<p>I am a freshmen mechanical engineering major. I applied to a bunch of internships, not expecting to get any, so I was very excited to get a response from one. The only problem is, I have to respond with my choice by march 14 th. I'm still waiting on some other places to hear from, some of which the application deadline hasn't even passed yet. </p>
<p>So what should I do in this situation? I am very grateful for the internship I have been offered, but it's not really in a field that I wish to pursue for my career. Still, it's better than no internship. On the other hand, the internships I'm waiting to hear from are in the area that I want my career to be. </p>
<p>1) Ask for an extension to the deadline. They’ll probably extend it a week or two. But don’t expect another extension after that.</p>
<p>2) Tell the company you’d like to search other options for the meantime but to keep you on their list of prospective interns</p>
<p>3) Take the internship. Sometimes its better to go with security than with chance. Also, internship experiences outside your area of interest can get you that next internship in your area of interest. Its a competitive world out there.</p>
<p>Just a comment. Do not take the job and reneg on the offer. Its considered rude and unprofessional, especially for internships, and will burn bridges for the future.</p>
<p>Before contacting the company that made your offer, contact the companies you’ll be interviewing with / that you applied to. Tell them your deadline with the other company. They’ll usually do what they can to get you a decision before that deadline.</p>
<p>The problem that I’m concerned about is the deadline to apply for the other positions doesn’t pass until after my deadline to respond to my offer…</p>
<p>Take the offer in hand. That is never a bad situation. To get an internship after freshman year is very good and I wouldn’t let it go. You have no idea if you would even get an interview at another company.</p>
<p>It doesn’t hurt to let companies potentially interviewing you know that you have a deadline with another company. Call or email the interview contact (if you have one), tell them that you’re really excited to interview with their company and that they’re a top choice for you, then tell them you unfortunately have a deadline with another company and ask if they can interview you sooner. They might say no, they might make it work. It depends on the company and your resume. Either way it doesn’t make you look bad because everyone understands that you take an offer in hand over a 1st round interview, even if the interview is with a company you prefer.</p>
<p>Alternatively, you can ask the offering company to move the March 14th deadline back, they might move it a week (a short deadline means they’re going to make an offer to their #2 choice if you turn it down, and they don’t want to leave that guy hanging on for a month). That’s not enough time for you since it’s probably a month or more from deadline to offer.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, though, you’ve got to make a decision. Do you take the offer in hand or turn it down and risk unemployment for the summer? The vast majority of people take the offer in hand.</p>
<p>You are a freshman. Freshman usually do not get paying/useful internships. </p>
<p>If this internship pays and will actually teach you something (AKA not just an excuse to get cheap labor for menial tasks that you will not benefit from), take it! As a freshman, you’re not likely to get another like it.</p>
<p>^ I can see that you’re a business major. It’s different in engineering. Engineering internships are always paid and it’s very common for freshman to have internships/coops.</p>
<p>Well, I emailed the other places, and they’ve all either told me no or they don’t know yet. So it looks like I’m going to take the offer at hand. Not that I’m complaining though, I’m pretty excited for it!</p>
<p>Go ahead and bug the other companies that you haven’t heard back from yet. That will send a signal that you are interested in the position and didn’t forget about it as if you applied to a ton. If they don’t give you any information, be prepared to take the internship. Being a freshman, landing an internship - no matter what kind in engineering - is pretty huge. If you think about it, your chances of getting into one that you haven’t heard back from next year will be strong because you are interested. They’ll understand that you took this one because of the deadline. Plus, who knows, maybe you will enjoy this field!</p>
<p>Congratulations! It’s pretty perfect to have an internship in an industry you’re not particularly interested in during your freshman summer. You’ll get valuable experience and, hey, maybe you’ll even like the industry; if you don’t, you still have a TON of time to figure out what you want to do when you grow up.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice! I ended up accepting the offer and I’m very happy with my decision. I did get a couple offers but I liked the one I already accepted better so it all worked out</p>