| alright -- so here's what i know about unpaid vs. paid internships. My older brother last year worked for Montsano - the large farm product engineering firm - and he got paid about 10,000 dollars for the summer. (Not counting the fact he had to pay for rent and such.) However, the issue with this is that, if you come form a family that looks at FAFSA for aid, then you are wiser to NOT get a paid one. The money he earned was counted against him, i think it's something like 20 cents to every dollar after 2700 dollars, and he ended up getting a FAFSA back the following year saying he had to pay more. The issue was that he couldn't afford to pay what the asked him to bc a quarter of the money was spent on housing/food/clothing while he worked in the summer, and then he paid off his first stafford loan. So he had to take out another loan because of it.
I hope that made sense, but from what I've heard at many other colleges, is that taking an unpaid position is just as beneficial as a paid. You won't have to worry about the rise in EFC for you and such. However, if you are not one to need to worry about such a thing as EFC/LOANS/FAFSA..than by all means go for the paid!
hope that helped... | 
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