With only one day of classes left, many students are starting to think about their summer jobs. At Tufts, this often means preparing for an internship. According to a study released by Vault.com, 86 percent of college graduates report having completed at least one internship during their college careers.
With nearly nine out of 10 of the nation's college students completing internships, the inevitable search for housing can be difficult, especially when that dream internship is 3,000 miles away.
The search is now a little easier, however, thanks to InternNation.com, a Web site created for students with internships who are searching for a place to live.
"InternNation helps students sublet apartments from one another," the founder of InternNation, Francis Larkin, said in a press release announcing the site's launch. "For example, a student in Seattle could rent a summer apartment from a student in New York, who could rent from a student in Atlanta. It's a win-win-win situation."
The Web site is also a forum for students to discover social activities when stranded in an unfamiliar place without any friends. The site hosts local classifieds, discussion forums and events for students, such as picnics and pick-up sports games.
In general, the idea of a communal resource is appealing to most students. "Anything that connects a large group of people to help each other out with something they're interested in is good," sophomore Monika Burns said.
Senior Eugene Fayerberg agreed. "Finding a place to live can be hard, and finding people in your situation can be really helpful," he said. "It's too bad I'm not an underclassman, because I would definitely try to participate in it now."
Before InternNation, students had to rely on Web sites such as Craigslist.com and Sublet.com. Since these sites are not specifically geared to a college clientele, many students were turned off by high rent prices, and decided to search for summer internships closer to home.
Fayerberg only looked for internships near his home in order to avoid the hassle of finding an apartment.
"When I did an internship, I lived at home. I had offers at other places, but living at home is cheaper and I didn't want to bother trying to find housing," he said.
Junior David Werth also considers housing when searching for internships and like Fayerberg, has been able to find many options near his own house.
"It's not hard to find internships near where I live," he said. "When I've done internships before, I've lived at home."
For others, however, an internship away from home did require some searching for a summer residence.
Senior Alexis Liistro discovered that New York University's dorms are open in the summer for students who need housing, and she took advantage of the opportunity.
According to Liistro, she would have used InternNation if it had been around last year. "I think it's a good idea, because it helps narrow a very broad search," she said. "I probably would have checked it out."
Unlike competitors, InternNation allows students to sublet to and rent from other students in efforts to minimize uncomfortable situations.
Open to over 100 universities including Tufts, InternNation may be perched on the edge of success.
But some students are unsure whether or not it will ever reach a Facebook-like level of popularity.
"I think if it's publicized enough, it will be successful," Burns said. "They'd need to flyer around campus and make it seem like a lot of people are already using it."
Liistro ventured that an association with another hugely successful Web site might bolster its chances. "It could be especially successful if it were attached to something like Facebook, where college-aged students are already going," she said.
Werth believes that InternNation would need a huge burst of users in order to maintain its existence.
"I think it's like anything else on the Internet," he said. "If enough people start using it, it will catch on. But without that initial surge of support it will probably just die out."
Fayerberg agreed. "It needs to be widely advertised, because you don't necessarily think that there's stuff like that out there, and that other students are using it," he said.
