Real world experience. Real business impact.
The Davidson College Consulting Group is Davidson College’s student consulting practice, based in the Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Competitively selected students build professional skills through scoped projects with real clients, developing actionable solutions for startups and small businesses.
About the program
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The opportunity to use your knowledge and skills to drive outcomes for real companies is a great value add to your resume and talking points for future interviews.
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Collaborate with talented peers in small project teams, developing leadership, project management, and teamwork skills. Gain experience in an agency-like setting with all-team meetings and digital workflow tools.
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Student consultants commit 5+ hours weekly during the academic year. Required biweekly all-team meetings and some client meetings will take place in-person at the Hurt Hub, but most project work can be completed remotely.
Beginning in 2027, summer consultants will work Monday-Friday 8:30am-12:30pm during the 5-week program.
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As a Student Consultant, you’ll be a student employee of Davidson College and will be paid for all program-related activities. This includes project work, team meetings, and skill development sessions. The academic year pay rate is $15.50 per hour, and the summer pay rate is $18.00 per hour.
Previous clients include
What types of projects do student consultants work on?
We collaborate with a diverse portfolio of clients, from local entrepreneurs and startups in the greater Charlotte area to established companies led by Davidson alumni nationwide. While engagements vary widely in scope and focus, below are examples of the most common project types.
We help clients build a clear picture of their customers, their competition, and what opportunities are available to them. This might include customer surveys and interviews, segmentation analysis, customer journey mapping, competitor analysis, market positioning, or prospect database building.
We help clients determine the right approach to reach their customers and grow their businesses. This might include go-to-market planning, content strategy, copywriting, and marketing collateral like decks, one-pagers, and other outreach materials.
We help clients build and strengthen their digital presence, whether that means improving what they already have or creating something new. This might include website audits, SEO and usability improvements, website builds, developing custom tools and products, or integrating AI into a business to streamline operations or improve outcomes.
We make sense of the data businesses collect by spotting patterns, identifying what’s working, flagging what isn’t, and surfacing opportunities they might be missing.
We help clients see their whole business from the outside in, without needing to arrive with a problem already defined. A full assessment looks at online presence and search visibility, the customer or user experience firsthand, sales and cost patterns, and competitive positioning, then delivers a prioritized written report and presentation.
Our consultants have secured competitive internships at:
Recruiting
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Application materials
The application asks you to answer a series of questions, upload your resume, and provide a link to a recorded video response to a prompt. If you have creative work to share, you may also include links to your portfolio or relevant examples. A complete application helps us understand your skills and experiences.
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Interview process
If selected as a finalist, you’ll be invited to a group interview session. These sessions involve collaborative case study activities that simulate real-world client work. We welcome diverse perspectives and approaches, as different strengths all contribute to successful outcomes.
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Team selection
Students are selected for the team through a holistic review of their experience, skills, and potential to contribute to quality outcomes. Those selected will be hired for the full term, either the academic year or summer.
DCCG is now fully staffed for 2026-2027.
Beginning in 2027, DCCG's summer program will be for rising sophomores only. The academic year program remains open to all class years.
- December 1, 2026 Applications Open
- January 26, 2027 Info Session
- January 31, 2027 Applications Close
- February 3, 2027 Finalist Notification
- February 11, 2027 Interviews
- February 12, 2027 Offers Extended
Frequently asked questions
Consultants usually work 5-8 hours each week during the school year. Summer consultants work 20 hours per week.
You will be paid hourly for the time you spend working on projects and attending team meetings. During the school year, the pay rate is $15.50 per hour. The summer pay rate is $18.00 per hour. This is not a work study position.
Not at all! Our consultants have a variety of interests and career goals. There were 20 different majors represented on our 2025-2026 team.
All active Davidson College students are eligible to apply for the academic year program. Hiring is completed in the spring for the following academic year, and a small number of spots will be reserved for incoming first year students. Beginning in 2027, the summer program is for rising sophomores only.
Absolutely. DCCG is designed to be flexible and manageable alongside classes, athletics, and other involvement. All student consultants must commit 5-8 hours per week toward program activities and client work. While most work can be done remotely and on your own schedule, there are required biweekly all-team meetings on Thursday evenings.
Yes, but while you’re abroad, you will not be able to participate in program activities or client projects. Students may be hired for the academic year but will participate only during the semester they are on campus at Davidson. To ensure consistency and meet client needs, we limit the number of students studying abroad we hire annually.
DCCG has elements of all three. It offers the responsibility and compensation of a job, the learning and mentorship of a class, and the community and collaboration of a student organization.
Yes, international students with an F-1 visa are welcome to participate, as this role is considered on-campus employment.
You can reach out to Amy Tirpak, Consulting Program Manager at amtirpak@davidson.edu.