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I've heard that internships in industry are not considered in graduate school admissions. However, all but 1 of my internships are research-based internships, where I was doing computer science research, but specifically towards what the company wanted. I feel like these internships were more rigorous in the research quality and scope. Is this considered in the admission process?

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  • What field? ..,
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 15:04
  • @AzorAhai-him- Computer Science
    – yjx78903
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 17:52

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It is too strong to say that they are not considered. If you list them in your cv they will be considered. But other, more common, factors will weigh more. Think of them as having a somewhat marginal effect. In the US, graduate admissions is very broad based.

However, there are different kinds of internships. One that is focused on research (hopefully beyond product research) will have more wight than some others. Some companies (Google, IBM, ...) do real basic research, others just work toward the next product. If you learned a good research process and it is related to what you want to study, then a short phrase in your SoP can highlight it. But don't spend too many words there as the SoP needs a forward, not backward focus.

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  • At risk of doxxing myself, the entire industry is maybe 1000 people, where the industry might take 100 in any given year at max. Thus, it's not so well known, even though the research is of the utmost top quality. Would this be an issue or should just mentioning the research in the SoP be good enough?
    – yjx78903
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 17:57
  • If you are doing real research, and especially if you have something to show for it (papers, ...) then it doesn't matter what the context is in which you do it. But, again, the SoP is about future plans (study and beyond), not about reinforcing the past.
    – Buffy
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 18:51
  • I do have whitepapers, but they're internal only for obvious reasons. Most of the people in the company are academics that are well-respected but decided to go into private sector a little later, so the quality of peer review is also not lacking. That makes sense though - I'll touch upon it a little bit in by SoP and CV
    – yjx78903
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 19:44

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