Affordable Internship Sites

[shlimore-libeab]

Part of my criteria for choosing internship sites is affordability of living--I am looking for a VA or consortium site and rural is definitely ok.

Does anyone have site suggestions?

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[WisNeuro]

This list is in the triple digits, you'd probably need to give lot more info for people to give you meaningful feedback.

 

[Spydra]

Its also not clear what you mean by 'affordable' either. I am applying to internship this year and my definition of affordable was based on being able to live alone in a nice neighborhood and meet my entertainment expectations. That left me with tons of options to narrow down. For someone having to consider childcare, replacing a vehicle, costs of a chronic illness, etc then my list would not be helpful.

 

[Mama Bear]

If you overall mean low COL, avoid the coasts (with some exceptions) and large cities as a general guideline. Use the search function in the APPIC directory.

 

[Sanman]

What are your clinical interests? Any general region of the country?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

The Midwest and South are your best bets. Within the VA system, there are many choices, depending upon if you want a generalist experience or if you want something more specific.

 

[mypointlesspov]

Part of my criteria for choosing internship sites is affordability of living--I am looking for a VA or consortium site and rural is definitely ok.

Does anyone have site suggestions?

Check out the National Psychology Training Consortium. IIRC when I was applying to internship (two years ago) they paid around $26-28k in very low CoL regions.

 

[Sanman]

The Midwest and South are your best bets. Within the VA system, there are many choices, depending upon if you want a generalist experience or if you want something more specific.

Well, I have heard from several people that NYC rents are dropping and there are plenty of vacancies. Not exactly affordable, but if you ever wanted to live in NYC, I can't think of a better time (except for the COVID and the skyrocketing crime rate, but whatcha gonna do? ).

 

[Mojito_15]

I did my APPIC internship at an APA accredited consortium in Illinois. I was in a small town, it was very affordable. But I agree with others there are many places where you could go that would be affordable. Really anywhere in the midwest.

 

[psychnomster]

- Northport VA (If you don't mind living in dorm, they provide free dorm housing --> there are a handful of sites that offer this, if cost of living is an issue, I would research that)
- Cleveland VA (very affordable are as long as you do your research on which are the "safe" areas)
- Syracuse VA (very affordable are as long as you do your research on which are the "safe" areas)
- Buffalo VA

Personally, I just used the internet to look up the cost of living in the cities of each of my shortlisted sites. I would advise you to do the same.

Good luck!

 

[AcronymAllergy]

There are lots of affordable options, and as a general rule, VAs and Board of Prison sites tend to be on the upper-end of the internship stipend spectrum (military internships excluded).

Personally, I'd probably work in the opposite direction: identify the sites that have the rotations and other training opportunities I'm interested in, and then narrow those down further by COL factors.

And just so you don't feel alone, I factored pay (to a small but noticeable extent) into my fellowship ranking decision. There wasn't as much variance for internship salaries, and just about all the sites I interviewed at were in low COL areas, so it wasn't much of a factor there.

 

[HPB2015]

I have wondered and often wanted to ask how interns have afforded to live in the Bay Area in particular. My guess is they either live with several roommates (as many people do in SF/East Bay) or commute quite a distance. Would love to hear from people who have done it or are considering it.

 

[psychlife19]

I have wondered and often wanted to ask how interns have afforded to live in the Bay Area in particular. My guess is they either live with several roommates (as many people do in SF/East Bay) or commute quite a distance. Would love to hear from people who have done it or are considering it.

I think people take out loans or move with a spouse (like I did but def nowhere near as expensive as that area lol)

 

[Spydra]

I have wondered and often wanted to ask how interns have afforded to live in the Bay Area in particular. My guess is they either live with several roommates (as many people do in SF/East Bay) or commute quite a distance. Would love to hear from people who have done it or are considering it.

Those that I know of had one or more of the following: another job, a gainfully employed spouse, loans to cover costs, or lived cheaply with family.

 

[DynamicDidactic]

(except for the COVID and the skyrocketing crime rate

not an accurate statement.

Crime rates are difficult to clearly discuss. Generally, crime is down in NYC. Simply speaking, It is just harder to be a victim of a crime if you are not leaving your house much. Murder is definitely up. However, it is difficult to tell who is getting murdered. Since you are most likely be murdered by someone you know, I don't think this is representative of a general danger of getting killed. My concern is domestic abuse is likely the culprit here. Finally, crimes related to burglary are up but this is primarily non-residential. So much commercial property was barely being used that it was an easy target. Skyrocketing crime rate is not an accurate description and it is especially not accurate when assessing one's potential to be a victim of a crime.

NYC was also doing very well for a large US city with covid after the initial wave. However, there has been a bit of a resurgence recently. My hunch is that it is due to the High Holy Holidays and will continue the downward trend again soon.

Sorry if I am being nitpicky but I am hearing a lot about NYC that isn't accurate and is being used to support political/ideological/social views.

 

[Sanman]

not an accurate statement.

Crime rates are difficult to clearly discuss. Generally, crime is down in NYC. Simply speaking, It is just harder to be a victim of a crime if you are not leaving your house much. Murder is definitely up. However, it is difficult to tell who is getting murdered. Since you are most likely be murdered by someone you know, I don't think this is representative of a general danger of getting killed. My concern is domestic abuse is likely the culprit here. Finally, crimes related to burglary are up but this is primarily non-residential. So much commercial property was barely being used that it was an easy target. Skyrocketing crime rate is not an accurate description and it is especially not accurate when assessing one's potential to be a victim of a crime.

NYC was also doing very well for a large US city with covid after the initial wave. However, there has been a bit of a resurgence recently. My hunch is that it is due to the High Holy Holidays and will continue the downward trend again soon.

Sorry if I am being nitpicky but I am hearing a lot about NYC that isn't accurate and is being used to support political/ideological/social views.

The murder and assault rates have been on the increase since January of this year with large spikes in July and August. There also seems to be a lot unreported crime as the NYPD likes to drag their feet and hide when under the microscope. That said, I have several longtime friends (liberal urban professionals) seeing a lot more petty crime since the riots in formerly nice neighborhoods of Queens and Brooklyn with no cops around to respond to it. It and COVID-19 have caused them to move out move out to the suburbs.