Program Reviews

I had an amazing Sage Corps experience. At my internship, I wasn’t running errands or getting coffee- all of the work that I completed at the startup went into production. I was able to collaborate with the cofounders, CEO, and founding partner on a daily basis to help make strategic decisions about the future of the company. I listened to the cofounders pitch to investors, took ownership for a very critical project, and built a robust professional network in HK. Outside of work, I had so much fun exploring the city with my cohort and friends from work. I also got to explore nearby countries like Vietnam and Japan during the summer. When I returned to campus, Sage Corps helped me land my full time role in consulting, as the experience was so unique. It was one of the best summers of my life and I’d definitely recommend the program to others!!

I recently finished an internship with Sage Corps and they were *very* unhelpful. They didn’t find me an internship until ONE WEEK before we were deployed to our cities, and two of the interns showed up without work assignments. One of them got paired with a “startup” that was just a woman freelancing web design out of her *apartment*. Another girl didn’t have a job for the first two weeks.
I was lucky with my work experience, though - my company was supportive and patient while I learned new programming languages and technologies. The problem though is really with the “network”, which is completely a product of the imagination. A few of our fellows went to another city and tried to contact the fellows in that city to meet up, and they didn’t even respond. The male city manager (there are two of these who are supposed to be your point of contact in case of emergency and hold weekly professional or social events) unsolicitedly messaged me and another girl, attempting to engage us in one-on-one hangouts that neither of us accepted for obvious reasons.
Yeah, that *totally *makes me feel safe going to him in case of emergency.
Don’t even get me started on the “helpfulness” and “support” they provide you! You get zero value for your money. The professional events they took us to were random events they found on the Meetup website, and most of them were a complete joke. We went to a talk given by the CEO of a cryptocurrency, who was fined for embezzlement mere weeks later.
Additionally, one of the members of my cohort was posting racist content in the GroupMe and Sage Corps did nothing about it.

Oh - and one of my roommates went outwardly hostile on me because I didn’t get out of the house when she wanted me to (I only had a one-hour warning, mind you) and cursed me out and used very abusive language. I had seen the warning signs when she quit her job halfway through and blamed everyone around her for her problems, and used her French boyfriend to get free drinks and fought with him when he said he couldn’t give her drinks one night, and tried to ask Sage Corps nicely to move me to another apartment owned by the same housing company. Sage Corps *outwardly lied to me* and said that there was nothing they could do and no other apartments were available. During check-out, I turned my keys in in-person at the housing office and they told me no one from Sage Corps had contacted them, advocated on my behalf, or even identified that I was having a housing issue.
On to stipends…the CEO of my company signed the paperwork for my stipend to be released twice, and Sage Corps kept saying they didn’t receive it until I sent them a screenshot of it. Then, they tried to say he hadn’t disbursed the funds from the bank, and I sent a screenshot of that as well. Magically, the funds appeared in my account that afternoon after they’d told me “they hadn’t received anything.” I got paid a full month after I was supposed to. Luckily I took money with me to survive, but had I depended on that stipend to get by, I’d have been starving on the streets while Sage Corps kept the money in their account, presumably to rack up interest.
Overall, disgusted with the experience. You’d have a better chance at cold-calling companies in your target country.

Interning in Santiago, Chile for the summer with Sage Corps was the best decision I made in my college career. I spent my summer building 3-D printed prosthetic limbs for a start up, and learned so much in such a short time period. Not only did I had freedom in my work, but I had the freedom to explore a new country and immerse myself in a culture. My experience gave me an edge on my resume and friendships to last a lifetime.

I was a Sage Corps 2017 Chicago fellow, and these are my thoughts on the program. Sage Corps gave me exposure to the world of entrepreneurship from a first hand perspective and gave me a new direction for my professional life. Sage Corps is so much more than just a study abroad or work abroad program—the program will present opportunities to advance your professional goals through access to the best of the best entrepreneurial communities in the various cities where programs are offered. The Sage staff are personally motivated and involved to enhance your experience and to ensure that you are taking away skills that long outlive the program duration. At this point, being exactly one year removed from the program I can confidently say that Sage Corps has opened more doors for me than I can count, and the connections that I made during my time in the program have benefitted me greatly and will continue to do so. From access to exclusive networking events to introductions with big players in the startup space, Sage Corps can boost your career path tremendously. The brand name is well known in entrepreneurial circles globally, and this has not only connected me with people and opportunities that I would not have access to otherwise, but the experience has also been a great talking point in interviews and conversations. I had an overwhelmingly positive experience!

