The applications are really up to the discretion of your recruiter and depends on each personal situation. I interviewed and got offered my internship in August 2013 and started interning in June 2014. Most of the interns I spoke with were not offered until March/April.
As for preparation, depending on how long you have been with Target and the roles you have done, you may want to consider switching work centers once or twice before the internship begins. Partner with your STL/ETL's about getting opportunities in other areas and ask for feedback, it is the best tool. It will benefit you now to figure out what needs to be improved before you begin the internship.
Throughout the internship, remember where you came from (Team member) and what it was like. Some people get into leadership roles and become the exact thing they despised as a team member, you do not want to do that. Get team member buy in and then everything goes a lot smoother. As I said, I did the internship last summer so if you ever have any questions or just want someone to talk to about it, I am glad to help.
So far in 5 months I have done: (Note it's a GM store so no p-fresh opportunity)
Hardlines
Softlines
Fitting Room
Electronics
Operator/Fitting Room
Team Trainer
Merchandising Brand Team Member
Cart Attendant
Cashier
Photo Lab
Backroom (Dropping pulls, PTM, LOCU, backstocking, ect.)
And currently I'm rarely working, but what areas should I try to do? I would imagine guest service (Been asking for 4 months)
As far as knowing where I came from, trust me, I understand, I really don't like the idea of hiring ETL's out of college with no Target experience, and it's my plan to try to change that because it's not good that they don't know the struggle of fitting clearance in or getting pulls done one time. I'm a junior in college right now and looking to do the internship summer 2015. How did you apply/get accepted so soon. I don't know of a recruiter.