeoBlue. Please estimate the total based on the number of weeks you will be abroad. For example, if you are staying for 10 weeks, your total would be $14 multiplied by 10 weeks or $140 for this portion of your budget).

      GeoBlue Health Insurance for Students: https://www.northwestern.edu/global-safety-security/health-safety/travel-health/geoblue-global-health-insurance/geoblue-for-students.html

      Questions about exemptions for GeoBlue Health Insurance: https://www.northwestern.edu/global-safety-security/resources/frequently-asked-questions.html
    • 5. Passport:
    • 6. Other (please write "N/A" if you don't have any additional expenses to add):
    • 7. Notes (Please include any other information you would like the committee to know about your expenses for the summer. Please write “NA” if you don’t have any notes to add.):
    • 8. Total Expenses (Please add up all your expenses and list them in total below):
  28. 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:"_"
  29. 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”.
  30. I understand that if I have any additional notes for the SIGP committee to consider, I will email sigp@northwestern.edu directly.
  31. Show 25 more