Binghamton University was one of four schools nationwide to have three students become PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) scholars, a distinction that gives minority students the opportunity to participate in an internship a year early.
The scholarship application was open to all Summer of Discovery Internship (SDI) participants across the country. According to Emma-Anne Millard, the lead recruiter for PwC at BU, PwC’s SDI program allows students to learn about the firm and get them introduced to client-service work.
BU students Eddie Calderone, Ryan Lastra and Christine Warkenthien were three of 15 New York State winners, and 81 nationally. Once students have successfully completed the internship, they can apply for the $3,000 eXceed scholarship.
Warkenthien, a junior majoring in accounting, believes the School of Management prepares BU students for their careers.
‘Our accounting program is recognized by firms like PwC and even walking around the office, you always run into someone who is an intern from BU, or an alumni working full time,’ she said.
Millard echoed Warkenthien saying that BU students take advantage of opportunities which enable them to stand out to PwC. A main factor in the selection process for the eXceed scholarship was the essay, through which students demonstrate how PwC’s core values affect their lives.
‘All applicants are academically qualified, so being able to explain how they incorporate the core values into their everyday lives is a distinguishing factor,’ Millard said.
According to Warkenthien, PwC’s environment focuses on learning more than competition.
‘You’re not making copies or getting coffee. You’re doing things that matter, that anyone working full time would do, so our work was really valued,’ Warkenthien said.
Warkenthien said the internship gave her the ability to observe upper-level managers and talk with PwC partners.
Current BU students also have an advantage in being recruited for the SDI program because of the success of their peers, according to Millard.
‘It’s good to know that I already had my foot in the door,’ said Calderone, a senior majoring in accounting and management information systems.
‘You really learn a lot about the culture at the firm and find out what it would be like day-to-day as an employee,’ Warkenthien also said.
All three winners plan on using the scholarship money toward college expenses like tuition, graduate school and rent.
Calderone said the most important advice he could give to prospective students is to network.
‘I think I owe my internship to the networking that I’ve done with Emma and the campus relationship partner over the past few years,’ he said.
Lastra, a junior majoring in accounting, said the award has motivated him to work harder in school.
‘It was an honor to be chosen as a recipient and makes me want to do even better.’
Students that successfully complete the SDI internship are invited back to complete a client-service internship the following year. Calderone and Lastra plan to go back this summer as interns in PwC’s assurance service line.
PwC is currently recruiting students for the SDI for summer 2011. Students interested in applying or who would like to contact a former SDI intern can contact Millard directly at emma-anne.millard@us.pwc.com.