I’m a college sophomore trying to choose between two CS-related/data analytics internships for this summer. Both are with small companies, and are paid but not very well (more or less $10/hr.)
Professionally, one is more preferable. The people I’m working with seem nicer, it is a project + field more related to what I’m interested in career-wise, and while the company itself is small it provides consulting services for some large organizations that would be useful to have connections at. The other internship will teach me useful technical skills which I could use in any field, but the project itself doesn’t interest me, it’s not in the field I hope to work in, and probably would be less useful professionally.
However, the drawback is that getting out the door of my apartment to the office takes around 2hrs - a shuttle to the train station, plus a train + metro ride, plus a very short walk. They have no closer location, and I can’t move closer right now (conditions of my lease, plus I don’t know anyone in that city and prefer to live with friends).
I’ve commuted 1hr each way for an internship before, and I was OK with that - it’s easy for me to listen to music or read on public transit. However, I’m worried that 2hrs is just excessive for a commute, or I’ll get tired of doing it day in, day out. My parents advise me to just suck it up, that the opportunity is worth one summer of a grueling commute. What do you think?
EDIT: other internship is around campus, just a 30 min shuttle ride away from my apt.
If you were to drive to the 2hr internship would it be significantly less time? Often public transportation takes a lot longer especially if it’s very indirect.
It would be about a 1hr drive, but I don’t have a car and it would cost a lot of money to rent in the city. Also, I wouldn’t have the advantage of “down time” during my commute.
2 hours like that is just simple drudgery. It would have to be an incredible job t make it worth it. Cutting to to one hour with a car sounds much better and offers more flexibility. I’d figure out how to swing a car if possible, at least some of the time. Anyone else maybe car pooling to the same area?
Dig deep and determine your motivation. People put up with a lot of pain to achieve certain things that mean something to them. If you really want the opportunity then then hours commuting will be worth it, despite the pain. And it is temporary.
Four hours daily commute is excessive. Specially since both internships pay the same. With four extra hours in your day you can work on your own coding projects or pick up a remote work with startups. Many of them look for CS interns specially if they don’t have to pay.
This opportunity is 2 hours from your current location? If you turn this down, will there be other excellent opportunities closer by for next summer or are all the really good companies about that distance away? My D is currently doing an internship and her commute is often 1.5 hours, but its not awful as its mostly train time and that really is down time ( as long as you get a seat!). I’m probably going to fall into the “suck it up” camp. You are young and this is the time to make these kinds of sacrifices if the opportunity is as good as you say. Good job getting such a nice offer!
You will have no time at all during the week for anything but work and commuting. You might see if you can find someone to carpool with — you’d need to pay something for it, but it might be worthwhile to have a life.
I did this one summer. I was living in New York (upper Manhattan) and I got an internship in Long Island. It was about 1 hr 45 min each way. It was kind of the reverse of your trip - a short walk to the A train, then switched to the LIRR at Penn Station + a shuttle to the office.
It wasn’t bad, actually. Commuting ~2 hours on public transit is different than driving two hours; I sat in the quiet car and read a lot (or sometimes slept, on my way home, along with all the other weary commuters lol). I really enjoyed the internship; they kept me on for the fall semester after it ended, and it directly led to me getting the job I currently have. And it was only 3 months. I wouldn’t do it long term, but for three months I felt it was fine. You will get tired of it, but depending on the internship your parents may be right in that sucking it up is worth the commute.
It is true that you will have a lot less time in your evenings - if your work hours are 9 to 5, then your day will effectively be ~7 to 7. Many days I’d be pretty tired when I got home, so I engaged in hobbies that required less energy. Sometimes I’d go to dinner with friends. You can still go out on the weekends with friends, if you want - I did.
I wouldn’t have wanted to move closer either (would vastly prefer to live in Manhattan than Long Island). You could consider subletting your apartment/room and living in between - so maybe 30-60 minutes out from where you currently live to cut the commute somewhat.
I would not encourage my child to commute that far for an internship that pays so low, especially in that arena. I’d either take the other position, look for something more suitable, or not do an internship this summer and work instead. You’ve only got a few more summers to be a “kid”, a grueling commute is not how you should spend it. Is this internship REALLY going to make a difference in marketing yourself after graduation?
My D applied to 122 places for her internship this summer. Its hard work. She said it was worse than applying to colleges. She started with a dozen, got nervous when no replies, did another dozen, still didn’t hear from anyone, applied to several dozen, got a few responses and then sat down one weekend and applied to another 50 spots. In the end, she had her choice of 3, yes, just 3, internships that she and I felt were a good fit, both monetarily and for her learning curve. Maybe you should start researching for next summer, its a process to find a good fit. The research, resume and interviewing is good practice too !
If it’s a great opportunity, it could be worth it. I might ask, perhaps after you are up and running, if they’d consider letting you work 4 10 hour days if you feel like you can do that.
I had a commute like this for years and was very productive on most of it - the parts where I was assured a seat.
“I’m a college sophomore trying to choose between two CS-related/data analytics internships for this summer. Both are with small companies, and are paid but not very well (more or less $10/hr.”
Not trying to sound critical, just confused. Are you a CS major? My kids have had zero problem finding summer internships the past several years paying that much or more in with those dreaded social science majors folks like to warn will lead to living in your parent’s basement - and no crazy commute. I thought CS summer work was supposed to pay a good salary?
@doschicos, I’m not sure where your kids live but my D really had a hard time finding an internship with good pay within a few hours from our home or within a one hour commute from where her brother lives. For the CS/Software Engineering ones she applied to, the average salary was between $25-30/hour, some with benefits, some not, but these were difficult to get and she was also being too picky about location. In the end, it worked out and we are grateful.
People do commute 4 hours daily. There will be down time which you can use productively to study and or nap. You could also do breakfast or eat. If the long distant internship is perfect and has a time limit such as a semester, suck it up. It is so frustrating to spend time in something only ok when you have a great option. Take money and a change in clothes in case of late night, bad weather, travel problems and so on. See If you will have a locker space to stow things for an emergency. Good luck.
Hey @doschicos: I’m a CS minor, not a major (I’m not interested in software engineering positions, more data-science related positions in my field of interest). I just declared at the start of sophomore year, so at the time of application didn’t have a lot of the technical skills those companies were looking for. I’m hoping that next year, as a junior, I’ll be eligible for better positions at bigger companies.
Hey guys, thanks for all the responses so far. It’s been really helpful. Right now I’m leaning towards taking the internship. It’s only for 2 1/2 months and I’d probably regret not taking it.
Update: I might be able to get my hands on a car for the summer, which would cut my commute down to 1hr (assuming normal traffic). I like to drive, but I’m not sure if the car trip would be significantly less pleasant than the train. Any thoughts?
