Are you sure? I interned in the bay area in summer 2012, and found that my salary was more than sufficient to cover rent in MTV. I received no housing stipend,

Are you sure? I interned in the bay area in summer 2012, and found that my salary was more than sufficient to cover rent in MTV. I received no housing stipend, and rented a reasonably nice place with 2 other interns which was $1200/month each (which I considered absolutely extortionate, not sure if others would agree). Given that my salary was in the $5000/month range, this was, off the top of my head, about 1/4 of my monthly salary, which is to me totally fine. I don't deny that you can get cheaper outside of SF/MTV (and indeed SF can be much more expensive; my comment is only for MTV), but I dont think that $1200 is 'trust fund' money.