[Outreachy announcement] Change in Outreachy May 2021 internship application dates

[Sage Sharp - Outreachy Organizer]

This email is for applicants to the May to August 2021 Outreachy internships. If you are not applying for that round, please disregard this message.

The Outreachy internship contribution period was originally set to open on March 15. The contribution period is when applicants pick a project and start working on project tasks (contributions).

Applicants submitted a larger than expected number of initial applications this round. Outreachy organizers need more time to review those applications. Therefore, we are shifting the contribution period to be two weeks later.

Please note that Outreachy does not accept late initial applications. This change in dates does not mean we will be accepting more initial applications. Instead, we need the extra time to process the initial applications that were submitted before the initial application deadline.


New Dates
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Outreachy is shifting the contribution period start and end dates to be two weeks later.

The new contribution period dates will be:

March 29 - contribution period opens
April 30 - contribution period closes

The shift in contribution dates also allows Outreachy mentors to add more projects. The project list should be finalized around March 21.

The interns will still be announced on the same day (May 17). The internship start and end dates remain the same (May 24 to August 24).


Preparing for the contribution period
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Outreachy encourages applicants to use this extra time to prepare for the internship. You can:

1. Monitor the project list for projects that fit your skills: https://www.outreachy.org/apply/project-selection/

2. Do research on the open source communities listed on the project page to see if their mission is interesting to you.

3. Read through the "Preparing for the contribution period" section of the Outreachy Applicant Guide: https://www.outreachy.org/docs/applicant/#application-prep

4. Read this article from a past Outreachy intern about making the most out of the contribution period: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/get-the-most-out-of-your-outreachy-application-process-937d4a8ab4bf/

5. Learn about open source through some of the resources listed in the Applicant Guide: https://www.outreachy.org/docs/applicant/#application-prep

Good luck with the contribution period! If you have questions, please reach out to <applicant-help at outreachy.org>.

Sage Sharp, Outreachy Organizer