<p>I know the answer's going to vary from specific case to case, but what's a good average income that one could expect from a summer engineering internship or co-op?</p>
<p>I just wanted to know to try and get a better picture of my financial situation and options.</p>
<p>Dont know what an average is but I believe my brother started at 14, moved to 18 quickly, and then went to 24 dollars an hour second co-op term at Georgia Tech. With one more to go, Id assume hell be at 24 and probably up to 28/30 if they want to try to keep him when he gets out of college.</p>
<p>That must be one highly qualified and desired co-op! At $24/hr, that comes to almost $50,000 a year! Not taking into account benefits of a full time employee, that is still approaching the starting salary of a new graduate college hire. I think your brother is exaggerating a bit, or he is in an extremely lucrative field that is in desperate need of co-ops where they can afford to pay them the equivalent of a candidate that has graduated. I bet he can't wait to get back for his 3rd term where he can make almost $60,000 per year! </p>
<p>In all seriousness, no one should expect to get that kind of money as a co-op. I would say that anywhere between $12-16/hr for a summer internship would be common for a lower classman, while $16-20 would be more common for an upperclassman. </p>
<p>However, there are some fields where the number of applicants far exceeds the number of positions, and companies will have no incentive to pay well for interns and co-ops. You will often see many positions that will only offer a small stipend for a summer position (on the order of $5,000 per summer or so).</p>
<p>I know its high, but he definitely is making that. I didnt even hear it from my brother himself. My stepdad told me while we they were discussing some financial stuff. He is doing Computer Science at Georgia Tech, he worked for some small firm that was bought out by Agilent, and he got the raise to 18 right after they were bought out.</p>
<p>After her freshman year, my daughter made $15 per hour with GE. </p>
<p>This summer she's doing an internship w/ US Dept of Energy, which pays closer to $10 per hour, plus she has to pay for a place to live over the summer. :(</p>
<p>im a freshman.Doing an engr. internship at PSU this summer and i'll be getting $4000 for ten weeks of work(plus free room and board). But you can get better internships.</p>
<p>Plus, he goes to GA Tech (they're known for having quality co-op programs, both in job training and in $$$). I've known kids there that make from $15/hr to $40 (though, I'm sure there are much fewer of the latter)!</p>
<p>"Plus, he goes to GA Tech (they're known for having quality co-op programs, both in job training and in $$$). I've known kids there that make from $15/hr to $40 (though, I'm sure there are much fewer of the latter)!"</p>
<p>Yes. I was part of the Ga Tech co-op program as well. Many of my classmates had co-op positions. </p>
<p>I still stand by my statement that anywhere between $12-16/hr for a summer internship would be common for a lower classman, while $16-20 would be more common for an upperclassman. These figures thrown about as high as $30/hr and even 40 as you claim would far exceed the starting salaries that just about any engineer can expect as an entry level graduate. No one is paying their co-ops a base pay like that. </p>
<p>Please do not throw out these wild figures when you either did not make that type of base pay yourself, or have hard data to back up your claims. </p>
<p>Sure, if you take into account some "benefits" such as living stipends, overtime pay, weekend pay, etc, then some co-ops can achieve effective hourly rates approaching 30-40$/hr. But it is not fair to throw out these unsubstantiated figures because they are not representative of the type of base pay a co-op/intern can achieve. If that was indeed the case, then I would have never graduated, since having a co-op job that pays that pays 35$/hr would be a hell of a lot more lucrative than trying to find an entry level job where an engineer can expect something around $26/hr (assuming a base pay of $55,000/year).</p>
<p>He doesnt get any living expenses, by the way. But, for some reason my parents are paying his room and board, food, and basically every expense he has even when he is in co-op... he better use it wisely and start saving money and investing, cause that sure as hell would be what Id do.</p>
<p>getting about 20 as a "going to be senior" this summer
which i think is quite high,</p>
<p>most of my peers are getting about 18</p>
<p>thats really high. is it a co op or summer internship?...how do co ops work? can you still take classes and do co ops?</p>
<p>"how do co ops work? can you still take classes and do co ops?"</p>
<p>Co-ops are full-time temporary (semester by semester) positions. You will be expected to work full time hours during your co-op terms. However, you can negotiate with your employer if you want to take one or two classes for school, but school comes secondary to your job responsibilities. Many schools have co-op programs where you interview and get hired by an company early in your college career (usually after you have completed 2 or 3 semesters of school). After that, you will go to work for the company and go to school, generally on alternating semesters. Many schools require 3 or 4 co-op work semesters to complete their "program." However, you can do more if time allows.</p>
<p>I'm headed to Cornell next year, and I know they used to have the longer, more typical 5-year coop program, they scrapped that in favor of a 4-year (where you can graduate with your class) plan with only 2 semesters of coop work experience (one after 5 semesters of classes, the other after 7).</p>
<p>Anyway - does anyone know how hard it is to get an internship after my freshman year? I had heard from someone I know at RPI that it's very difficult for freshman to get accepted to internships/coops (then again, he was talking about a friend who has a chance at getting one with Microsoft, which I can see would be very difficult), but there seem to be quite a few people on here who seem to have had one (or have one now). I have a great summer job where I can end up averaging about $15 an hour (w/ tips at a golf course), but I'm going to want to expose myself as much as I can to the industry I'm going into (that whole thing about taking a step back to take a step forward :P).</p>
