Junior Year

Year Three

• In chosen career field, study your major in depth with several courses.
   
• Take elective courses in other areas to enhance your qualifications.
   
• Join campus and professional organizations in your chosen field and seek leadership positions. Employers want to see leadership and involvement, not just good grades.
   
• Plan a specific internship in your chosen field. Oglethorpe's internship program allows you to earn academic credit for your internship. The first step is to attend an Internship Orientation the semester prior to your internship. It takes about 2 months to find an internship site, so plan your search accordingly. Internship listings are available in the Career Library in Emerson Student Center and on-line at E-Recruiting  (contact Career Services for information on creating a profile and obtaining login information). The deadline to register for an internship for credit is the drop/add date of the semester for which you wish to register. To earn credit for an internship, you must have a faculty supervisor who will assign at least a 20 page paper and journal entries. You will also have to work 30 hours on site for every hour of academic credit (4 hour of credit = 120 hours on site, or about 10 hours per week). Remember, if you get credit for an internship, you have to pay tuition for those credit hours, just like any other class. Internships are graded pass/fail. More Information on Internships
   
• Determine if you meet the qualifications for your chosen career field. Begin to collect job descriptions in your field. Do you have what they are looking for? What can you do prior to graduation to better prepare yourself for your chosen field?
   
• Research key corporations/organizations in your chosen field. The career library has lists of employers in various fields.  In addition to E-Recruiting, Wetfeet.com, vault.com, and rileyguide.com are good websites to help you learn about companies in your chosen field. Also visit company websites directly.
   
• Attend the Career Opportunities Fair in the fall and the CONNECTIONS Career Fair on campus in the spring to find potential internships and job opportunities.
   
• Research graduate or professional schools. If you plan to attend graduate school immediately after college, practice for and take the appropriate entrance exam for your field. The Academic Resource Center offers workshops on the major graduate entrance exams. Because graduate school admission deadlines are usually November through February, depending on the school and program, you should plan to take the entrance exam for your discipline no later than October of your senior year. Only the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) General Tests are given "on demand"; ALL others are given only a few times per year; registration deadlines are several months prior to the test date. Research the graduate programs you are considering and make note of which entrance exam is required.
   
• Generally, the follow exams are required for the corresponding degrees:
  LSAT- Law school
  MCAT- Medical school (allopathic, osteopathic and podiatric)
  GMAT- MBA Program
  GRE -M.A., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in academic fields
  (some schools also require subject test in your discipline)
  More information on Graduate Schools
   
• Summer vacation:
  Get a job or internship in your chosen field, test your career decision.

Adapted from The Blue Chip Graduate and Boston University's career blueprint.