Is it socially unacceptable to hold two internships at the same time?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi! So I was emailing some professors at a nearby college (I'm a high school junior), asking for a summer research / lab internship. I received a "yes" from one professor, then several days later, I got another "yes" from another professor. Looking at these two professors, I'm more interested in the work of the second one, but I already confirmed the paperwork with the first professor. I have yet to respond to the second professor. </p>

<p>Obviously, I'm not going to take back the internship for the first professor--she seemed really nice during my interview, and I appreciate her offer--but I was wondering if I could hold two internships during the same summer. I asked some of my high school teachers about it, and they said it was usually considered socially unacceptable to work in two lab internships at the same time, and I should just focus my efforts on one lab.</p>

<p>Just to clarify, if I were to take on both internships, I would arrange the times, so for example, I would be working in one lab on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I would be working in the other lab on Mondays and Wednesdays. There would be no overlap between the two labs. Honestly, I think that I'm capable of handling both internships and doing well in both of them, but I was wondering if my teachers were right in saying that it's "socially unacceptable" to hold two internships at the same time. </p>

<p>What's your opinion?</p>

2

<p>If you can make it work, go for it. I haven’t seen much stigma around it- but just talk to the second professor about it to make sure they’re cool with it as well.</p>

3

<p>Did you discuss working two days a week when you approached both professors? Lab research is not a parti time gig. </p>

4

<p>Depending on the responsibilities, lab internships can indeed be part-time gigs. So can lab research itself for that matter.</p>

<p>Lots of people have two jobs or internships. If the schedules are compatible, there is no reason to not do this. But, you need to make certain that the schedules are indeed compatible and take into account any out-of-internship-hours work you might be expected to keep up with. For example, will you need to do a bunch of reading for both of them? If so, you need to be sure to make time in the rest of your life to get that done.</p>