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The Quest Scholars Program, comprised of QuestBridge and the Quest Scholars Network (QSN), is an innovative non-profit in the San Francisco Bay area with approximately 15 full-time employees. Our mission is to provide high-achieving low-income students with educational and leadership opportunities at the nation’s best colleges.
The Quest Summer Internship program is a full-time 8-10 week program that offers undergraduates the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in a professional office setting, develop their skills, gain an holistic view of a small non-profit, and meaningfully engage in the everyday work of a nationally recognized educational organization with a groundbreaking social mission. Five Quest Summer Internships will be offered, one in each of the following areas: College Relations, Student Recruitment, Data Science, Data and Technology, and QSN Program Development.
Working under close direction of a staff member, each intern will carry out work that supports the goals of the organization and enables the student to learn and grow from close interaction with staff and fellow summer interns. Interns will also have opportunities to receive mentoring and participate in career exploration through a series of workshops and activities. In addition, Quest Interns will have the unique experience of helping staff prepare and host the annual QuestBridge College Admissions Conferences and/or the annual Quest Liaison Training.
Qualities
- Self-starter, with ability to self-manage and take ownership of a project
- Ability to thrive working on a small collaborative team
- Keen sense of integrity and accountability, with willingness to learn and grow
- Warm, positive attitude and strong interpersonal skills
- Resourcefulness, creativity, willingness to share ideas
- Strong work ethic, with attention to project goals and meeting deadlines
- Ability to be detail-oriented without getting lost in the details
- High quality standards in terms of quantitative accuracy, text editing and visual aesthetics
- Genuine desire to further the goals and mission of QuestBridge and the Quest Scholars Network
Compensation
Interns will receive $12.00 per hour. The Quest Scholars Program will provide travel, lodging, and food for work-related events requiring travel, such as conferences.
Hours & Location of Work
This is a full-time paid position. The Quest Scholars Program’s office is located in Palo Alto, California, just one mile from Stanford University and steps away from the downtown Palo Alto Caltrain Station. Housing and travel stipends are not provided as part of this internship.
Internships will last 8-10 weeks over the summer; specific dates are flexible and will be determined based on the intern’s availability and program needs.
Application Process
The application is now closed.
Applicants will be notified by mid-March if selected for an interview. Interviews will be conducted in March by phone or Skype (unless a candidate is able to interview in person), and offers will be made by early April.
*Special consideration will be given to students who qualify for federally funded work-study, although this is not required to apply. The students we select as interns will be those most qualified for their internship.
Position Descriptions
Quest Scholars Network Program Development Intern
The intern will assist the QSN Team in building outreach and programs for Quest Scholars.
Duties will include:
- Collecting and analyzing data on current Quest Scholars and alumni
- Developing ideas and content for Career Resource Center on QSN website
- Researching and contributing job/internship opportunities to website
- Exploring possibility of career mentoring program between current Quest Scholars and alumni
- Building mailing lists and email content for Quest Scholar pre-professional groups (medicine, law, business, etc.) and regional alumni groups
- Supporting summer programming (e.g., annual Quest Liaison Training in Palo Alto) and other tasks, as needed
Skills:
- Ability to work well independently and on a team
- Strong written and oral communication skills, including excellent phone etiquette
- Familiarity with Adobe suite (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop) preferred
- Ability to learn quickly (e.g., new software or basic web content management)
QuestBridge College Relations Intern
The intern will assist the College Relations team in supporting the colleges who partner with QuestBridge to offer educational opportunities to low-income students.
Duties will include:
- Assisting in developing materials and coordinating logistics for admissions representatives attending the College Admissions Conferences; attend and work at the conferences.
- Collecting and analyzing enrollment results of College Match finalists
- Analyzing trends in admissions decisions of partner colleges to better understand applicant profiles that interest our partners
- Updating partner college sections of the QuestBridge website to reflect changes in college requirements and policies
- Collaborating in the development of methods and procedures to strengthen enrollment outcomes for partner colleges
Desired qualifications:
- Detail-oriented with a high degree of accuracy
- Highly organized and flexible
- Ability to maintain confidentiality
- Interest and enthusiasm for college admissions
- Familiarity with statistics, Excel, HTML, or Joomla! a plus
QuestBridge Recruitment Intern
The intern will work on the Student Recruitment team and be involved in our communications and outreach efforts.
