Internship Question

[AnonymousDandelion]

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Hi!

Decided to do a rotating small animal internship. Working on selecting a few more places to apply to/rank.

While my educational experience is important to me, so are my finances. Does anyone know of any places that provide free/discounted housing to interns? Wouldn't mind hearing about places with mention of work-life balance in their description too, ahaha.

I'm slowly combing through all the descriptions right now, but figured it couldn't hurt to ask if anyone knew any off the top of their head. I can't seem to find anything via the search engine for this site about this.

Thank you. 🙂

 

[SocialStigma]

AMC owns an apartment complex and rents units out to house officers at a slightly cheaper rate than typical NYC housing. That being said, I think it's still like $1000+/month per person and you will probably have to live with 2-3 other interns.

 

[pp9]

Hi!

Decided to do a rotating small animal internship. Working on selecting a few more places to apply to/rank.

While my educational experience is important to me, so are my finances. Does anyone know of any places that provide free/discounted housing to interns? Wouldn't mind hearing about places with mention of work-life balance in their description too, ahaha.

I'm slowly combing through all the descriptions right now, but figured it couldn't hurt to ask if anyone knew any off the top of their head. I can't seem to find anything via the search engine for this site about this.

Thank you. 🙂

Honestly AMC might be the only small animal rotating one that has any sort of housing situation for interns. There are a few specialty internships and at least one residency that I know of that provide free housing, but your salary very much reflects that.

 

[chenolay]

Just so you know....Chicago region pays the highest in the country..you can think about it

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Just so you know....Chicago region pays the highest in the country..you can think about it

Chicago is also expensive AF to live in. Unless you are fine living in a brokedown studio with a sketch roommate or two and a bulletproof vest.

 

[pp9]

Just so you know....Chicago region pays the highest in the country..you can think about it

Chicago is also expensive AF to live in. Unless you are fine living in a brokedown studio with a sketch roommate or two and a bulletproof vest.

Seems that most rotating internships that pay above ~$30,000 are going to be in a high(er) COL area. I was showing my mom some of my internship picks and she got all excited about $50,000 until I pointed out that I'd be living in Los Angeles. Friendship in DC pays $40,000 which sounds nice, until you realize your rent wont be less than $1200 or so unless you get roommates (which doesn't always work well when you have a small zoo). Then you have to account for increased grocery prices, gas/transportation, etc etc. I was bored one day and looked at some apartments, most decent 1 beds were going for $1600+ and they weren't fancy by any means.

 

[JaynaAli]

Yeah, my internship paid $28,000/year and my rent in a one bedroom apartment in Colorado was $1100/month. "Luckily" I was really too busy to do expensive things and spend money...there were lots of free things to do in the area on my days off. It was just barely doable, but only because I made so little I didn't have to pay on my loans ($0 IBR after my grace period), I was healthy and never needed to go to the doctor, and my parents covered my car insurance and cell phone bills that year to help out. All my internmates had significant others to help with costs. I make more in residency and the cost of living where I am now is less, so that's better.

 

[KCgophervet]

Chicago is also expensive AF to live in. Unless you are fine living in a brokedown studio with a sketch roommate or two and a bulletproof vest.

Compared to East coast or west coast big cities Chicago is dirt cheap to live in.

I thought it was pricey coming from Minneapolis but then my resident mate told me what she was paying when she lived in Boston... Yeah not even comparable

 

[chenolay]

Chicago is also expensive AF to live in. Unless you are fine living in a brokedown studio with a sketch roommate or two and a bulletproof vest.

I live in Chicago
My 2b1b apt is $1000/mo and it's only 12 min drive from work..I live alone...I tried to find roommate but failed
So compared to $28,000+ internship..I would say I have a good quality of life

Also VCA aurora and buffalo grove is suburb of Chicago

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Compared to East coast or west coast big cities Chicago is dirt cheap to live in.

I thought it was pricey coming from Minneapolis but then my resident mate told me what she was paying when she lived in Boston... Yeah not even comparable

I live in Chicago
My 2b1b apt is $1000/mo and it's only 12 min drive from work..I live alone...I tried to find roommate but failed
So compared to $28,000+ internship..I would say I have a good quality of life

Also VCA aurora and buffalo grove is suburb of Chicago

Compared to Boston, sure. But I still consider a 1k/month apartment on a 28k salary pretty damn expensive. That's half your monthly take home pay. Doable, but certainly not ideal unless you are a single person with no one else to take care of and no other major expenses and a good savings account in case, say, your car breaks down and you suddenly need 1k of repairs (happened to me in residency and it was seriously touch and go for a while)

 

[pp9]

Compared to Boston, sure. But I still consider a 1k/month apartment on a 28k salary pretty damn expensive. That's half your monthly take home pay. Doable, but certainly not ideal unless you are a single person with no one else to take care of and no other major expenses and a good savings account in case, say, your car breaks down and you suddenly need 1k of repairs (happened to me in residency and it was seriously touch and go for a while)

And then there's pet costs/emergencies, travel/lodging for interviews for your next internship/residency, etc etc. I'd be super nervous with just $16,000 (before taxes) for a whole year.

