An uncertain future for Bear Stearns interns

As lucky students across campus are finalizing their summer internship plans, seven undergraduates who thought they were done may not be so lucky.

With JPMorgan Chase's recent purchase of investment house Bear Stearns, graduates and undergraduates who were set up with Bear Stearns jobs and internships - like these seven - say they are worried that their plans may fall through because of the change.

Wharton and College sophomore Alba Topallaj, who secured her internship in late February, recently called representatives at JPMorgan to find out about the status of her position.

"They said they are going to honor the internship," she said. "But who knows?"

Topallaj added that she is in the process of looking for a backup plan in case her internship position falls through.

JPMorgan has not yet made an official announcement regarding how their recent purchase will affect incoming employees or interns who had jobs.

"We're still in early stages of assessing businesses, but we are committed to building a great pipeline of people and intend to keep students updated as much as possible," JP Morgan spokesman Brian Marchiony told Fortune magazine.

Penn's Career Services Center also seems to have little information about what the future holds for the seven - they referred all inquiries to JPMorgan.

Wharton and College sophomore Elizabeth Volynsky said she is also looking at other opportunities and interviewing with other companies.

"I'm looking at other options but Bear Stearns is still my first choice," she added.

Volynsky said her recruiter told her that JPMorgan would honor her offer. But the recruiter also said it was unclear if the interns would be officially working for JPMorgan or Stearns over the summer - this will depend on the stage of the acquisition the day the interns start work.

Some career service directors seem optimistic that students will still have summer jobs.

"Everybody who has an offer will be fine," Princeton Career Services Director Beverly Hamilton-Chandler told Fortune. "They will be working for JPMorgan Chase."

Others seem less hopeful.

"If a student comes in and tells me he has an offer from Bear Stearns, I will tell them it's adios and goodbye," said Jim Dixey, Graduate Business Career Services director at Texas A&M.;

Despite the varying advice of career counselors, students at other schools feel confident they will have positions.

Tufts Freshman Josh Buchalter, who worked at Bear Stearns last summer and was asked back for the upcoming semester, said he is "cautiously optimistic."

"Basically, I might be pretty screwed," he said. "At the same time, though, putting it in perspective, even if the worst were to happen, I wouldn't be nearly as hurt as most of the people who worked there [year-round]."

Still uncertain about their summer plans, students like Topallaj said it would be unfair if their internship positions were not recognized.

"A promise was made to us and many of us stopped looking for other options after [Bear Stearns] accepted us," she said.

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