Duties will include:
- Participating in brainstorming new ways to communicate with and/or recruit students
- Taking a lead role in developing fresh website and social media content, such as Facebook campaigns and/or researching new applications or features
- Assisting with writing and creating content for mailings, emails, and website
- Assisting staff to plan and implement College Admissions Conferences for high school students; attend and work at the conferences
- Helping to come up with new retention strategies such as videos or direct messaging content
- Developing fresh ways to showcase our partner colleges to applicants
- Corresponding with QuestBridge applicants via email and phone
- Conducting outreach to students, educators, and organizations to encourage qualified students to apply
- Helping develop graphic design materials, newsletters, and/or blog content
Desired qualifications:
- Strong writing and editing skills
- Organized, with excellent time management and communication
- Background or interest in graphic design
- Experience with or interest in event planning
- Experience with Adobe Illustrator, HTML, Joomla!, Tumblr or Wordpress a plus
QuestBridge Data Science Intern
The intern will work on the Student Recruitment team using our data to better serve our students. Through our recruitment work, we have been able to retain a wealth of information about the students who have come through our programs. We have a number of projects in mind to unleash the potential of QuestBridge's data, but the Data Science Intern will have the opportunity to select among them or pitch additional ideas that would help to advance QuestBridge's mission. Once a project has been selected, the intern will work with the technical and program staff at QuestBridge to clarify the goals of their summer project, conduct the analysis and develop a presentation. We strive to provide our interns with the opportunity to develop valuable skills while working on challenging and fun projects that are core to our work.
Potential projects include:
- Development of a front end tool to allow staff to visualize our rich historical data without knowledge of SQL
- Using Google Earth to enable visualization of our recruitment efforts
- Development of models to identify the students most likely to benefit from QuestBridge's programs
- Analysis of student recruitment and assessment data to identify and groups of students being underserved by our programs
- Assessment of QuestBridge's effectiveness at reaching students that are not already targeted by our partner schools.
Desired qualifications:
- Strong problem solving ability
- Ability to adapt to new information
- Depending on the project selected, would benefit from being familiar with some of the following:
- Excel
- SQL
- Data Modeling (Database design)
- Python
- JavaScript, HTML, CSS
- Statistics
- Statistical modeling language (e.g. R, SPSS, SAS, Pandas)
- Data Mining / Machine learning
QuestBridge Data & Technology Intern
The Data and Technology intern will work on a project to integrate specific data from different programs within the organization using internal database systems and software applications.
Responsibilities:
- The intern will extract, process and analyze data of College Match applicants, finalists, matched and regular decision students from 2007-2013
- The intern will gather the data from recruitment efforts, admissions at partner colleges, and participation at quest network chapters
- The intern will normalize the data using MySQL, MS Excel, and Pentaho Spoon
- The intern will analyze the data and create a report using Tableau analytics software
Qualifications:
- Ability to write simple SQL queries and work with Excel
- Desire to learn data normalization and analytics software tools
Quest for Excellence New York City Award Intern
The Quest for Excellence New York City Award is a new program within QuestBridge, and we seek energetic, self-starting, creative, entrepreneurial college undergraduates to help build the program in its first year. Interns will support all aspects of the Quest for Excellence New York City Award initiative. The goal of the initiative is to reach all qualified, talented, low-income high school students in New York City, and encourage them to apply to the Quest for Excellence Award--and eventually, to top U.S. colleges through the QuestBridge National College Match Program.
QuestBridge is an initiative of the Quest Scholars Program, a nonprofit organization that connects high-achieving low-income students with college admissions and scholarships (please visit our website at www.questbridge.org for more information).