I had an incredible experience with Sage Corps over the summer. Not only did I learn the how's and whys of tech startups, but I also stepped out of my comfort zone at the networking events after work which instilled me with greater confidence. The Sage Corps team provided a welcoming community for all of the fellows and was always available for questions, advice and mentorship. On a day to day basis, I worked with the founder and CEO of the tech startup I was with who was a great mentor and teacher to me. Sage Corps truly prepared me for the business and tech world! I am happy to say that after my experience with Sage Corps I received multiple job offers in fields I was very excited about.

I've learned so much from my internship about tech startups and venture capital. I did many projects in data analysis at the startup i was matched to and I had a great working with my teammates. I also had a great number of friends who are also Sage Corp fellows. I now better understand what I wish to do and I hope Sage Corps can continue to help me in the future

I spent my time with Sage Corps abroad in Dublin, Ireland. I was matched with the tech startup Novaerus where I worked as a research and development engineering. Here I was in charge of my own individual project that will actually be further developed into a final product. The experience I gained here will be extremely valuable for getting hired in the future. While the job was great, the best part of the program by far was the people and the living environment. I had an amazing time in Dublin and spent all my weekends traveling the country, the UK, and even got over to Denmark. The CEO of sage corps, Matt, was extremely devoted to us and truly cared about our experience. Living and working in Dublin really made me feel part of the culture rather than just being a study abroad tourist. I would recommend this program to anyone. You are in good hands with Sage Corps.

Over the two months I worked at a tech startup on software development and maintenance. I did not know much going into the internship but was able to build a fully functional website (mainly back-end) for my startup in the end. I also wrote test cases for a web app. Besides, I learned a great deal about entrepreneurship and startups in Asia in general. Singapore has amazing food, tourist attractions and night life. It is also easy to travel abroad to see the completely different cities in Southeast Asia.

Sage Corps provided me with the opportunity to work abroad without having to feel lost. They placed me in a startup that perfectly matched my professional aspirations and made sure everything was going smoothly. The staff based in Chicago was very present over email and the country managers on the ground in Buenos Aires were amazing. They planned interesting events for us every week. The social component of the program was also very helpful as it gave me opportunities to meet people at first when I didn't know anyone there. I feel like I learned all the professional skills I wanted to acquire during my internship and I got an incredibly enriching experience. Working alongside Argentine entrepreneurs was the best way to exchange every day and learn about the culture. The true differential factor of Sage Corps is that you have a frame that provides lots of reassurance while also being fully immersed.

I'm currently a student at Penn and I am very passionate about entrepreneurship. I had the chance to go back and work at a bulge bracket bank, and set myself up to work for them and make great money. I turned it down because I wanted to experience abroad life and working at a startup and I happily now know I made the right decision.

First, Dublin is an amazing city with great social life and startup culture. Everyone is a hustler out there, looking for the next unicorn. That gives you the chance to learn from everyone you talk to. Secondly, Matt and the Sage Corps program did an awesome job setting up events and activities for us to meet the right people in the VC/startup community and have fun. We got to visit and speak with people from a top VC firm, the NDRC, and the Google office. On top of that, the quality of startups that Sage Corps is partnered with there are the best of the best.

Sage Corps made the introduction very easy and placed me somewhere they knew I would succeed. The startup where I was placed as a Business Development intern, Popdeem, is a social rewards platform. They not only had the most potential out of all the startups I saw in Dublin, but they are an amazing team which was always willing to help me learn. I learned everything from day-to-day operations of startups, culture, financing, business development, etc. I even became a pro at using Adobe Photoshop for design!

Sage Corps also has a program coordinator based in Dublin that you speak with every week just in case you ever need anything and he also helps coordinate great social events. There is also great opportunities to get jobs at the startups you work. Many of the fellow Sage Corps I went with either got return offers, one ended up even starting her own company there. Overall, Sage is an amazing program and it's a program I would recommend to anyone and everyone. Great job, Matt, it was an experience I enjoyed so much.