DC summer intern housing & advice?

April 11, 2023 10:38 AM

My college-age kid just got a summer internship in DC/Capitol Hill and needs a place to live. I see that there are a bunch of schools + private companies that do summer housing, and I'm sure there are a million more if you factor in Airbnb, sublets, etc. Did your kid do this and do you have a specific recommendation for me? Also, what do you wish you/your kid knew before doing an internship like this?
posted by BlahLaLa to Grab Bag (15 answers total)

Best answer: I have a nephew who did it so details are scarce, but I know he sublet a room from one of the local colleges (Univ of Maryland?) off campus student housing. I know in NYC, NYU rents out dorm rooms for summer interns. (My child rented one on 14th St.) I would check with the local colleges such as George Washington, American, Georgetown, U of MD, etc. The university itself may rent a door room or kids home for the summer may sublet their room in an off campus house.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:42 AM on April 11, 2023

Best answer: I did this myself as a college student back in 2007! I stayed in the dorms at American University for the summer and it was fine. I knew one friend who stayed in the dorms at Catholic University and that seemed fine as well. I had another friend who sublet a basement apartment for the summer and that was also fine.

My one piece of advice would be factoring in the commute. Some options may be better because they're closer to specific bus routes or Metro lines.
posted by kingoftonga86 at 11:50 AM on April 11, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I did this way back in the day (1995) and stayed in the dorms at GW. It worked out very well since I was within walking distance of my internship.
posted by tafetta, darling! at 12:02 PM on April 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

Is the internship being arranged through his school's career services office (or something similar)? When I interned in DC, alum who had sublets or rooms/MIL units to rent also publicized them through that office. I rented from a really lovely couple who introduced me to other DC-area alum (and friends who worked in my field), took me to dinner once in a while, and even let me stay with them when I came back to DC for a couple of interviews, and the timing was much more flexible and the arrangement felt more secure than a sublease. (Of course, having the chance to meet other interns in more of a dorm environment might be more appealing to your kid.)
posted by Anita Bath at 12:12 PM on April 11, 2023 [3 favorites]

Getting rooms in group houses in DC can be very competitive.

I’d also strongly suggest checking out bus lines as well as metro lines when searching.

It’s also not unusual for interns or commuters in DC to do a loooong commute, 90 minutes each way is not uncommon. If options are scarce, the area near the Baltimore train station is pretty fun and vibrant, much cheaper than DC, and relatively convenient for getting to the Hill via MARC train.
posted by forkisbetter at 12:21 PM on April 11, 2023

I interned in DC twice and have lived here permanently since 2009. The summer of 203 I lived in the GWU dorms, which was very convenient and walking distance to my internship, but not cheap. The second time out here I leased a room in a group house in Glover Park and there were lots of other college student and interns living in similar situations. I would absolutely not consider Baltimore a viable option for a summer internship. Your kid will miss out on many of the best aspects of spending a summer interning in DC if they're spending 90 minutes each way tied to the MARC schedule back and forth from Baltimore.
posted by fancypants at 2:31 PM on April 11, 2023 [4 favorites]

I stayed the the AU dorms a while ago for summer programs and they were fine. Pleasant campus, tolerable food. The shuttle bus ran to the Metro often enough in the summer the location wasn't a problem but check to see if Covid has changed that.

Some interns used to stay across the river in Arlington along the Orange Metro line.

If they happen to be LGBTQ, that's culturally generally been centered around the Dupont Circle area, but it's pricy.

what do you wish you/your kid knew before doing an internship like this?

There is a lot of alcohol and other substances at parties in the scene. Learning to nurse a drink (or getting straight Coke and calling Jack and Coke) is a skill that can be useful. Not being hung over and not getting into risky situations is worth it. Pot and shrooms are decriminalized in DC but not on federal property so don't be stupid - a federal possession charge can ruin your life.

If you're focusing on DC proper, you don't need a car but if you can afford it, get them a membership with Zipcar or similar so they can explore the VA and MD areas from time to time. There's a ton of great parks and public art that aren't public transit accessible. Depending on where they live, buying a beater bike and selling/giving it away when they move back might be worth it.

