<p>I read a whole section on what Medill advises the companies to do in terms of offering paid vs unpaid internships under the link I provided. There are very long threads devoted to paid vs unpaid internships on CC you might want to read.</p>
<p>I felt that NASA was extremely accommodating and unusually so. S may have cut off other opportunities because his schedule was so difficult with him needing to leave for two weeks in the middle of his internship.</p>
<p>Many internships want ALL internships to start and end the same days, and because the program is so short don’t want interns taking off during it (except for unavoidable medical issues that arise). Agree that an internship is “nice to have” but not a must after freshman year. If you could volunteer and/or shadow instead of a full internship, they would likely be more flexible but you would lose the structure of an internship program (its a trade off).</p>
<p>@oldfort hey there sorry for the late response, but what does OP stand for?? And alright thank you for letting me know. </p>
<p>@HImom Yes that is very true. I actually totally forgot about shadowing, which I did during high school on multiple occasions. Shadowing a job is definitely a viable option for me especially as a freshman with a inflexible summer schedule. Shadowing may even allow me to network some more so that I may find more internship opportunities for the future. Thanks for that advice. </p>
<p>Since shadowing is unpaid and a volunteer position, you could probably see if you could shadow folks with different types of jobs at different places to get a better idea of the scope of options and what each entails–good and bad. Perhaps try to shadow each for at least a week or two, or longer if you’re allowed. </p>
<p>My daughter had the same situation last summer. She chose to go to summer school locally to get a gen ed out of the way and to go on the extended family vacation. </p>
<p>My DD worked as an unpaid intern. While many internships are as short as 6 weeks, she worked for 10 weeks, taking 3 weeks (1 + 2) off in the middle. It worked out well because 1) it was at a research lab and others were starting and finishing internships throughout the summer (internationals with different schedules, etc.), and 2) some of her work was ahead of the support she needed: when she was gone, it gave others a chance to catch up. If it is an “internship program” that is structured, it may be tough. There are many summer internship opportunities that are more self-structured and at which you may be able to start in mid-July and work 6-8 weeks.</p>