<p>Sorry. To clarify: internships would be paid. Most do not specify and after research on Glassdoor/other hiring websites, I’ve concluded it’s all around minimum wage level.</p>
<p>The stipend refers to relocation or housing assistance. Only a few that I applied to do offer this. </p>
<p>My field is in the area of marketing communications – ad/PR/marketing, so no research positions and it isn’t anything engineering that would probably pay that well. It’s really difficult for me to find paying (decently paid?) internships in this field, so an unpaid OOS MAY have to become an option if I am rejected to the paying ones. The paid ones are generally big names of really good firms or big companies with an in-house team. </p>
<p>I would have an estimated of $5-7k saved up by next summer. And yes, since I don’t want to wipe out all my savings (as another posted mentioned), I want my moms help. She is financially able to help me out, just hesitant because she doesn’t think out OOS may be worth it.</p>
<p>Had S ask employer about housing. They gave one or more recommendations (which were not as good as S had hoped–unable to contact manager or landlord when he arrived and had to sleep on the floor of someone who took pity on him until able to reach manager or landlord the next day), forced S to move during his brief summer stay, had to clean both units, etc. Though he got a stipend, it was much less than the “regular rate” he could have earned if he got a different job that paid more but had less prestige.</p>
<p>We were fortunate that we could let him choose the option that offered him more prestige (NASA), and new opportunities instead of the one where he probably would have earned more but not been exposed to a new part of the country and so many students from all over the world. He was still paying rent in the city he attended college while paying rent in the sublet as well, so we paid a LOT of rent that summer, which took up much of his paycheck.</p>
<p>If the kiddo was getting absolutely NO income to do a internship that s/he had to relocate to participate in, that sounds like our D and cinema. Many of those require a lot of time, blood, sweat and tears but they have many young people vying for those “opportunities,” which you pretty much have to have in order to proceed in the field. I’m sure there are other fields with many unpaid internships as well.</p>
<p>A lot of whether this will work for the student and family depends on finances, sadly. If the money is needed, the student needs to find a position that will pay SOMETHING towards what will be needed for schooling and living expenses. It may mean borrowing what you would have earned over the summer PLUS the relocation and living expenses, which can add up. Is that something you CAN do, with the payback period? If the sum is $3000-5000, that’s the price of a used car and interest will be added until you start repaying.</p>
<p>*Sorry. To clarify: internships would be paid. Most do not specify and after research on Glassdoor/other hiring websites, I’ve concluded it’s all around minimum wage level.</p>
<p>The stipend refers to relocation or housing assistance. Only a few that I applied to do offer this. *</p>
<p>Minimum wage? And no housing assistance? </p>
<p>What about daily transportation? Will you be taking a car with you? Will daily car transportation be needed? </p>
<p>How likely would these internships result in a full time job upon graduation? </p>
<p>I hate to see all of your money going towards living expenses IF there are other alternatives.</p>
<p>Not just a job offer from that employer, but also a solid, significant paragraph on your resume. In your field, there may be some who need extra hands, get it at temporary low cost, don’t really stretch you. You also want a solid LoR.</p>
<p>I did a paid internship 125 miles from home 30 years ago last summer. I found an absolutely perfect furnished studio apartment with a short term lease. I made $4.00 per hour (minimum wage was $3.35 - I thought I was rich!) I did get some help from my parents, such as a security deposit, but I was expected to pay rent, buy groceries and run a car on what I made. I can tell you all about the first time I made a box of mac and cheese last for three days …</p>
<p>I’ve not heard of a company that pays for interns to relocate (though relocation doesn’t seem such a huge expense to me - I think I spent maybe $80 on gas to relocate - so I’ve never really asked anyone) but providing housing is pretty common. Not so common that it should be expected as standard, but also not so abnormal that you should think it impossible to find a company doing so. Try and ask. They might not advertise it but you might be offered it if they offer you the position. Where I went worked like that. </p>
<p>There is value in being able to put it on your resume, especially if it’s empty or mostly filled with junk right now. Optimally if this is a company you think you would like to work for full time and they hire out of their intern pool well then that’s a very good reason to take it, even if the pay isn’t so high. </p>
<p>I’d still say you should do it. If it has comparable wage to anything you could find in your hometown for the summer then you’re really only paying for gas to get there and back and a room. Might be very expensive in NYC or SF but if you can swing something in Atlanta, Seattle, or LA that would likely be better just because it’s cheaper. </p>
<p>Additionally, if you know you’re gonna be looking right at minimum wage, it’s going to vary based on the states. New York is gonna be $8, LA is gonna be $9, SF is gonna be $10.55, Atlanta is gonna be same as federal at $7.25, Seattle is gonna be $9.32. </p>
<p>As for finding a place, if it’s near a college there will be plenty of summer sublets for low prices. If it’s not, still try to find a sublet anyway. Check out craigslist.</p>
<p>DD sublet her apartment each summer to people doing internships in Houston. Worked out for everyone. She left it furnished for them except for things like linens. Worked out utilities and most of the time they left it in good shape. Check with any universities in the city you are considering. You may find sublets listed on the university housing websites.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies! I think I’ll use some of these stories to convince my mom. It seems like job prospects are way better by taking these risks. And thanks for the housing tips – I’ll look at university housing. Has anyone used craigslist for these things? I’m honestly afraid of using Craigslist for housing/rent/room-related things, LOL.</p>