Roles and Responsibilities:
- Help to develop and secure array of valuable, tangible student Awards from providers including study abroad programs, summer enrichment programs, educational materials, and others
- Assist in development of promotional materials and press opportunities for the initiative
- Support recruiting effort to inform all eligible New York City high school students of the Quest for Excellence opportunity, in collaboration with QuestBridge recruiting team. With QuestBridge team, build and maintain network of NYC educators, community organizations, online recruiting channels, and other recruiting channels
- Help to run local and national events to support the Quest for Excellence NYC Award
- Support effort to maintain ongoing relations and communications with Award Partners to keep them informed and involved in the project
- Assist in the actual distribution and tracking of awards to students
- Assist in developing and securing additional Quest for Excellence NYC Award Partners (individuals, corporations, private foundations, others) who will fund the awards and help to build the infrastructure of the program
- Help to develop and execute processes by which to evaluate effectiveness and success of individual initiatives within the program, and the program as a whole
Required:
- Self-starting, energetic, and creative
- Organized and resourceful with limited resources
- Comfortable and competent in using social media and web resources
- Professional, warm, and personable communication skills with students, educators, and award partners (sponsors)
- Recognition and respect of confidential information and the ability to maintain and impartial attitude when speaking with students and partners
Preferred:
- Familiarity and experience working with New York City and its high schools
- Demonstrated interest and/or experience in working with issues related to educational access and college preparation
- Significant skills with databases and interest in using technology to facilitate interaction and publicity
Compensation:
Compensation dependent on experience and skills.
Hours & Location of Work:
This position in based in NYC and has flexible hours.
How to Apply:
Interested applicants should submit a one page resume, along with a one page (maximum) personal statement that addresses the following questions:
- How do you feel about working independently, taking initiative and interacting with a variety of different individuals?
- Why are you specifically interested in this type of job opportunity?
- What are your preferences in terms of availability and work hours?
Please send an email that includes both your resume and your personal statement to NYCAward@questscholars.org. There is no deadline as we are looking for interns to start both in March, and potentially in the summer as well.
To read about our 2012 Summer Interns, please click "Read More."
read more
Summer Interns 2012
L to R: John Timms (USC '15), Taylor Payer (Dartmouth '15), Natalie Ornell (Wellesley '12), Erin Turner (Northwestern '14), Ivan Hess (Dartmouth '15), Austin Nguyen (Williams '15). Not pictured: Aaron Goebel (Stanford '14).
 IVAN HESS
Dartmouth College, Class of 2015
Ivan Hess was born in a sleepy small town in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains but grew up in a rowdy beach town in Southern California. For obvious reasons, he prefers the latter locale. He is currently a prospective Comparative Government and Development Economics double major at Dartmouth College; he hopes his education will provide insight into the socioeconomics of the developing world and allow him to determine how to ensure a better future for all members of our global community. Ivan’s outside interests include watercolors, whistling, wasting time in Berkeley (Go Cal!), Bokonon, felines, fine dining, and splitting infinitives. He is a huge fan of going running at the break of dawn, starting conversations with strangers on BART, baking vegan desserts/not starting kitchen fires, breaking awkward silences with sarcastic comments, and anything with Amy Poehler. Ivan doesn’t really know what he’s doing with himself but hopes his future includes returning to Southern California, participating in direct outreach to underprivileged communities, conducting service projects for Americorps, and ultimately founding his own education reform non-profit organization. While he interns with the Quest Scholars Network, Ivan hopes to prepare Quest Scholars to discuss equity issues in higher education and encourage a renewed dedication to public service projects in the Network. He deeply enjoys communicating with Scholars around the country and witnessing the personal and academic successes of so many of his peers. The importance of his internship is not lost on him, and he genuinely appreciates the opportunity to give back to the Quest Scholars Program and assist students from backgrounds similar to his own.