 

[chenolay]

Compared to Boston, sure. But I still consider a 1k/month apartment on a 28k salary pretty damn expensive. That's half your monthly take home pay. Doable, but certainly not ideal unless you are a single person with no one else to take care of and no other major expenses and a good savings account in case, say, your car breaks down and you suddenly need 1k of repairs (happened to me in residency and it was seriously touch and go for a while)

hmmmm...Chicago pays $40,000+ you can find $350/mo living in basement if you don't mind
If really depends on what you want and how you can spend your money wisely


btw i lived in st paul over the last 4 years...you pay $500-550/room on average around st paul campus...$700-800/room on average around minneapolis campus... so i think $1,000 for 2b1b in Chicago is quiet cheap

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

hmmmm...Chicago pays $40,000+ you can find $350/mo living in basement if you don't mind
If really depends on what you want and how you can spend your money wisely


btw i lived in st paul over the last 4 years...you pay $500-550/room on average around st paul campus...$700-800/room on average around minneapolis campus... so i think $1,000 for 2b1b in Chicago is quiet cheap

Sure. If again, if you are fine having half your salary a month go to rent, cool with no roomies, have no dependents, no medical expenses, no car troubles, no emergencies...sure it's cheap for Chicago but not cheap overall which is what the OP was asking.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Compared to Boston, sure. But I still consider a 1k/month apartment on a 28k salary pretty damn expensive. That's half your monthly take home pay. Doable, but certainly not ideal unless you are a single person with no one else to take care of and no other major expenses and a good savings account in case, say, your car breaks down and you suddenly need 1k of repairs (happened to me in residency and it was seriously touch and go for a while)

Yeah totally. Like +1000. For 2 years prior to vet school I lived in Cambridge MA while working in Boston on a 30k salary, and yes it was doable and I even managed to save >$3k per year but I don't think I could live that lifestyle now. Like I had to SHARE A BEDROOM in a tiny 2 bedroom apt that was $2400/mon rent (I paid $650 of that plus $100 utilities). Didn't need a car or car insurance. Had excellent health insurance for cheap by working in the biggest human hospital in MA, that I didn't need to use at all because I was young and healthy. Didn't need to pay much for transportation because I lived in walking distance to work. And I only had a cat that was healthy and never needed to go to the vet. Other than food and cellphone, I had very few expenses. And it was just after college so I was in the "I don't need a life at all because that is to come after vet school" stage of my life.

That's hard to continue once you've been through vet school and at a point where you want to and should enjoy life. Especially if you're thinking about continuing on to residency. I don't even live in nearly that high a cost of living area now, and I live a fairly frugal lifestyle without children or any real hobbies, but expenses now as a functioning adult are waaay higher. Life is ****ing expensive. And even as a vet who gets really good discounts on my pets for things I do myself (paid total of ~$250 for a PU, a ton of meds, and a ton of diagnostics, for my sick UO cat), something happens every year even with my relatively healthy cats that gets me stuck with a $2000 bill due to need for AUS and admission at a tertiary referral facility. And car expenses are like no joke. Slightest thing goes wrong and you have a hefty bill. A big thing goes wrong and you're screwed. Same with medical costs. Even just walking into urgent care costs $200 these days. And the older you get, the more life gets complicated.More and more loved ones go through life crises, ailments, and death. And there are costs associated with that. And not that you have a ton of time, but going out to do anything is really costly!

Not really contributing to the convo, but when you're only getting paid <$30k, it totally is in your best interest to keep rent to a minimum. Or unless you're specializing/going into ER post-training, seriously rethink the internship idea and get a job instead that pays >$80k off the bat. If you have a DVM you are worth that and can be a competent dr, don't let any curmudgeonly academic faculty or uppity annoying classmate tell you otherwise.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

Yeah totally. Like +1000. For 2 years prior to vet school I lived in Cambridge MA while working in Boston on a 30k salary, and yes it was doable and I even managed to save >$3k per year but I don't think I could live that lifestyle now. Like I had to SHARE A BEDROOM in a tiny 2 bedroom apt that was $2400/mon rent (I paid $650 of that plus $100 utilities). Didn't need a car or car insurance. Had excellent health insurance for cheap by working in the biggest human hospital in MA, that I didn't need to use at all because I was young and healthy. Didn't need to pay much for transportation because I lived in walking distance to work. And I only had a cat that was healthy and never needed to go to the vet. Other than food and cellphone, I had very few expenses. And it was just after college so I was in the "I don't need a life at all because that is to come after vet school" stage of my life.

That's hard to continue once you've been through vet school and at a point where you want to and should enjoy life. Especially if you're thinking about continuing on to residency. I don't even live in nearly that high a cost of living area now, and I live a fairly frugal lifestyle without children or any real hobbies, but expenses now as a functioning adult are waaay higher. Life is ****ing expensive. And even as a vet who gets really good discounts on my pets for things I do myself (paid total of ~$250 for a PU, a ton of meds, and a ton of diagnostics, for my sick UO cat), something happens every year even with my relatively healthy cats that gets me stuck with a $2000 bill due to need for AUS and admission at a tertiary referral facility. And car expenses are like no joke. Slightest thing goes wrong and you have a hefty bill. A big thing goes wrong and you're screwed. Same with medical costs. Even just walking into urgent care costs $200 these days. And the older you get, the more life gets complicated.More and more loved ones go through life crises, ailments, and death. And there are costs associated with that. And not that you have a ton of time, but going out to do anything is really costly!

Not really contributing to the convo, but when you're only getting paid <$30k, it totally is in your best interest to keep rent to a minimum. Or unless you're specializing/going into ER post-training, seriously rethink the internship idea and get a job instead that pays >$80k off the bat. If you have a DVM you are worth that and can be a competent dr, don't let any curmudgeonly academic faculty or uppity annoying classmate tell you otherwise.

Wait how did you live in a different city from where you work but you lived within walking distance? are Boston and Cambridge really that close?? (clearly I know nothing about the east coast lol)

 

[Minnerbelle]

City of Boston proper is teeny tiny, and is separated from the City of Cambridge by the Charles River. I lived 10 min walk from the Charles, and right across the bridge is Mass General Hospital. (Essentially my work place and apt were both on the border).