Semester in DC Further Details

Semester in Washington D.C.
Overview

The University of Connecticut Law School Semester in D.C Program places selected students in key federal agencies, legislative offices or non-profit groups for one semester of service as unpaid legal interns. The goal is to expand our students’ career horizons and give them a better understanding of how law and policy is made and enforced, while providing host institutions with energetic, capable and reliable assistants along the way.

Students meeting program requirements will earn the full complement of 12 academic credits for the term:

• 7 credits for the agency internship (30 hours a week);
• 3 credits for Advanced Topics in Agency Regulation, a graded evening seminar in which students gain the basic knowledge and tools they need to succeed, and share insights and experiences they have gained on the job; and
• 2 credits for Agencies in Action, a non-graded evening seminar in which students meet on-site with senior staff at a range of federal agencies and major non-profit groups to learn about the legal and policy challenges they face, the strategies they have developed for meeting such challenges, their life and work, and career opportunities in government and/or the public interest sector.

Enrollment is open to both 2Ls and 3Ls. There are no academic prerequisites, though completion of Administrative Law and/or a law school course relevant to the subject matter of the host agency is helpful.   The agency internship does not count against a student's externship SRP/Externship limit.  None of the DC Program's "Pass/No Pass" credits count against a student's pass/fail grading limit.

To participate in the program students must complete the application process, get provisionally accepted into the program, and get placed in a suitable host institution in Washington, DC. Regardless of what happens with the placement process in the spring, students should pre-register for the full complement of fall courses here at the Law School just in case the placement falls through for any reason.

Law Reviews
We understand that the Connecticut Law Review is revamping its Supplemental Write-On process to enable rising 2Ls to participate in the DC program and, if selected, join the Law Review in the spring of their 2L year. Students with questions about this should contact the current Editor-in-Chief.

The Public Interest and International Law Journals allow their 2L members to participate in the DC program and do their journal work from DC.

Job Interviews
For 2Ls selected to participate in the fall Semester in DC program, we recommend reaching out in April/May of your 1L year to employers who interest you, explaining that you have been selected for the DC program, and asking for a separate interview in advance of the on-campus process. Most employers, in our experience, accommodate those requests, making it feasible for students to fly back to Hartford to meet with the one or two that do not. Southwest flies direct from BWI to Hartford for a minimal rate, if you book online well in advance.

Will you be disadvantaged in the on-campus process by participating in the DC program? Absolutely not! On the contrary, our experience has been that employers are quite impressed by selection in the program and spend a great deal of time in job interviews asking and talking about it.

Housing
Students are responsible for finding their own housing, which is generally more expensive in the DC area than in Hartford. You should budget between $600 and $1,000 per month for rent, depending on where you live. Craigslist is a huge help in finding housing, and living a little farther out on the metro is obviously cheaper than living close in. Rooms in group houses are less expensive than free-standing apartments.

Click here for application instructions.