Career Services Center

Undergraduate Preparatory Experiences

Recent graduates reported a variety of experiences as undergraduates that helped to prepare them for finding employment or for obtaining admission to professional and graduate school.  Those experiences fall into seven major categories:

  • Community Service/Service Learning
  • Research
  • Academic Internships (for course credit)
  • Non-Academic Internships (no course credit)
  • Student Employment/Work-Study
  • Study Abroad
  • Other

While a higher percentage of enrolled graduates participated in most types of preparatory experiences compared to their employed counterparts, there were notable differences as well as striking similarities among the categories. As illustrated by the chart below:

  • Enrolled graduates reported participation in research activities at a rate 75% more than the employed group.
  • The rate of Community Service/Service Learning was significantly higher among the enrolled group, also.
  • Though both groups participated in internships, the employed respondents were more likely to have had internships without academic credit, while their enrolled counterparts were more likely to have those that led to academic credit.
  • Approximately 25% of both groups reported Study Abroad experiences.