Ah… Internships. All of DC runs on the nefarious slave-practice of the unpaid internship. It sucks. Personally, I’ve never done it. I’ve always taken paid work, but being a grad from a local school, I have plenty of pie-eyed friends whose idealism for public policy, civics and government work ended up in DC working for free.
Don’t get me wrong, I lived in ‘intern housing’ myself. I took a language class in DC one summer through my university and when I wasn’t in school, I was working at Express on Pennsylvania Ave, across from the now infamous “Client 9 hotel”, The Mayflower. If my cousin and his best friend, who was my boyfriend, didn’t subsidize my living with food, drinks and entertainment, and my folks weren’t covering my rent, I would have been screwed financially. Heck, I still was since my parents didn’t cover tuition that summer in an attempt to financially blackmail me to come home that summer. Can you say ‘credit card tuition payment’? But I digress.
My own experience for housing was a DC insider secret. I lived at a George Washington University fraternity house with a girl with green hair and a lot of tattoos. It was relatively cheap. I spent about $250 a month for 3 months back in the 1990’s. Of course, it was originally $300 a month, but they refunded a little money because they didn’t have a working kitchen all summer due to renovations. The link above is for a GW (Say ‘G-Dub”) housing website. It looks like a much more formal program than before. But the housing looks much nicer too. I think I heard about it through word of mouth originally.
GW also has dormitory housing for interns. But I find it to be ridiculously expensive. It’s got all kinds of requirements and rules, but a friend of mine used it about 5 years ago and the rooms were decent quality for sight-unseen housing. She was from Texas and it was the most convenient way of getting reliable housing without knowing anything about DC.
Try also the off-campus housing offices, or summer housing offices of other major universities in the area like:
Georgetown (No metro, but a shuttle bus to metro)
American (Red line metro)
Catholic (Red line metro)
Howard (Green/Yello line metro)
George Mason (Commuter school, in Northern VA)
U DC (Commuter school)
Marymount (Orange line metro, in Northern VA)
Gallaudet (Red line metro, deaf community. Might not be an option if you can’t deal with deaf roommates.)
Now, for more creative options:
Craigslist sublets - I think these are expensive, but they are more flexible than the dorms and you can live nearly anywhere in the city. This is probably the most popular way of finding housing if you are from out of town, but try the regular roommate search section as well. If you are willing to pay slightly more than they are asking to compensate for the second search they need to do after you leave, it could work out well for both of you since they can take longer to find the perfect roommate and still have rent coming in.
Ask your family and friends for help - You might be able to live for free in the spare room of someone you know. Of course this could mean that you need a car if you aren’t near public transport. Because traffic in DC sucks and gas is slightly more exspensive than in other east coast cities, that might negate any fun or savings you might have with this option. (Gas is exspensive here because a lot of people are exspensing it to their companies/contractors. But certainly cheaper than in California.)
Call your internship and ask for help - I admit I am now going to give you the most unusual arrangement that I know of. Usually places that have interns keep some resources on hand to give their interns so that housing isn’t a deal breaker. If those resources don’t work out, you could try doing what one of my friends did. She lived with someone from the office. I think she lived for free in a spare bedroom. In exchange my friend was a house/baby sitter for her hosts. The host family had two kids, one was about 12 and the other about 5. There was a maid/cook who came in daily, but wasn’t really a babysitter or au pair. The family left for a month on a European style vacation (diplomatic corps types so they had way more vacation than us Americans) and she had the house to herself for a month. Of course, my friend had to suffer with a metro that was really far away and had no car, but she commuted in the morning with the mom and was allowed to use the car while the family was away. My friend walked a lot that summer.
Later this arrangement worked out for her as she lived there an additional summer or two even when she wasn’t working with the mom at the original internship office. She got great recommendations for future jobs and strong friendships. I know this is really unusual, but be open to a creative solution like this. It could have serious upsides.
Try your local alumni club - Many people have done the intern track and are sympathetic. You might find a local alum who is willing to host you just because you go to their alma mater.
The thing is to broaden your reach here and be clear about what you can or cannot afford. Budgeting is crucial when you’re unpaid or on a stupidly small stipend. Most interns work during the day, and again at night/weekends as waitstaff or retail.
Be safe and vet your hosts/roommates. Get your own phone if you don’t already have a cell phone. Living in a group housing situation in DC can be a lot of fun. I met a lot of really nice kids at the house in GW and later when I lived in Georgetown as a working adult. You want to stay on their good side and in contact if you eventually need a security clearance. (One of my old G’town roommates is a drinking buddy and reference.) My friend in the weird housing situation lived in Georgetown another year in a sublet and those roommates were at her wedding. So it can be a rewarding experience. (Trust me though, yes, it can be crappy, as in having no kitchen. There are downsides, just be aware of them.)
Some other advice:
Do not ignore the cost of food and transport when making your budget. Again, THE METRO IS NOT CHEAP. Let me put it in terms that college kids can understand.
One round trip during rush hour = Cost of one beer
Food is also very expensive here due to the dining tax of 9+%. DC’s tax base is driven by consumption taxes like the dining tax, so keep that in mind if you want to dine out. It is not cheap.
Bring a bicycle if you can. It makes for cheap transport and entertainment. The metro is expensive here. Plus you can ride all over town on the C&O Canal, the Tidal Basin and Rock Creek Park for fun.
One great thing though is that there is a plethora of free entertainment all summer long on the Mall. There are summer film festivals that are screened for free. (Try Screen on the Green) Smithsonian’s folk life festival, the 4th of July, free Kennedy Center concerts, etc.
ps- This post was inspired by a reader at Madame X’s blog.
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