Where to Look
How to Find them
According to a 2005 NACAC (National Association of College Academic Counselors) survey on factors that are given "considerable importance" in the admissions process, 'Grades in college prep courses/along with strength of curriculum' were most important, with just under 75% of schools surveyed citing this factor; admissions test scores were second, with 60%; then came class rank (which to me is just another way of asking for grades) with 30%; next, the essay with 23%, and then extracurricular activities with 8%. ("Dramatic Challenge to SAT and ACT" by Scott Jaschik, www.insidehighered.com.--Yes, the schools surveyed were allowed to select multiple factors.) Naturally, the one area that tends to consume many students and most parents is extracurricular, the least important factor according to the schools. Further, among the extracurricular activities, the elusive internship always seems the most difficult to discover and arrange.
Usually internships, or specific activity ideas, are considered during a candidate's early high school years. Some of the students, particularly those aiming at pre-med, where competition is always grueling, want to find some activities that will set them apart from their peers, which, of course, is the completely wrong approach. Better to look at what you're truly interested in, and figure out what activities might meld with those interests. In any case, the first foray for internship ideas, or job shadowing, starts, but rarely ends, in your high school career counseling center. Certainly all high schools in the Irvine Unified School District have offices. Unfortunately, only rarely do students come upon promising opportunities, which is too bad, since schools are ideally placed to know their communities, the businesses near them, and -through the parents of their students- have access to firms and companies where many students would love to volunteer and get a glimpse of how the real world actually works.
Another place to search is your ROP (Regional Occupation Program). Each county and region in California has one. These programs can provide opportunities for high school students in activities ranging from animation production to emergency medicine. The catalog for the Coastline ROP program, covering central coastal Orange County, is: http://www.coastlinerop.net/PDF/CoastlineROP_schedule.pdf. Even if you can't find your match, you just might gain some ideas by reviewing the catalog. It's a good, quick and easy place to begin reviewing internship and work prospects.
By the way, when considering any kind of internship, don't worry about whether it will be perfect-it probably won't. Rarely is perfection encountered anywhere in the work force or among institutions. Remember, you're looking for experience, not utopia.
If the ROP doesn't land you an opportunity, there are a lot more places, on-line, to search. One website associated with Rochester Institute of Technology serves as a central clearinghouse for all sorts of summer programs and internship opportunities: http://people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/Symp/highschool.htm. Getting back to Orange County, the county government site also lists a number of internships ranging from communications to medical care: http://egov.ocgov.com/portal/site/ocgov. These are just two of the dozen or so good sites I've discovered.
Best, of course, yet, in all honesty, few have the time to make the effort, is to figure out what it is you want to investigate, find local companies in your vicinity, pitch your interest, and create your own opportunity. If you can do all this independently, you're on your way to go to the top of the stack when admissions offices review your application. Independent initiative and a proclivity for adventure and risk will certainly set you off as a candidate with a lot of promise.
The more professions you can investigate and review before entering college, the better prepared you'll be to understand the real world, and probably, especially if you find some pursuit that completely mesmerizes you, the more motivated and focused you'll be in college. Done properly, internships can broaden your horizons, while enhancing your candidacy, even if to a slight degree.