<p>I’ve been accepted into three PAID internships for this summer. I know, what a great problem to have! Anyway, this decision has been hard.</p>
<li><p>NIDA funded internship, under mentor at that University in Palo Alto ($3200 + housing provided)
-I did the exact same program last year, so I don’t know a second year will be anything “new”</p></li>
<li><p>City of Hope Medical Center ($4000 but I have to find housing in SoCal)
-Cancer biology research. a new experience, location, the researcher said this program will be pretty intense. (Last summer i felt was not intense enough)</p></li>
<li><p>Clark Scholars Program ($750)
-People have all said very positive things about this one, but this is in Texas and I have to find housing etc.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Money is not the greatest issue. I would like the money, but I am looking for the most enriching experience. I am not familiar with the City of Hope/Clark Scholars ones, so I was wondering if you guys can help me out…</p>
<p>All of them PAY me. The clark scholars pays WAY LESS than the others… the amount in parentheses is the amount I will make, not how much I have to pay lol</p>
<p>dude, clark scholars is incredible. i was a clarkie last year, and it was incredible. Although the city of hope thing is pretty cool too from the sounds of it.</p>
<p>lol i’ve heard numerous good things about the clarks thing now. but that would mean losing a couple of thousands of dollars lol if i do clark scholars…</p>
<p>You don’t have to find housing for Clark Scholars, do you? Maybe I’m just misunderstanding what you mean, but the website says room and board included. I would definitely not go with the first one, the one you did last year. The other two (Clark and City of Hope) both look interesting, although for obvious reasons I’m heavily biased towards Clark Scholars.</p>
<p>What do you want to know more about Clarks? A guarantee that you will win a Nobel Prize there? People here have already told you enough good about it. Sounds like you don’t want to do it because of the money though, so if you want money + an enriching experience you probably would choose COHMC.</p>
<p>Well you’re right Lunge, I am just faced with a rather difficult decision. I don’t know how to pick. Is the Clarks that much better than the COHMC?</p>
<p>Me going off to to Texas and not being able to see anybody until mid august and then having to do all my college stuff is not THE most appealing thing in the world either.</p>
<p>WOw, I just looked at the Clarks webpages and they seriously only select 12 people per year? wow… how the heck did i even get it… i feel so lame for not being sure i am going to go. I will think more about it…</p>
<p>What’s wrong with returning to the same lab as before? I don’t know, don’t people like to see a continued effort?</p>
<p>Well, if you didn’t like it last year, you probably won’t like it this year, unless, of course, you have good reason to believe things will change.</p>
<p>If being able to see your friends/money are important to you (since, after all, this is your last summer together), I would go with the City of Hope. If you are really looking for the most enriching experience, I can’t say much, but I would pick Clark Scholars. I don’t know if there’s a major difference in intensity or not, though.</p>
<p>Oh, and don’t feel guilty about not going because there were only 12 people who got in. Do what’s best for yourself. They probably (well, hopefully) have a waitlist.</p>
<p>I didn’t NOT like the experience last summer. I just felt like my mentor didn’t care as much and that a lot of the time, i was the one who actually pushed for getting things done-- he would suggest things for us to do, but none of the tasks would take that long. we ran tests but it was like he already had an idea of what we were testing for so it didn’t really make me feel like I contributed to it content wise. I don’t know, i still learned a LOT of neuroscience, but somehow i miss the structure other summer programs seem to offer? I have no basis for comparison, but yea, you guys are probably right, I shouldn’t go back this summer.</p>
<p>Is there anyway I can find out about the intensity of the city of hope thing? I’ve already discussed this for an hour with my professor (i hinted i had other offers, to which he just claimed that another person who had worked in his lab for three years was able to get his name on the listed authors for a published research paper, but i know this is horrible motivation for wanting to go there for it). City of hope, i’m studying cancer biology, a really new topic for me.</p>
<p>I’m actually signed up for the exact same topic as a Clarkie, studying neuroscience that is. My essays were full-blown, i wanna be a neuroscience researcher, i’ve been dreaming about it my whole life, type of deal. lol.</p>