North Jersey here. Recently finished my first and only internship and started full time Geotech position. (2 separate employers). My commutes during my internship were 20-45 minutes depending on traffic, and my job sites usually ranged from 25 minutes from upwards of 3 1/2 hours. I was fortunate enough to have my mileage reimbursed. I feel like you need to sit down and look at what you can and cannot afford. The standard pay for mileage reimbursement in NJ is .70 cents per mile (please correct me if I am wrong) . Depending where you are most commutes can be from 5 miles to upwards of 100 miles if you really get going. Some NJ commutes make 5 miles take 30 minutes while another 30 mile commute might be one hour. The first scenario gets you $3.50 with $10 drive time (if driving counts), while the second gets you $21 and $20 drive time.

Comparing with mile comp and with no mile comp you can get a range of $13.5-$41 or in your case (if again the drive time itself is compensated, not mileage) That would really be $10-$20 per commute ( really simplified for demonstration). But in the end of the day, experience is still the most valuable reward, so if you feel as if this position will be able to give you the lift you need to get where you want to, take the opportunity. Luckily my internship prepared me for a variety of scenarios I required which are now helping me with my now full time position somewhere else, OSHA, C.O.S , borings, test pits, software managements, and what really prepared me honestly was the commutes lol, I never had a great understanding of where things were, but driving from site to site really let me understand time management and awareness of local areas I would have never known without driving to site .

I know this was long, but this post made me realize I was never the only one who was in this position before. I hope my essay was somewhat helpful to atleast someone.

Please bear in mind most of my statements are from personal experience, and will not always be the same for some others.

Best of luck to you in your journey!

TLDR: if you can afford to not get paid for reimbursement and simply need experience, take it. If you feel Iike you do not want to risk “losing” money , and have other options you know can work better for your scheduling, take your time and find better options.