<p>I'm also a freshman and thought it would be extremely hard to get an internship, let alone an "engineering" internship. So i applied for a 10 week biomoloecular engineering internship at penn state university and was pleasantly surprised when i received an offer through mail from some dude.$4000 dollars and free room and board. Now that i think of it i should have applied to a lot more. I'm almost positive that i would have gotten this vanderbilt one(over $4000 in funding). So anyway,PLEASE APPLY. Most of them require a 3.0/3.2 G.P.A(i had a 3.26),two letters of recommendation,and a resume. Google nsf-reu(thats the internship site).</p>
<p>"Yes. I was part of the Ga Tech co-op program as well. Many of my classmates had co-op positions. </p>
<p>I still stand by my statement that anywhere between $12-16/hr for a summer internship would be common for a lower classman, while $16-20 would be more common for an upperclassman. These figures thrown about as high as $30/hr and even 40 as you claim would far exceed the starting salaries that just about any engineer can expect as an entry level graduate. No one is paying their co-ops a base pay like that. </p>
<p>Please do not throw out these wild figures when you either did not make that type of base pay yourself, or have hard data to back up your claims. </p>
<p>Sure, if you take into account some "benefits" such as living stipends, overtime pay, weekend pay, etc, then some co-ops can achieve effective hourly rates approaching 30-40$/hr. But it is not fair to throw out these unsubstantiated figures because they are not representative of the type of base pay a co-op/intern can achieve. If that was indeed the case, then I would have never graduated, since having a co-op job that pays that pays 35$/hr would be a hell of a lot more lucrative than trying to find an entry level job where an engineer can expect something around $26/hr (assuming a base pay of $55,000/year)."</p>
<p>Dude, calm down. I said that may be a reason why his bro was getting paid that much, I didn't say EVERY person working a co-op was going to be swimming in the mula. And, I'm not just throwing out figures. Like I said, THERE AREN'T MANY THAT WILL MAKE IN THE $40/hr RANGE! However, there are some GT co-ops that are paid that much because they tend to be GREAT, not good, but GREAT at what they do (about as good as someone with a few years experience, in some cases). Those numbers aren't unsubstantiated (if it weren't for my friend at GT telling me he and some friends were making $20-40/hr[again, they are SUPERB at what they do, and are juniors] in the co-op, I wouldn't have applied to GT). Most are paid $12-25/hr, as you said, but there are a select few who can make into the 30s and 40s.</p>
<p>runningncircles1,</p>
<p>First, as an aside, you need to slow down and read my posts more carefully. You have missed entirely the point I was making. You also seem to have no sense in judging tone in written form. Perhaps these are things you will learn throughout college.. just some advice.. I will leave it at that. </p>
<p>But more importantly, you seem to have no sense of the business world. Do you realize a $40/hr job pays the equivalent of over $83,000 per year? Do you realize that is roughly 50-100% more than many entry level engineering graduates will make their first year? It doesn't matter how "GREAT" or "SUPERB" a co-op is, they are simply not going to be paid that much as a base salary. </p>
<p>"if it weren't for my friend at GT telling me he and some friends were making $20-40/hr"</p>
<p>Which is it? 20 or 40? I don't think you understand the magnitude of the difference. Furthermore, it doesn't matter how GREAT you are, no company is going to give you continuous merit based raises (on the time scale of a co-op term). I was a "GREAT" co-op. I got occasional recognitions and monetary awards. Being a "GREAT" co-op doesn't mean the director is going to take you into his office and re-negotiate your pay. In the engingeering world, you are expected to be "great" at whatever salary you hired in with. If you are "great" you will get your yearly [several precentage point] raise. Also.. being a "junior" does not qualify you for massive pay. I knew many highly skilled seniors who were "great/superb" at their jobs, worked for top engineering companies throughout the US, and none approached the 30s, or even mid 20s/hr. </p>
<p>And your statements are unsubstantiated. A friend bragging to you does not in any way form a basis of substantiation. I think you might need to look up the word in the dictionary to understand. But I will not linger on this point either..</p>
<p>Several posters in this thread, who by no coincidence are the ones actually doing the internships/co-ops, have validated my statements. Other posters, who have no connection to the internship/co-op or business world have made wild claims which have little basis aside from hearsay. My main complaint with the latter individuals is that they are providing absolutely no benefit to this thread by making such claims. I am not dismissing that it possible that an intern/coop make $30/hr. I am saying that it is so unlikely, that it serves absolutely no noteworthy purpose. Imagine a thread in which someone asked how likely it is to win the lottery. Imagine another person responding with a quote such as "I know 3 friends who won the lottery." Thus, it must be quite common to win the lottery. The topic of the thread is "anticipated income ..." What meaningful contribution do you make by posting anecdotal hearsay that you said yourself is unlikely to be common? </p>
<p>Anyways, I don't even care if you respond to this post. In fact, I'd rather you not. My intention is not to debate this point or mindless semantics. However, I do hope you taking something meaningful away from this.</p>
<p>I hope youre not pointing at me. I only know one person doing a co-op, and that is all I said. Like I said before, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the company he is with merged with a huge company during his sophomore year. And of course on a college forum that is mostly about admissions you will find people who havent actually gone into co-ops themselves.</p>
<p>i too do not know of anyone getting paid more than 21 dollars an hour at a co-op/ intern. However, one of my friends says a ChemE was making 24.</p>
<p>fyi, Amgen chemE summer interns will make about 17.70 or something with senior status, one of my EE friends who co-ops at GE on his 3rd rotation is only making 17</p>