How to Apply

Students interested in registering for the course will apply via Handshake Experiences. Receiving an add code is not an automatic process – approvals can take up to 2 weeks. All applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Step-by-step Application Process 

Part 1: Applying 

1. Log into Handshake using your UW NetID. 

2. Click on Career Center from the menu.

3. Click on Experiences. 

4. Once on the Experiences page, click on “Submit an Experience” (on the top right hand side of the page). 

5. Click the drop down menu for “Experience template”. 

6. Select “GEN ST 350 C/D (Distance Learning)” (see above). 

7. Fill out the application with as much detail as possible. Include your site supervisor’s name and contact information.  

8. Once all information is input, click the green “Submit an Experience” button at the bottom of the screen.  

Part 2: Confirming 

1. Once your application is submitted, your site supervisor will receive an email from Handshake to a form asking them to confirm internship details.  

2. Reach out to them to let them know. Emails are occasionally filtered as spam/junk mail – they may need to check those folders. 

3. After your site supervisor confirms the information, you will receive an email from Handshake for final review and to provide FERPA-protected information that cannot be made available to your site supervisor. 

4. Once all steps have been completed, the course administrator will review your entire application and email you an add code to your UW email address. 

Part 3: Registering 

1. Once you have an add code, use your preferred registration method (MyUW, RegisterUW, etc) to enroll in the course. 

2. Double-check the number of credits you want to enroll in. Add codes are one-time use only.  

3. After submitting your registration request, your schedule should be automatically updated to confirm your enrollment.  

4. The Canvas page will be published on the first day of the quarter.  

Credit Registration & Eligibility

How many credits can I register for?

Students must register for at least 1 credit. The maximum number of credits a student can register for depends on the number of hours they will be working at their site (see chart below, based on a 10 week quarter).

Maximum Credits	Weekly Internship Hours	Minimum Total Internship Hours
1	3	30
2	6	60
3	9	90
4	12	120
5	15	150
6	18	180

How many total GEN ST 350 credits can I earn?

You may take GEN ST 350 for up to 3 quarters or a total of 18 credits – whichever comes first. Students who hit 3 quarters are not eligible to enroll in the course again, even if they did not earn 18 total credits. 

How does this course impact my tuition? 

This course will affect your tuition costs, financial aid eligibility, and scholarship status in the same way as any other tuition-based credits would. If you are a full-time, degree-seeking student at the UW Seattle campus, you can enroll in 12-18 credits without increasing your tuition rate.  

Consult the Quarterly Tuition Rates made available by the Office of Student Fiscal Services for more detailed information regarding any possible tuition costs that may accompany your GEN ST 350 registration. 

What is the deadline for registration? 

Students must register in the course by the second week of the quarter, though late registrations may result in a $20 late add fee. Handshake applications will not be processed after that date. This course does not grant any late add petitions.

Please note that your Handshake application can take anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks to go through all steps outlined in the step-by-step guide. Failure to complete all steps by the registration deadline will result in you being unable to register that quarter.  

I’m an international student – how do I apply for CPT using this course? 

Follow all registration steps outlined above. Once you have an add code and register in the course, you can follow the CPT approval process with ISS. You cannot start the CPT approval process before finalizing your registration. List the course instructor as your academic advisor for the CPT approval form, and use genst350@uw.edu as their email.  

Please note that even after the course instructor approves your CPT request, ISS processing times average three weeks.

You cannot start any work at your site, not even onboarding or training, until you have received the I-20 document from ISS.  

Because of the processing times, international students should aim to submit their Handshake Experience application no later than the week before the start of the quarter. 

Can my internship site require me to register for academic credit? 

No - it is not legally required for an unpaid intern to earn academic credit. As the University is the entity granting academic credit, only the University can determine whether an internship experience qualifies for credit. While organizations can have unpaid internships, they cannot require you to register for academic credit in order to accept an offer.  

Course Policies

Quarter alignment

All internship dates must overlap with at 70% of the quarter in which a student is enrolled in the course. Internships can start before or end after the quarter (International students requesting CPT authorization should consult ISS’s webpage on earliest start/end dates). We do not award retroactive credit for past internships and we do not defer credits to another quarter.  

Grading

The course is only offered in Credit/No Credit. As a general studies course, it does not fulfill any degree requirements or major/minor requirements. It does count towards the minimum 180 credits for undergraduate degrees. 

Acceptable experiential learning opportunities

Students can request credit for internships (paid or unpaid), part-time/full-time jobs and volunteer experiences. Experiences can be in-person, fully remote, or hybrid. All students must be able to provide site supervisor contact information and basic information about the organization – self-employment or other independent contracting opportunities are not eligible. Students who are focused on academic research should contact their academic advisor to explore independent study or undergraduate research credits.  

Conflicts of interest

Since students earn academic credit and a component of their grade is based upon evaluations by the student's site supervisor, you cannot intern at your family's business nor at an organization where your family member or significant other ranks above your intended site supervisor.