<p>I am a sophomore in college and I received summer offers from the MIT Lincoln Lab and Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program, but I’m not sure what to choose. </p>
<p>Financial:
Pay MITLL: $20-$30hr taxed for 10-12 weeks.
Housing: $1000+ a month
Location: Boston, MA</p>
<p>Pay NREIP: $8100 stipend untaxed for 10 weeks
Housing: $400-$500 a month
Location: China Lake, CA</p>
<p>Lab:
MITLL: Chemical and Biological Defense Systems
NREIP: Polymer Science & Engineering </p>
<p>I am really stuck in between a rock and a hard place right now. A professor I really respect wants me to go to MIT. He helped me get the interview, is preparing for the summer by paying a MATLAB course for me/anything else i need (Fund are through grants at school not personal), and has supported me overall. I know he expects me to go to the MIT one, but I’m not sure it is where my heart it. While I have had a lot of support, I have also had a lot of pressure. Pressure to learn everything. There are people saying that I am one of the two students that wild determine whether or not MIT continues to do business with the school. Additionally I feel like I didn’t really get the MIT internship on my own like I did for the NREIP. I live in North Carolina. MITLL is outside of Boston and the NREIP is in China Lake California. I was to obtain a degree in chemical engineering and go on to an MD/PhD program for chemical engineering also. Someone help me out. </p>
<p>Forgetting everything about the money or what this professor wants to do or whatever you feel about what you got or didn’t get, which one do you want to go to? If everything else was equal, which one will you be doing work that you think is more relevant to what you want to do in the future? Which place looks like they would have better contacts, or which place is closer to where you’d like to end up working (i.e. east coast vs. west coast)? Does either one sound like you’d be doing more hands on work or would be better for you in the future?</p>
<p>Is the only reason you don’t think you’re heart is in the MIT one because you feel pressured and you feel like you didn’t get it on your own? I wouldn’t advise that you weight those too heavily in your decision. You wouldn’t have been chosen for this internship if they didn’t think you were capable of it, and all you’re expected to do is work hard and learn as much as you can. Don’t any perceived pressure make you turn down a good opportunity. Also, whether you feel like you got it on your own doesn’t matter. If anything, it should feel good that this professor thinks so highly of you that they were willing to really go to bat for you. It’s not that someone handed you something you don’t deserve. You still earned this MIT internship as much as you earned the other one.</p>
<p>I would personally do the MIT internship, from what you described, but I mean, what matters is what you want. Don’t be afraid of taking the Naval internship just because you don’t want to disappoint this professor, but take the naval internship only because you think it’s a better opportunity for you, not all this pressure nonsense. Your professor will understand if you really think this is a better opportunity for you, but you don’t want to take the naval internship just because you’re feeling pressured into the MIT internship.</p>
<p>In the real world, networking and connections put you on a short list for admissions, internships, and jobs. It doesn’t mean you are a shoo-in. This happened to me at first college job. They still interviewed others over 3 month period, but I would never have been considered if not for former prof’s recommendation. I see this all the time. I’ve helped others this way too, but the candidate is qualified, likeable, etc. </p>
<p>Personally, I think everyone who has a chance should try MIT and Cambridge, especially in the summer. There is something going on every weekend, and the city is full of students. China Lake is in the dessert area of CA. Socially, it will be a very different experience. In all honesty, I have never been to China Lake, so I hope you have visited the area.</p>
<p>Academically, I’m confused. It seems both positions are a step towards a government/defense position. so, why do you then say you are interested in an MD/PhD? Are you interested in chem research? Do you need the MD?</p>
<p>Yeah, I am interested in chem research, but I have always had a passion for he medical sciences. In all honesty, no I don’t need the MD. It’s been something that’s always been on my mind, but also something I will have to wait until I get to grad school to really know.</p>