stuck between a rock and a hard place for my summer internship

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>I just recently spoke to someone at my local Merrill Lynch office about working out a summer internship which would be great on my resume I think whenever I start doing interviews for more prestigious internships my junior year. The problem is, while the VP of the local office told me he would love for me to come in and work for free, I either have to get college credit for it or they have to pay me.</p>

<p>The thing is, my college sucks I'm working on transferring out to a better school but this doesn't help me in the least at this point. I would be willing to bet that I'm the only freshman who has gone out and found a finance internship this summer and I know that they are going to jerk me around with this and probably won't give me any credit for it considering I'm only going to be a sophomore this fall.</p>

<p>As you can tell I'm not very optimistic that my school will give me the credit and ML is not going to pay me so at this point I'm SOLJWF.</p>

<p>any advice from those of you who have worked something like this out your freshman summer?</p>

2

<p>Tough call there man. Last summer I worked in commercial/consumer lending at a local bank. The job blew and I made $6 per hour, but the professional experience was huge. My parents were pretty understanding though and paid for my gas for the summer, and I picked up a job on the side reffing Dek Hockey games. I'd say go for it and find a way to supplement your income. You will truly be happy with your decision in the long run.</p>

3

<p>Does your current school KNOW that you are transferring out? If not, tell them you'll accept half a unit of credit. If they DO know, immediately get on the phone with your new school's career center and try to liase with them. If they're a strong school, odds are that they'll help you out and talk with your ML person.</p>

4

<p>No, they don't know I'm transferring out. It's not a strong school at ALL (TTT) so that's the main problem, I don't expect them to be very helpful with getting my internship.</p>

<p>Only thing I can do is wait until next week and make some calls but I'm not getting my hopes up...</p>

5

<p>Wait, wait, the not a strong school at all is in reference to he school you will be transferring TO?</p>

<p>Talk to the career department at your current school and try to connive them into a deal where you take your internship and earn 1 credit for school. Tell them you will try to help ML become a more prominent asset for your school's career office. If that doesn't work, then definitely get your parents involved. That would make a world of difference OR if someone from ML could call in (that would be ridiculously good).</p>

6

<p>no, the school I am currently at is not strong at all(why I'm transferring) all of that sounds like great advice thanks dearsiryes!</p>

7

<p>At many schools you have to pay for the credit as though you were taking a class. Is this your case?</p>

8

<p>Yes, I was researching this on my schools website. I thought it was total BS but apparently it is common...</p>

9

<p>I was thinking about doing the same thing.. I heard Merrill Lynch's regional offices have "informal" internships. Is this what you asked for? The official internship that lasts 8 weeks or so is extremely competitive and had a deadline of like March 1st, so I'm assuming you didn't apply to that. If you do go through an "informal" internship, would it be possible to write it on a resume when you are applying for official ones next summer?</p>