Internships are a great opportunity for many students! You should chat with your faculty advisor before making any internship decisions. International students and domestic students have different requirements due to visa regulations. The affiliates Internship Blog may offer some potential opportunities as well.

Domestic Students

  1. Find an internship. Remember to adhere to CSE Recruiting Policies.
  2. Tell your advisor that you're taking an internship
  3. Tell the Payroll Team (payroll@cs) and your faculty's Grant Manager that you're taking an internship.
  4. Apply to take leave for the quarter of your internship if you won't be doing RA/TA work. You do not need to apply for leave over the summer. Leave opens 2 weeks before the quarter starts. Do not register for course credits as this will disqualify you from leave for the quarter.
  5. Figure out your health insurance. GAIP has a self-pay option or you can often recieve insurance through your internship. You will have continued GAIP insurance over the summer if you have been enrolled in Autumn, Winter, and Spring.
  6. No course credits are required.

International Students

Steps for acquiring internship course credits and a CPT authorization

International students need to register for internship course credits to qualify for CPT. The course requires that you provide a write-up at the end of your internship. You will be unable to request CPT authorization until you've registered for internship course credits.

  1. Find an internship. Remember to adhere to CSE Recruiting Policies.
  2. Tell your advisor that you're taking an internship
  3. Tell the Payroll Team (payroll@cs) and your faculty's Grant Manager that you're taking an internship.
  4. Figure out your health insurance. ISHIP has a quarterly pay option, GAIP has a self-pay option, or you can often recieve insurance through your internship. You will have continued GAIP insurance over the summer if you have been enrolled in Autumn, Winter, and Spring.
  5. Negotiate appropriate start/end dates. ISS offers guidance on the first possible and last possible day a CPT can cover at the bottom of their CPT page. You will need a separate CPT authorization for each quarter that the internship falls into. You will need to repeat this process for every quarter in which you need a CPT.
  6. Determine which course to take:
    • CSE 601: if you have a part-time internship during the school year; if you have a summer internship and expect to have an RA or TA in the autumn.
    • ENGR 601: folks who are on a full time internship during the school year and without RA funding for the quarter; folks with summer internships that do not expect to have an RA or TA in the autumn. Please refer to the CoE website for ENGR 601 for further directions.

    7. The remainder of these steps are for CSE 601 only.

  7. Determine how many credits to take.
    • Full time (40 hours/week) CSE 601: 2 credits (SUMMER ONLY - during the school year, use ENGR 601)
    • Part time (20 hours/week) CSE 601: 1 credit
  8. Register for CSE 601 course credits using one of the two following options:
    • During the school year, register in the quarter you plan to work at the internship.
    • During the summer, you have the option to register for credits in autumn quarter to represent a summer internship. This allows your RA or TA tuition waiver to pay for those credits instead of paying out of pocket. This means you are unable to apply for a CPT authorization until you register for autumn credits. Check next year's academic calendar to see when you can register for courses in the autumn. Set a calendar reminder so that you don't forget to register as soon as you're able.
  9. Apply for CPT authorization using MyISSS: it takes about 3 weeks to receive an updated I-20, so apply early!
    • PhDs: Ensure that the department approver name is "Joe Eckert"
    • PhDs: Ensure that the department approver's email address is "jeckert1@cs.washington.edu"
    • BS/MS: Ensure that the department approver name is "Maggie Moris"
    • BS/MS: Ensure that the department approver's email address is "maggiem@cs.washington.edu"
    • During CSE 601, complete the final Canvas assignment to earn credit. This reflection asks you to connect your work at the internship with your continued work in your academic program and describe how each feeds into the other.

Have questions that weren't answered above? Here are some resources for you!

  • Slack: Send Joe a DM! Happy to chat.
  • Set up an appointment: Joe is happy to chat virtually or in person as well. Click here to schedule.
  • International Student Services: You can ask questions via email, the in-person front desk, or the virtual front desk. Times and locations are on their website.