<p>Hello, people! A little about me first: I am a sophomore double majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Physics. I have an excellent GPA at a well-respected public university. I have gained practical engineering experience over the past couple of years working on an engineering design and build project (Baja SAE) at school and am a head designer next year for the second year in a row. In the fall, I am working for one of my ME professors doing research. I plan on going to grad school immediately after graduation.</p>
<p>I am supposed to start an internship in a couple of weeks, but I am having serious, serious doubts about it. It is a fairly well-paying internship, but it is not the sort of work I want to do when I graduate. I want to be a researcher rather than an industry engineer, basically. It is several hundred miles away from both home and school. I have been told that the majority of the summer would be waiting on getting security clearance, which is required to do 95% of the work there.</p>
<p>I also have yet to get an apartment because this was my backup plan. I was waiting to hear back from the SMART program, which would be a perfect fit for me, but they keep delaying notification, so I still am unaware if I will get it.</p>
<p>So now I am panicking because I am supposed to go to an internship that I didn't really want, in a location I have no desire to go to. I guess my question is how terrible of me would it be to back out of the internship? Like I said, they don't have any real work lined up for me because of the clearance issue. Is the experience I have sufficient, given that I am looking at grad school rather than a job? I still have the option of finding an internship next summer, if I need the experience.</p>
<p>Help?</p>
<p>I’d only back out of it if you hear back from SMART. Okay…it may not be the work you want to do when you graduate, but over 90% of student internships generally aren’t either. Even if you greatly prefer research, what is wrong with learning something about industry? You can look at it as a challenge - you might discover that you really like industry engineering - your company, bosses or co-workers could be awesome, or it might confirm your preference for research. You can’t really know for sure until you take the offer. As for the internship not being in an ideal location, you can’t always get the perfect internship where you want it/when you want it. You might find that the other aspects of the internship outweigh your dislike for the location. </p>
<p>If you can get yourself in the mindset that you are willing to learn, try out a new experience, and work your hardest in an unfamiliar setting, definitely stick with the job. If you are adamant that you will dislike the opportunity, location, and it isn’t worth it to you at all despite the pay and the resume-builder, then you might as well back out from the internship. Going into a job with doubts is one thing - going in with a negative, resigned attitude isn’t going to get you anywhere.</p>
<ol>
<li>most internships are not perfect</li>
<li>if you will ever want to work in the national security field, including engineering R&D, you should take the clearance, regardless of the type of work you will be doing at the internship</li>
<li>if the company is competent, your clearance will be finished sooner than later (depending on when they background work started, and what type of clearance you are getting)</li>
<li>don’t back out unless you have another offer</li>
</ol>
<p>Okay, I guess I wasn’t perfectly clear with my dilemma. I understand that internships are important, and I plan on getting one for sure next year, unless I have a research position. I also will work during grad school, though that will likely be research as well.</p>
<p>This company only wants me if I am willing to work both this summer and next summer, which eliminates a lot of other opportunities that would be more in line with my goals. It would directly conflict with SMART, if I get it, and I’d have to bail on the company after a summer.</p>
<p>My parents do not want me to take the internship. I am nineteen, the only girl, and first to leave home. I had a fairly rough year from a personal standpoint, so they think I should take some time to be with family. I’m not trying to whine, just give a real idea of where I’m coming from.</p>
<p>Basically, I want to know if refusing the internship will be shooting myself in the foot if I do look for a regular job upon graduation. I have a 4.0 GPA in a well-respected program. Through student projects, I have manufacturing experience, particularly with CAD, drafting, machining (regular and CNC); design experience; management experience; and analysis experience. I begin research in the fall.</p>
<p>I would not spend the summer idle. I would return to a job I held in previous years, working around 30 hours a week. I’d take the GRE. I have a couple of programming projects I am working on, one of which could result in a publishable paper. I have design work to do. Most importantly, this would be my last summer with my family, which I am loathe to give up for something that is not worthwhile.</p>
<p>PS. Soccerguy, I was told by the company that it would take two months to get clearance.</p>
<p>i will defer to the technical types as that is not my area. It does throw a big kink into things if they want you to guarantee next summer as well.</p>
<p>I know why you are tempted to not take the offer. It could reduce your options later. On the other hand, this is a definite option, and the options “later” are all hypothetical at the moment. They don’t exist yet.</p>
<p>Only you can make the decision. You can always quit, though that sometimes comes with negative ramifications also.</p>