While these programs showcase the best that Princeton has to offer, the current application process can sometimes negatively impact both students and the organizations to which they are applying. The vast majority of students, unsure where they will ultimately receive offers, apply for more than one position — often through more than one umbrella program. And unfortunately, the timelines for notification vary greatly for these various programs. When students are accepted by one organization, they are often given a short window of time to make a decision, forcing students to make difficult and sometimes uninformed choices about their summer employment. Students would benefit from an effort among programs to coordinate their timelines and to ensure that students have adequate time to make the best decisions about their service options.
For internships in the private sector, Career Services goes to great lengths to ensure that students are given a minimum of two weeks to make their decisions after receiving offers from firms. This service is a boon to students who would otherwise be at the mercy of employers who seek to coerce students to accept job offers on short notice. Unfortunately, these benefits do not extend to students interested in service opportunities. With some Princeton programs, students may be given as little as 48 hours to respond to offers, an inadequate amount of time to make a reasonable and informed decision. These programs should guarantee students the same two-week window to make decisions.
Furthermore, students who apply for more than one position must sometimes make a decision regarding one job offer without knowledge of their status with another organization. While these deadlines may be in place because “committed” students should know immediately that a position is right for them, a student’s desire to compare offers may have little to do with their commitment to service in general. Indeed, students may compare opportunities to determine which organization will allow them to make the greatest impact. The short decision timelines also might be in place to ensure that if a student declines an offer, another Princeton student can quickly fill the spot. Though this is an important consideration, it should not come at the expense of disadvantaging the students who are initially offered a position.
To remedy these problems, various service-oriented internship programs on campus should make an effort to coordinate their deadlines and increase the time and information that students have to make their decisions about internship offers. This could be best accomplished by selecting one day or week where all programs would give their first offers. These programs have an understandable interest in finding qualified interns and filling every position. This interest is important and need not be sacrificed to implement timeline reforms: it can be accommodated by moving up the entire application process.
Princeton does a great service by providing students with opportunities to give back, and it should ensure students are best served by the opportunities they are provided.
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