I have been looking at colleges with my D this week.
I am wondering about schools in more remote or rural locations and how that effects internships and recruitment?
I had never thought of it before this week. I am looking at colleges with my younger D and we looked somewhere kind of remote-my other D goes to college in a big city.
My kids wanted to be in urban settings for college. They had friends who were perfectly happy in more remote locations.
I think this is very student dependent.
Some rural schools have time built into their schedule, like a short January term, that can be used for internships. Summers are always a good time. Through alumni networks, etc. it shouldn’t be too difficult to find placements.
Thanks @doschicos - that is what I was wondering -how they got to do internships with anything other that local companies.
tons of students do internships in cities where they don’t go to school… I wouldn’t worry about it =)
I didn’t do internships etc… -I am old - so this is all new to me.
Thanks
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I recommend finding out about the colleges’ career centers. I think the one at my daughter’s college in small-town Minnesota was what helped her find her externships and summer jobs, in Boston, Washington, D.C., and the Twin Cities.
Often internships are done in the summer. However for some majors it is good to be in a particular area. Example - students at American University often do midweek internships in DC.
Thanks- @rosered55 did she do them all during the summer?
My daughter did a short program in Boston (through her college) during winter break of her freshman year; attended a program for women students considering doing math Ph.D.s at her home school (but open to students from all colleges and universities) the summer after her freshman year; worked at a math camp in St. Paul the summer after her sophomore year and also did an internship that she arranged herself in our home town before and after the math camp; worked at an economic consulting firm in Boston the summer after her junior year; and did an externship in Washington, D.C., during winter break of her senior year.
Many internships are done away from colleges during the summer. Also, even smaller cities offer some options. While not related to her major, my daughter works at a local elementary school with disadvantaged kids. She has learned to appreciate her own opportunities so much more.
Like anything it depends. I took a couple of architectural history classes that took advantage of Boston’s architecture.
My older son went to school in Pittsburgh, but his summer internships were all in CA, except the first summer when he worked for a Boston firm while living with us in NYS.
Younger son was abroad for part of one summer and then worked on campus the other three summers. The fact that he was near Boston didn’t make much of a difference. His freshman year he took an art course at the MFA.
Both of my kids did their internship in NYC over the summer. It hasn’t hurt their opportunities in getting jobs. I don’t know how I feel about my kids doing internship while they are in school. Part of me feel since I am paying their tuition, I would prefer for them to focus on academic rather than doing internship, whereas I am not paying a tuition in the summer.
D2 studied abroad in London and she took a an art history course, and they walked around to study London’s architecture and went to the city museums.
How do kids doing internships in a city far from school and family manage housing?
Some internships pay quite a bit, so students could afford housing. Some internships offer housing as part of payment. Some schools subsidize their students when they do non-profit internship. Many urban colleges (like NYU, New School, Columbia) rent out their dorms to summer interns.
D1 did an internship in banking junior year. Her summer earning was 20k+, so she was able to afford few thousand $ for a room at the New School.
D2 did an internship at Legal Aid one summer, the sponsor offered housing at the Y to all interns.
This year D2 will be interning at a district attorney’s office with bare minimum pay, even though she will be able to live at home in NYC, she is applying to her school to subsidize some of her expenses.
D went to school in NYC and had internships starting freshman year. She never used her school’s career center, but found them on her own.
When my daughter did the externship in D.C., she stayed for free with the family of another student at her college. She didn’t know the student; the housing was offered in response to a post I made on the school’s parents’ email list. For the summer job in Boston, my daughter found a place to live (a sublet) through her college’s alumni Facebook page. She had gone through Craigslist initially but got burned when the sublet she set up three months ahead of time fell through one month ahead of time, when the tenant who was going to sublet to her backed out. She made enough at the job to pay for her room herself.
I did an internship in NYC the summer after my junior year at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. I was from the NYC area, so my professor recommended me knowing that I could more easily accept the position than someone looking for housing - especially given that the pay was relatively low.
If you live near a large city now, I wouldn’t worry about finding internships in the summer in or near that city which allow your daughter to live at home. If you do not live near a large center of employment, it would probably be less stressful for your daughter to attend school near the area in which she wants to work as she won’t have to scramble to find summer housing.
Right, I think it’s dependent on the home location or on funding as much as anything else. If she’ll be able to do internships in many fields while she’s home, or if you can afford to pay for housing while she’s elsewhere, no problem. If those options will be challenging, it may be a bigger deal.
Some types of internships may be a lot more competitive in the summer than the rest of the year. It’s a real advantage to be in school near them and have multiple options.
Thanks everyone. Lots to think about