<p>My son received an email from his university department with an NSF REU at Ursinus:</p>
<p>I am writing to let you know that we were recently approved for an NSF REU Site grant. We are seeking students (current sophomores and juniors) who are interested in working on exciting research in Computer Science and/or Mathematics this summer. Students will be paid $3600 for 8 weeks of participation (plus housing and travel to/from the REU). The deadline is listed as May 1st. Please assure students that we can work with them on the transcripts and letters of recommendation because we realize that the time is coming up quickly (the NSF just approved our proposal on Apri 15th!). Students should try to get at least a letter of inquiry or the application in before May 1st. Additional information is available here:</p>
<p>Please pass this along to any interested students or colleagues (in both math and CS departments). I would be happy to answer any questions. Also, please keep in mind that we are interested in students who will find this to be a transformative experience. Students with a passion for the subject area should be encouraged to apply (even if they do not receive top grades).</p>
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<p>They are looking for sophomores and juniors but you might send them an email asking if they would consider a freshman applicant. I usually see one or two of these REUs with really late deadlines per year. I am still seeing intern postings in my son’s email account from local companies.</p>
<p>Metalforever I sympathize. My first summer on my own, I had a job shelving library books half time at the university library at minimum wage and cobbled together odd jobs cleaning, helping people pack for moves and babysitting the rest of the time. I think tutoring is a good idea - maybe not SAT tutoring, but I bet you’d do fine in math at middle or high school level. You might look for community bulletin boards - library, grocery stores etc. and put up a flyer.</p>
<p>My older son didn’t find an internship after his first year at CMU either - he started looking way too late and ended up working for my brother. The next year, he had an internship that fell through, but ended up getting one through word of mouth at the last minute. Not from the career office, but other CMU students knew about the fact that there were still internships. So put it out there that you are still looking - someone may know something.</p>
<p>(BTW I’ve been to lots of metal concerts with my younger son, and it’s pretty harmless IMO.)</p>
<p>Son’s REU provided housing last year and his REU this summer is providing housing too. I looked at a lot of internship postings back in January, February and March and I saw lots of jobs in the Boston area that paid about $14-$19/hour but the student had to get to the work location. Internships that provide housing (some provide meals too) generally paid less - somewhere around $10/hour.</p>
<p>I just had a look at the NSF REU Summer 2010 site for Computer Science and there are 62 REUs listed. The other areas are:</p>
<p>Astronomical Sciences
Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences
Biological Sciences
Chemistry
Cyberinfrastructure
Department of Defense (DoD)
Earth Sciences
Education and Human Resources
Engineering
Ethics and Values Studies
International Science and Engineering
Materials Research
Mathematical Sciences
Ocean Sciences
Physics
Polar Programs
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences</p>
<p>I had a look in the engineering section and found that CMU has an REU program for this summer. Further checking showed that the project areas are software development analysis, survey design and development, human subject data collection and analysis, prototype design and development and electronics circuitry and schematic design. They typically take between 16-24 students out of about 200 applicants. They pay $4,000 for the summer. Housing and a travel allowance are provided for non-CMU students.</p>
<p>Here’s the website with the list of major area links. The links point to pages with REU programs. It might be useful for some students next year.</p>
<p>I haven’t read the whole thread, so bear with me.</p>
<p>But as a student in Pittsburgh (and lifelong resident), I have a hard time believing you can’t find a minimum wage job. My best guess is that something YOU are doing is the problem, not everyone else.</p>
<p>My son got several job offers during his college tours a few weeks ago in Pittsburgh. One was selling t shirts for Pitt, another for working at some fast food place. Not high level jobs at all, but there were jobs available.</p>
<p>I think it was the fact that I waited too long, honestly. I thought I had a job, and didnt bother submitting anything, and when there were career fairs, I figured that I wouldnt get hired because I was a freshman with no experience.</p>
<p>Anyway, I got 1 job offer(finally). It got to the point where I started getting 3-4 interviews every day, thanks to your suggestions, but they were being really slow and cautious about hiring. The job I got is IT. I will be working full time for $10 an hour. I got an offer at $14/hr full time in Ross Township, but my car broke down(permanently) two days ago, so I regretfully had to decline the offer(it is hard to get there by bus). My job will be making computer backups, etcetera. I will thankfully, be signing my lease on tuesday. I kind of stalled all this week because I didnt, at the time, have a job.</p>
<p>A little bit about my other job interviews(not all of them), so you guys can get an idea:</p>
<ol>
<li>I got 1 interview from a customer service spot full time, but I couldnt get there by bus(I didnt know this when I applied).</li>
<li>I got an interview doing telemarketing. They didnt bother doing personal interviews, they did group interviews to eliminate people as fast as possible. They squeezed about 25 people in a computer lab for an interview, and this wasnt the only session(I think there were 2-3 of these). They gave me 20 seconds to “sell” them a pair of scissors. It was rough. I didnt make it to the second interview.</li>
<li>I got an interview at a place requiring me to help make a business plan for the company. The company was hiring on the basis of people who they think would work best together, according to the interviewer, not based upon qualifications. I was told that they had 100 applicants ,and that they were doing 45 interviews. I never heard anything back.</li>
<li> The research positions didnt seem to be funded.</li>
<li> I got a phone interview from the PA senator office in the state capital. It was unpaid but they gave me a $500/month stipend. This isnt enough to live off of. I made it to the second interview. This will happen around monday(but i must, regretfully, turn it down).</li>
<li>I had an interview for minimum wage customer service. It wasnt for starbucks, but I was to meet at the starbucks in the southside. I missed class(they take attendance), and took a bus transfer to get there. I spent the last few dollars I had on a tea. The interviewer never showed up.</li>
</ol>
<p>Well you got a full time IT job, and you might be able to find some additional jobs (babysitting? petsitting? dishwashing?), so it’s not that bad. </p>
<p>Now finish your semester, and keep your head up. Next year start looking early, and things will hopefully be easier.</p>
<p>Sounds like some crappy interview experiences, but…congratulations on getting your IT job!! Not only better than minimum wage, but something prettier to put on your resume than telemarketing or customer service!</p>
<p>Seems like when you’re not looking, there are jobs available. But when you need something in a hurry, it’s nowhere to be found.</p>
<p>Congratulations and best wishes to you, metal! Reminds me of the saying: Just when the caterpillar thought the world was ending…it became a butterfly.</p>
<p>Metalforever – Congratulations on finding a job. I hope that the last little bit of your semester goes well. (And a pox on interviewers who arrange to meet you at a coffee shop who then don’t show up leaving you stuck with the drink purchase. Blech.)</p>
<p>You are going to be a better employee because of your experience, and that will benefit everyone. Congrats on making it through the dark tunnel!</p>