<p>
Car would only be taken to LA, as that’s the only drivable distance. SF is an option but to be honest I am way afraid to drive the streets there, LOL. I could take my car to Seattle possibly as well but I have never been there and may be too scared to drive… I’m not sure how the streets are and how comfortable I’d be.</p>
<p>The friends who go to college in SF and Seattle have told me that their public trans isn’t too bad, but nobody I know has been to Atlanta or Washington DC without a car. </p>
<p>Does anyone know how public trans is in Atlanta, Washington DC? And maybe Boston?</p>
<p>
Really good point. I assumed that housing that’s provided would be stated right off the bat. A lot of apps seem to put that they DO have a relocation stipend, so I assumed no mention = no housing provided. I will do more research on this as I did not consider this before.</p>
<p>
Sorry if this sounds stupid, but if California’s min wage is $8.00/hr, why is LA and SF different? Will it be guaranteed that a job in SF will pay me minimally at $10.55, for example?</p>
<p>The public transportation in Boston and DC is very good IF you are living and working at locations on the T (Boston)/ Metro (DC) and/ or the bus lines.</p>
<p>I know many people who live in both of those cities without a car… the public transportation in each of those cities even goes out into surrounding suburbs, so depending on where, it could even be possible to live outside of those cities without a car and commute in for work, or the other way around.</p>
<p>Boston and DC have decent transportion but you may want to pay attention to how far you are from Metro/T stops. Especially in DC. I grew up in DC in the days of bus only transportation and did fine. I also biked to a job one summer. Even back then it was very doable, mostly bikepaths. I spent a long weekend in Atlanta and have to admit for the things I wanted to see it was much easier to use a car. YMMV.</p>
<p>The reason LA and SF have different minimum wages is that cities can set their own minimum wages higher than the state wage. To a large extent it reflects the fact that the cost of living in these cities is much higher than the rest of CA.</p>
<p>So, an internship to Atlanta and maybe Seattle would require air travel? That adds costs to the budget…including if you’ll have to take extra baggage (very likely if you’ll need a variety of clothes, shoes, and any items needed to “set up house” for 3 months.)</p>
<p>Also, if these areas have public transportation, how much does that cost a person on a weekly basis? $50? more? Less?</p>
<p>I really hope you get a well-paid gig to avoid all this.</p>
<p>Public transportation can be pretty cheap in some of these cities IME. It’s definitely a good option if bringing a car is inviable and the distances are too far to reliably/safely walk/bike.</p>
<p>LA as far as I could tell was the same as California’s. But California’s is going up to $9 soon, I think before you would start your internship.</p>
<p>SF sets their city’s minimum wage higher. So if you will be actually working in the city of San Francisco it’ll be $10.55 (or higher).</p>
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<p>I’m starting my full time job in January and I found where I’ll live on Craigslist. Just subleasing it from someone. This is the only time I’ve found a place to live on Craigslist. For advice I’d say you’re gonna have to respond to A LOT of postings (I easily responded to 40 or 50) because:</p>
<p>2/3 of the people won’t respond back
Of the 1/3 that respond back, there will be some issue (“Sorry I’m looking for someone starting a different month” or “Sorry, I forgot to put it but I’m only looking for a female roommate.”) that eliminates another 1/2 of them.
Half of what’s left will go to someone else.
And after that a few will seemingly fall off the face of the earth.</p>
<p>So make sure you regularly check up on the new posts and go back a couple weeks when you start.</p>
<p>I work in DC and my institution has hundreds of interns that come during the summer, many unpaid. I wish they were paid, but this is an academic/non-profit/quasi-governmental museum and there’s never enough money. If the interns don’t have relatives or friends to stay with they can rent a room in a shared apartment – there are usually some posted for $800 or $900/month near subway transportation. Many of the best interns end up staying or coming back for paid hourly jobs that give them additional experience before going off to grad school. It is a worthwhile investment, however it is understandable that financially many people cannot afford to do it.</p>
<p>We almost faced this situation last summer. One super-desirable internship with a major lab didn’t provide any summer housing nor a stipend for housing. The internship Lake Jr. decided to accept included free housing, and that program turned out to be a very good academic experience. Yes, conferring with your Career Office advisor is a good idea. Determine the benefit of the experience you might receive from the “No housing” internship. Depending on your career goals, one internship will have an advantage over another.</p>
<p>Lullabyes- I decided to help finance an unpaid summer internship (in another city) for my son who is in the same field as you are. I can’t tell you whether the investment paid off or not. He now has a job that he is excited about doing exactly the kind of work he wanted. However, this job was mainly due to he own persistence. I do believe however, the unpaid internship helped him decide what kind of work he wanted to do and a provided a piece in his portfolio that helped him get a paid (minimum wage) internship in another city after graduation. His current position may or not be due to either the paid or unpaid internship. I thought of the unpaid internship like summer school and a hoop he needed to jump through if he had any chance of starting a career post graduation, but certainly not a sure thing. In the competitive fields, I look at such opportunities as part of the cost of an education. It is an investment in your education and I would consider a loan to help finance such an opportunity.</p>