Start here: current status and the program you are actually applying to
The Scholars Program is education and career development; a facilitated internship is a separate, conditional later outcome.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Status | 2027 Scholars Program application open. |
| Final deadline | October 15, 2026. |
| Audience | Eligible first-year and sophomore undergraduates across majors; no prior finance experience required. |
| Internship Track | Sophomores may opt in; first-years may not. Selection does not guarantee an internship or SIP placement. |
| Program structure | Unified education curriculum first, then OIP/SIP routing under the current program rules. |
| Item | Current detail |
|---|---|
| Program type | Tuition-free education and career-development program; not automatically an internship |
| Status | Application open |
| Priority deadline | September 15, 2026 — passed |
| Final deadline | October 15, 2026 |
| Academic audience | First-year and sophomore undergraduates |
| Expected graduation | Fall 2028 through spring 2030 |
| Majors | All majors welcome |
| Prior finance experience | Not required |
| Unified curriculum | December through late March, then SIP/OIP transition beginning in April |
| Internship Track | Sophomore applicants may opt in; first-year applicants may not |
| Application fee | None |
Applications for the 2027 Girls Who Invest Scholars Program are open as of September 22, 2026. The September 15 priority deadline has passed. The final deadline is October 15, 2026.
You apply to the Scholars Program first. You do not apply directly to the Summer Intensive Program or Online Intensive Program. All admitted Scholars begin with a shared curriculum, then move into SIP or OIP later based on program rules, internship availability, scholar preferences and in-program performance.
Eligibility: first-year and sophomore students, all majors, no finance background required
For the 2027 program, applicants must be first-year or sophomore students attending or transferring to an accredited four-year U.S. or U.S.-style college or university in fall 2026. The stated graduation range is fall 2028 through spring 2030. Eligibility is based on expected graduation date rather than accumulated credits.
Students across majors can apply, and prior finance or investment-management experience is not required. That makes GWI relevant for a student whose strongest evidence comes from another field, campus work, research, service, a technical project or a part-time job.
GWI’s current eligibility language includes students of all gender identities, including male-identifying students, who have demonstrated a commitment to the organization’s mission. A sophomore at a two-year U.S. college can apply if they are transferring to a four-year institution for junior year and satisfy the stated transfer-confirmation requirements.
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Decide whether the Internship Track applies to you
The most important first-year/sophomore split happens at application time. First-year students apply to the Scholars Program but cannot opt into the Internship Track. Sophomores can apply to the Scholars Program without the track, or opt into Internship Track consideration if they want to be considered for GWI-facilitated summer internships.
| Your situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| First-year student | Apply to the Scholars Program. You cannot opt into the Internship Track this cycle. |
| Sophomore, mainly wants finance education | Apply to the Scholars Program. You do not have to opt into the Internship Track. |
| Sophomore, wants GWI-facilitated internship consideration | Apply to the Scholars Program, opt into Internship Track consideration, and complete the extra reference requirements. |
| Sophomore on CPT or needing future sponsorship | You may still apply to the education program, but read the internship-authorization boundary before relying on GWI for a match. |
The Internship Track is a candidate pool, not an internship offer. Only a portion of Internship Track Scholars are ultimately matched with a GWI-facilitated internship, and the number of available internships changes with partner capacity. Internship Track admission does not guarantee SIP placement.
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What the application actually requires
Current required components include online fields and short answers, one 350–500 word essay, an up-to-date resume, a one-minute prerecorded video, and a transcript. First-year applicants submit a complete high-school transcript; sophomores submit a complete college transcript. Applicants opting into the Internship Track also identify two references who receive GWI feedback forms.
You can submit the main application before Internship Track references finish their feedback forms. GWI says both reference feedback forms must arrive by October 15, 2026 for Internship Track applicants. Its application-requirements section separately says supplementary transcript documents may be submitted after the deadline. Keep those rules separate rather than assuming every document shares the same cutoff.
The current process does not list a standard live interview step. Admission is holistic and committee-based, so do not invent a score cutoff or acceptance-rate formula.
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How to apply with no finance experience
“No prior finance experience required” is useful only if you replace finance-brand signals with evidence of curiosity, analysis, feedback, communication and teamwork. A biology lab, campus publication, software project, tutoring job, retail shift or student organization can supply better evidence than saying you are “passionate about markets” without an example behind it.
Keep activity labels truthful. You are not expected to manufacture finance experience before applying. Show scope, action and result where you can, then use the essay and video to explain why you want to learn investing now.
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What happens after admission
All Scholars begin with a unified curriculum that concludes in late March 2027, with the SIP/OIP transition beginning in April. The current FAQ says participants attend one or more live virtual sessions each month and complete about 20 or more hours of asynchronous academic training and professional development over that period.
OIP is the more flexible education path: self-directed/asynchronous finance and investing education with continued live programming. A small number of OIP Scholars may have internship opportunities, but OIP is not a remote internship.
SIP includes four weeks of in-residence academic training at the Wharton School followed by a seven-week paid frontline investing internship. Students cannot apply directly to SIP. Scholars who do not opt into Internship Track transition to OIP; all first-year Scholars transition to OIP. Most Scholars who are ultimately matched through GWI participate in SIP, while some facilitated internships can be affiliated with OIP.
What participation can credibly signal
Before admission, listing “Girls Who Invest applicant” usually adds little. Put the evidence you are using to apply on the resume instead. After admission, you can truthfully list the Scholars Program as an education and career-development program.
Once you complete real coursework, name the technical topics you actually completed rather than implying employment. If you later complete a partner-firm internship, list that employer and internship separately. Do not combine the Scholars Program and a future internship into one role before a match exists.
What to do next before October 15
If you are a first-year, confirm your graduation date and school eligibility, choose real examples that show analysis or teamwork, draft the essay before recording the one-minute video, and submit by October 15. You are applying for education and exposure, not an internship match this year.
If you are a sophomore and do not want the Internship Track, complete the standard Scholars application. Scholars who do not opt into the Internship Track transition to OIP, so do not describe SIP as an available path in this situation or request references merely because they look stronger.
If you are a sophomore and want the Internship Track, identify two references early and tell them the October 15 deadline. Submit the main application when ready, verify both feedback forms arrive by the final deadline, and keep applying to internships outside GWI because the track does not guarantee a match.
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Judge the value you have today, not the internship you hope appears later
If you are admitted to the Scholars Program but not the Internship Track, judge the curriculum, time commitment and network on their own merits. If you are admitted to the Internship Track, treat the internship as a possibility until an actual employer match exists and keep other applications active.
If you are later matched to an internship and routed to SIP, check the full four-week Wharton training plus seven-week internship schedule before accepting conflicting summer plans. If you move to OIP, use the flexibility to build one visible finance artifact alongside the coursework. OIP is education, not employment, so the artifact is what turns the learning into stronger application evidence.