I think part of the intern experience in DC is being able to enjoy the city and (I assume you are intern age--that is on the young side) interact with the legions of other 20- and 30-somethings. Of course you don't necessarily need to live in the middle of it, but it sure is a lot of fun. Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights have lots of roommate share situations. I think living near CUA or College Park or even out in VA would be boring as toast unless you have a kid a dog or a spouse. Even Penn Qtr is a little too corporate and touristy to be all that much fun and it doesn't have the charm of of other close in neighborhoods. Unfortunately every neighborhood has crime issues in DC, of course some more than others, and it is certainly better than it was 15 years ago, but still something to be aware of. Don't let it frighten you, the town is full of people just like you having a great, safe time, you just need to be smart about it.

Good luck with your interview.

DC has so many great museums and sights. It's a great city to visit.

Good luck. In your salary range, I think you are most likely to find a location that works for you (pleasant, accessible to public transit) in a group house. That's a very, very common way for twentysomethings and even thirtysomethings to live here, and there certainly will be other people from Catholic in that situation. I suggest you inquire while you are here for the interview about the resources available through the University, even if that means you have less time for sightseeing. Good luck!

Thanks for all the tips. I'm interviewing tomorrow so it will be interesting to see how the current interns make it financially and where they live. I'll post back about this tomorrow!

Thanks for all the details. I really love it here (despite the metro eating my farecard with money left in it and not letting me out). I probably won't end up matching here, but I do want to live here someday!!

Crystal City (across the river, near National Airport) used to be very reasonable, especially for the size and quality (for instance, 900 SF apartment in good shape and nice building for only 1300 a month including all utils and parking garage). I think those deals have gone bye-bye, though.