 AUSTIN NGUYEN
Williams College, Class of 2015
Austin Nguyen is a rising sophomore at Williams College, interested in declaring a double major in Biology and Studio Art. He was born in Southern California but spent the majority of his life in the suburban sprawl of Las Vegas. On campus, he is involved in Williams Photography Club, Williams Outing Club, Vietnamese Student Association, and Quest Ephs, the Quest Scholars Network chapter at Williams. On that note, he is serving as the College Relations summer intern at QuestBridge headquarters. As a first-generation college student raised by Vietnamese immigrant refugees, his knowledge about the college admissions process was limited to tokens of motherly advice gleaned from college email spam (“Austin, did you know that University of Phoenix has a nursing program?”) and the once-a-semester counselor visit. Neither Austin nor his parents knew about need-blind admissions or need-based financial aid offered at top schools until a nifty brochure arrived in their mailbox--“QuestBridge: connecting high-achieving students to scholarships at top colleges.” A month later, he was notified of being a College Prep Scholar and invited to a conference at Stanford where he learned more about about the college admissions process, the humanity of admissions officers, and the commonalities and solidarity that unite strong students from similar socioeconomic backgrounds. In the fall of his senior year, he racked up frequent flyer miles on various campus visitation programs QuestBridge connected him to, on the “quest” to find a college that was the right fit while meeting incredible students whom he still keeps in touch with. Little did he know that his ideal college was tucked away in the Purple Valley, located in the northwestern, rural corner of Massachusetts where the nearest city is an hour and a half away, the leaves change colors, and the stars gleam brightly. Two years later, Austin is now a proud Quest Scholar at Williams College, under the blessing of family, friends, and QuestBridge. With that said, knowledge of educational access is something close to his heart, and he is honored to be able to give back to the organization that helped him actualize his potential as a first-generation college student. In addition to his internship at QuestBridge, Austin is also interning at Stanford School of Medicine where he assists a PhD student investigating motor learning and memory consolidation. This fall, he will be a WOOLF freshman orientation leader. He enjoys film photography, drawing, jogging, and the occasional long walk on the beach. Though he cannot say he has a penchant for candle-lit dinners, he will say that vegan baked goods always win his heart.
 NATALIE ORNELL
Wellesley College, Class of 2012
Natalie Ornell is a graduate student studying Chinese Politics at the University of California, Berkeley. Originally from Boston, she is a first-generation college student and a proud Quest Scholar of the Wellesley College Class of 2012. Natalie admires QuestBridge’s dramatic growth since she applied to the National College Match in 2007. She looks forward to seeing her favorite non-profit expand even more. As a Recruitment Intern at QuestBridge, Natalie enjoys using her past media experience to interview Quest Scholars. She values QuestBridge’s creative approach in striving for educational access in the United States.
 TAYLOR PAYER
Dartmouth College, Class of 2015
Taylor Payer hails from the land of the Buffalo, North Dakota, where she grew up on a small Indian reservation in a smaller town with exactly two stop signs. To pass the time she rode horses bareback into the beautiful Midwest sunset and won certificates for reading 352 books (without pictures) in a year. She now studies Women and Gender Studies and Native American Studies at Dartmouth College and plans to pursue law school and later a professorship in queer indigenous studies and Indian law. Taylor wants to serve her Anishinaabe people and Indian Country through her contributions to tribal law and academia. As the QuestBridge Native Recruitment intern, Taylor is currently working to increase educational access for Indigenous students across the country. She is recruiting other high-achieving Native students to QuestBridge programs in hopes that they will be able to enjoy the same opportunities she has been afforded as a Native Quest Scholar. Taylor looks forward to hundreds (thousands, millions--NO NATIVE GETS LEFT BEHIND) of Native Quest Scholars working toward the betterment of Indian Country. When Taylor isn’t busy saving the world, she enjoys reading and writing fiction and poetry, eating coffee ice cream, considering the intersectionality of race, class, and gender, and spending time with her six siblings and turtle-like nephew.
 JOHN TIMMS
USC, Class of 2015
John Timms is a sophomore at the University of Southern California, studying Computer Engineering. Growing up as a low-income student in South Carolina, he enjoys living on the West Coast as both a student and a Quest Scholars Network intern. In his free time, he enjoys reading outdoors, watching TV and movies, programming, and finding new ways to have less free time.
 ERIN TURNER
Northwestern University, Class of 2014
From rural Southwest Washington, Erin Turner spent most of her life on a family farm and graduated with a class of 32 students. She now studies Social Policy at Northwestern University and is interested in effective and innovative international development practices. As the QSN Program Development Intern, Erin has re-formatted and created new material for the 2012-2013 Quest Mentoring Program. In addition, she has been laying the foundation for a QSN Alumni Association and planning a trial run of a regional alumni club for this fall. Erin loves to smile, wear straw hats, eat raw broccoli, and question the world around her.
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