50 Best Internships for Undergrads

Where will you find the brightest minds in college this summer? Probably sitting at a desk working some of the most sought-after internships in the country. For undergrads, internships are really the first opportunity to test themselves in the waters of their chosen career field. No matter how many “hands-on” activities, hours spent studying, or mock presentations made, nothing can prepare a student for the realities of the job like actually doing it.
Many degree programs list an internship as part of their graduation requirements, giving students credit for the work completed. Most students throw themselves at the mercy of human resources and will work without pay, or for a mere penance, and get stuck shuffling copies and earning a minor in coffee making.
However, undergrads lucky enough to find themselves chosen as an intern for one of the companies BusinessWeek calls the 50 Best Internships, prepare to roll-up your sleeves and get down and dirty in corporate America.
The biggest names across a variety of industries appear on this list, and the rankings were determined based on a number of criteria like pay, percentage of students offered full-time jobs, and even student feedback. The top 10 on BusinessWeek’s list include:

1. PriceWaterhouseCoopers – Had more than 2800 intern positions, paid $23.80/hour. Extended job offers to 88% of interns; 87% accepted.

2. Ernst & Young – Had more than 2200 intern positions, paid $25/hour. Extended job offers to 98% of interns; 92% accepted.

3. Deloitte & Touche – Had more than 1100 intern positions, paid $23.50/hour. Extended job offers to 87% of interns; 92% accepted.

4. Goldman Sachs – Had more than 900 intern positions, paid $28.85/hour. Extended job offers to 72% of interns; 73% accepted.

5. KPMG – Had more than 1800 intern positions, paid $22/hour. Extended job offers to 95% of interns; 87% accepted.

6. General Electric – Had more than 2200 intern positions, paid $19/hour. Extended job offers to 50% of interns; 85% accepted.

7. Walt Disney – Had more than 1800 intern positions, paid $16/hour. Extended job offers to 30% of interns; 30% accepted.

8. JPMorgan Investment Bank – Had more than 245 intern positions, paid $28.85/hour. Extended job offers to 98% of interns; 92% accepted.

9. IBM – Had more than 2800 intern positions, paid $21/hour. Extended job offers to 50% of interns; 88% accepted.

10. Merrill Lynch – Had nearly 400 intern positions, paid $14/hour. Extended job offers to 80% of interns; 75% accepted.

We found it odd that the top 10 included many banks and investment firms now defunct do the banking crash. We recently put together our own list of top 10 internships and were glad to see many of our picks on this list, and still afloat.

#1 PriceWatersCooper

# 7 Walt Disney

#11 Lockheed Martin – Had more than 1800 intern positions, paid $17.21/hour. Extended job offers to 60% of interns; 80% accepted.

#14 BP America – Had more than 200 intern positions, paid and undisclosed amount. Extended job offers to 84% of interns; 90% accepted.

#32 Verizon Communications – Had more than 200 intern positions, paid $17/hour. Extended job offers to 80% of interns; 77% accepted.

#42 Nike – Had 111 intern positions, paid $15/hour. Extended job offers to 15% of interns; 90% accepted.

#43 Proctor & Gamble – Had more than 400 intern positions, paid and undisclosed amount. Extended job offers to 81% of interns; 68% accepted.