There's not a ton of pick pocketing or muggings but make sure they have a credit card saved to Apple/Google/Whatever Pay on their phone and have a physical card left behind where they live so if the worst happens they can still pay for things.

Assuming you're funding this, give them a reasonable budget for food etc. if they're not on a meal plan. In DC, Whole Foods is significantly (like 3-4X) more expensive as Trader Joes. Sometimes you have to let kids overspend on the fancy stuff the first week and end up eating ramen for the last few weeks to understand how to appreciate a budget.
posted by Candleman at 3:56 PM on April 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

Pot and shrooms are decriminalized in DC but not on federal property so don't be stupid

Further, you'll have to report any pot (or other drug) use in the last 7 years on any federal agency background check (including for jobs that don't require actual clearance). It's not auto-disqualifying, but it can make the process a lot more challenging. If your young person is seriously considering making a career with the federal government, they should save themselves some trouble and leave the substances alone. Dumb though the rule may be.
posted by praemunire at 4:04 PM on April 11, 2023 [3 favorites]

One thing I'll add is that the rental housing market in DC in 2023 is very different than in 2013, 2003, etc. so please keep that in mind as you review options! A summer spot in a group house could be ideal but hard to come by. Staying in a dorm sounds like the best option in that your son will be in the middle of the action and also have easy access to public transportation. I agree that Baltimore is too far for quick access (very cool though!) unless, say, he has a family member he can stay with rent-free. The close MD or VA suburbs are options, too, but plenty of snobs will turn their nose up at them so keep that in mind as he chooses. I'm a local who grew up here, moved away, then came back so that's my take! I wish I had more specific leads but social media is a great place to network for housing as well as, of course, friends of friends of friends!
posted by smorgasbord at 4:16 PM on April 11, 2023 [4 favorites]

Lastly, when considering a property, ask what the AC situation is. DC is basically built on a swamp and can get quite humid. A house/apartment with central AC is way more comfortable to be in than one that has a window unit in the living room but nowhere else.
posted by Candleman at 5:13 PM on April 11, 2023

As a student now - you may want to see if any graduate schools in that area have students who want to sublet their apartments. A *lot* of students in grad school/law school do summer internships outside their location, and would love to get a break in their rent for a few months.
posted by corb at 8:41 AM on April 12, 2023

I did Catholic University and it worked pretty well, but it seemed like coworkers who lived in Northwest were more at the center of the social action. Pretty quiet though, and I did make friends there.
posted by catquas at 7:04 AM on April 13, 2023

Subletting from local students is a thing but a) students are notoriously flaky b) even if the sublease goes through (in a group house or something) it's terrible when someone else doesn't pay the electricity bill c) not all subleases are above the board. Prepandemic I know interns who did the Air BnB thing, but that was before AirBnb was quite as notorious. Therefore, I would suggest dorm housing if at all possible. Apply ASAP since the dorms fill up fast. GW is arguably the most convenient for a summer intern. Expensive, for sure, but at least one would save a bit on transit costs. (The max cost of a one way metro fare is $6 these days, which adds up).
posted by oceano at 7:36 PM on April 13, 2023

When considering housing options, he should take a look at google maps/ walkscore of the area. While he probably won't have a ton of alternatives, different areas will have different public transit coverage levels that are not necessarily what one would expect. (Buses are great, but needing to take a bus to get to a metro station is usually less great).
posted by oceano at 8:26 PM on April 13, 2023

Response by poster: Coming back to say we did book a dorm room at George Washington University. Partially because it just seemed too hard to find a legit sublet/roommate situation. Partially because it was clear that students nationwide were all being told around the same time that they'd been accepted to internships, and we were seeing room categories selling out at GW and other colleges. A friend who knows the area suggested GW as being close to appropriate public transportation, and the price, while expensive, wasn't as dear as some of the private housing options we saw. So we bit the bullet and did it.
posted by BlahLaLa at 2:29 PM on April 20, 2023