Writing your Letter of Intent


You should have your Letter of Intent critiqued by a Career Advisor as well.  A sample Letter of Intent is included below as a guide for format and content.

Your Letter of Intent will have two purposes.  First, it will be submitted with your application packet for acceptance to the UCDC program.  Second, it will be sent by you, along with your resume, reference letters, and transcript to potential internship organization.  Direct your letter not to a professor, but to an individual with whom, or in whose organization or agency, you hope to work.

When writing your letter for acceptance to the program, address it generally to the Internship Coordinator and state a general interest in a particular career field.  When applying for internships address the letter to a specific person such as the Internship Coordinator for that organization.  Prepare separate letters for multiple career fields and write about why you wish to intern for that organization in particular.

Key Points to cover in your letter:

  • What career field you are interested in
  • Address why you want to live and work in Washington D.C. and why you're interested in working with that organization.
  • Talk about your personal strengths and skills related to the internship field
  • Include skills, talents, work and life experience, languages, computer, organizational skills
  • Conclude with how you think your career and academic goals will be supported by the experience of the internship.

Remember this letter often serves as your writing sample. Potential "employers" have neither the time nor the desire to read longer works. Be sure that your letter is well-written, edited and approximately 500 words long (one to one and a half pages in length.)

Sample Letter of Intent (pdf)


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