The Entrepreneurial Internship Program (EIP) gives full-time first year Chicago Booth students, as well as second year students continuing their coursework in the following fall, the opportunity to intern with a small entrepreneurial company for 10 weeks. It also provides companies otherwise financially unable to employ students of this caliber the opportunity to enhance their firms with the assistance of top-notch MBA students. Students receive a stipend from the school as well as compensation from their summer employers, which allows students more financial flexibility to pursue internships at early-stage companies.
Throughout the summer students receive guidance on giving and receiving feedback during their internships from the Polsky Center. This takes place through written evaluations as well the opportunity for check-ins with the Polsky Center. Students interning in Chicago can network with one another through summer get-togethers.
Application Process:
Applications for the 2018 cohort will open around February/March 2018.
Students may apply for an Entrepreneurial Internship Program subsidy starting in early 2018 and will be reviewed on a rolling admissions basis until subsidies are no longer available. Students apply once they have secured or targeted an internship meeting the following criteria:
- Company has annual revenues between zero and $50 million
- Company has 1-150 employees and the intern will be working directly for senior management
- VC only considered when either: The VC firm itself is a start-up and intern is working on start-up issues, internship is with a portfolio company, or it is more of a microfinance firm
- Intern does not receive more than MBA-level internship compensation from the company
The EIP application consists of a student’s resume and completion of an online application.
Value of the EIP to Interns:
“The thing I found most valuable was probably having so much freedom and autonomy to work on complex projects that actually had a major impact on the company’s direction and success.”
“The most valuable thing has been the connections I’ve made and the relationships and credibility that these connections will lend me. It was really important to me to be able to network in the NYC start up scene, as I will likely end up there after Booth.”
“The most valuable aspects of my internship were being exposed to an entrepreneurial culture/firm and working in different functional areas that I never had before. This was an all-together different experience than any other work I have previously done, and the whole experience was valuable.”
