<p>I’m a junior (in summer I will be a rising senior) seeking summer internships out of state. Places like LA and NY wouldn’t be a problem because I have family, but I have my eye on a couple that are in San Francisco/Bay Area, Seattle, and I would maybe consider Atlanta (I was hoping to stay west). </p>
<p>Only about 1/3 of the ones I apply to offer relocation assistance/stipend and they’re the big companies that are VERY very competitive. So, I’m looking for options that are less competitive but would not offer a stipend or assistance. </p>
<p>My mom is skeptical about relocating just for a summer. She is willing to help financially only if it’s in LA or NY. However, I have found a lot of worthy companies to be located outside those big cities (Seattle, SF). </p>
<p>I was wondering if relocating out of your pocket would worth it for about 10-12 weeks for an internship for anyone else who did relocate? Or if your S or D did once, how was their experience?</p>
<p>Discuss the value of the various opportunities with your academic advisor. If the advisor thinks a position is worth it without a stipend you can use this as a reason for parental financial help. If the advisor doesn’t think those are worth it don’t waste your money. I know our son was compensated for his REU one summer. What else would you do with your summer if a paying position doesn’t pan out? Have some ideas. Having to pay for room and board plus travel compares to paying for a summer school class. Figure out if the experience is worth the costs.</p>
<p>Relocating for internships seems so common to me that this seems a bit of a silly question. There’s not a whole lot of companies hiring interns in SE Michigan (at least compared to the number of students in the area) so it’s expected that you will go out of the area (commonly out of Michigan) for an internship and full time work. Maybe where you’re living is different but just know that in some places it’s the norm, not the exception, to relocate. </p>
<p>Anyway, I relocated for a summer internship for 14 weeks. The experience was fine. If you have specific questions I can answer, but I really don’t know what to say other than that because I don’t understand what personal hangups you’re having with it other than that your mom would prefer you don’t.</p>
<p>@wis75: my advisor is NOT helpful at all LOL. That is why I’m asking on the point of view from people who have done it or parents of kids who did to get a feel if the financial decision is worth it. I’ve calculated my budget and I estimate I would only need a few hundred bucks from my mom so it’s not like a huge sum of money but they could rise/fall depending on what city I end up at. I have back up plans but my goal right now is to end up in another city. </p>
<p>@vladenschlutte: I go to a commuter school and many people find their internships locally. We have a great market but I do not qualify for a lot for my field because of my age. I would be pretty much the only person I know to relocate for a summer internship, so yeah it isn’t really the norm here which is why my mom is skeptical and why I don’t know much about it.</p>
<p>Does the internship pay enough to cover your living expenses and relocation costs?</p>
<p>Or are you trying to break into an industry or line of work where the typical entry-level job is an unpaid internship or one where the pay level is marginal relative to living expenses?</p>
<p>My S did an internship in Newport News, which was 2500 miles from his U. He had to buy his own transportation and pay his own lodging and other expenses. They did provide a $5K stipend for the summer. He knew no one when he accepted. It was an excellent opportunity and helped him be a top candidate for a job in his SR year. </p>
<p>Financially it is possibly he could have earned more and had fewer expenses if he stayed at the research position he does on campus, but we and he wanted the widest experience possible. </p>
<p>Recruiters said that his working one summer in HI and one summer in Newport News showed that he was willing to relocate and they considered those two summers equivalent of two years of experience, further strengthening his resume and job options. He received 3 firm written job offers by SR year in his field of engineering. We think it was well worth him taking the internship that offered him experience and exposure with NASA.</p>
<p>The idea that this is “expected” speaks to a very wealthy mindset. Most kids I know need to make money during the summer to pay toward college expenses, not cost their parents more for travel and lodgings. That’s nice if a family has that kind of money left after already paying for school, but it’s a little much to think that that is the norm.</p>
<p>OP–that was addressed to a poster, not you. I think for your case, the discussion would be how much your family can afford, just as when students pick colleges. It’s easy to say wht would be better, but if it’s out of your mom’s budget, then that might be the end of the discussion. So maybe you need to couch it in terms of how you can keep it in budget–work during the school year towards it, taking out a loan, finding a way to keep the costs down.</p>
<p>It seems like that needs to be the central discussion, before you get to whether it’s “worth it” or not.</p>
<p>Depending on the city, some colleges offer dorm space. But what we saw wasn’t cheap.</p>
<p>OP, if you think this will be an internship without a stipend- and that Mom only has to contribute a few hundred dollars- have you figured your transp and living costs? Would most of this come from your own savings?</p>
<p>I agree that typically only the most affluent families can afford for their kids to accept unpaid or “too low” paid summer internships which require relocation and parents to subsidize the experience. </p>
<p>OP…When you say that you’ve calculated your budget for the unpaid ones, and you only need a couple hundred from your parents, does that mean that you plan on wiping out your savings (or using loan money) to fund the experience?</p>
<p>I think it’s a mistake to wipe out all of your money…and very likely that you’ve underestimated your budget. You’ll be in a new area, lots of things to explore on weekends…that will cost money. Plus, you may meet other interns who’ll want to meet up for entertainment as well.</p>
<p>What is your major? Are there REU’s that you could apply for? Those are amazing and fully funded…housing is usually provided as well.</p>
<p>Junior summer internship is the most important internship because that’s the one where one may get offered a full time employment upon graduation. It is something worth investing in. I don’t think it would be very hard to get reasonable temporary housing - dorm rooms if there are colleges close by, subletting, or renting a room at someone’s house. </p>
<p>I am always weary when employers do not pay for internship, but I think I have always been in the business where it is extremely competitive in getting top employees, so I am used to see employers paying up. </p>
<p>
I am not sure how a professor would know what the job market is like. I still remember one time we offered a position to an international student and this student said she was going to consult her advisor. Really? It was as if she was transferring her reliance on her parents to her advisor. How would a math professor know whether a job in finance is better than a job in technology or consulting?</p>
<p>If OP has few options, don’t be shy about asking possibility of full time employment after graduation.</p>
<p>OP - tell your parents that you’ll ability to get a good full time job would be diminished if you do not get a meaningful junior summer internship.</p>
<p>Lullabies–We live in the midwest, and our daughter did a summer internship after her sophomore year in Miami, and another after the junior year in Atlanta–each was between 1000-1800 miles from home. Both were paid internships, one even provided no-cost housing. Fast forward to this fall semester, and she has a nice job offer in hand after she graduates in May. She attributes a large part of her success to her internship experiences.<br>
However, if the internships were not paid, I don’t know if we would have funded these ventures–as the cost would have been unjustifiable in our mind. We probably would have asked her to find something within a commutable distance from home in that case.</p>
<p>OP should clarify whether the internship is paid and what the pay level is relative to living expenses and other costs.</p>
<p>Some replies seem to be assuming paid internships (e.g. #3 and #6, engineering), while others (e.g. #2 and #8) seem to be assuming unpaid or poorly paid internships.</p>
<p>As a parent I would be pretty hesitant to subsidize an unpaid out of town internship. If they were living with me I’d be more amenable. My older son had a well paid internships across the country and his junior year internship did indeed lead to a job offer. Younger son has had a paying job at his university which comes with a free (or first year highly subsidized) room in the dorm. I think it’s given him some decent skills and he’s been promoted each summer and he’s saved some money from it.</p>
<p>Same. Son will be looking for paid internships next summer but he has a summer job set up for this year. If it comes down to working in another field or working unpaid my guess is he will choose the paycheck. His choice, but my relief! I don’t want this problem.</p>
<p>I think the OP is saying no relocation stipend. </p>
<p>“When lodging isn’t provided, what do students do?” - That can be tricky. Most students seem to do summer sublet (either by room of full apt sublet by 2 or 3 students) or stay at a nearby college. I know in Boston it’s possible to rent a room at an MIT frat house.</p>
<p>As a parent I would be pretty hesitant to subsidize an unpaid out of town internship. If they were living with me I’d be more amenable.</p>
<p>certainly understandable, especially if unaffordable.</p>
<p>However, some parents (with some $) may need to consider that they’ll justify paying extra for a Study Abroad which usually doesn’t lead to a job, while a junior year internship may. </p>
<p>If I thought that the summer internship had a HIGH chance of leading to a job upon graduation, then either I’d help pay or let the kid take a student loan during the school year and bank that money for the summer. Because immediate employment after graduation is better than No Job/No income for a few months.</p>
<p>That said, this student should choose the “no pay/low pay” internship only as a last resort. Go for the paying ones, and if those don’t pan out, then go to the no pay/low pay one.</p>
<p>We paid less for a junior year abroad, and I think getting competent in Arabic is as likely to lead to a job as an unpaid internship in some NGO. But everyone’s situation is different. </p>
<p>It may make sense to take the unpaid internship, but I really hate them - I think they are benefiting upperclass students and hurting ones that need an income in the summer.</p>
<p>think they are benefiting upperclass students and hurting ones that need an income in the summer.</p>
<p>Yes, true.</p>
<p>As for study abroad…I was more referring to the Summer Abroad situations. I know that sometimes semester abroads don’t cost more (or much more). That said, I would think with the cost of int’l airfare and some add’l excursions, even a semester abroad might have some add’l costs.</p>