<p>I'm a senior in high school, and I was thinking of applying for an internship this summer in my congressman's local office. do they usually take high school students in addition to college students, or should I not even bother?</p>
<p>A frequently asked question. Depends on your Congressman/woman.</p>
<p>Apply with the clear understanding that you’re at the bottom of the food chain, and that college upperclassmen, college lowerclassmen, and those socially connected with the Congressperson will all get dibs before you do. And that there’s an a priori assumption that you’re likely to have a lower skill set compared to college students and that maturity is more of a gamble (it’s always a gamble, the question is how much?) and that therefore you are likely to need more supervision and have a smaller range of tasks than most college students.</p>
<p>That said, one of the most impressive campaign workers I ever worked with was in 9th or 10th grade at the time and wound up being given quite a bit or responsibility because she proved she could do it.</p>
<p>It helps if you can demonstrate a very strong work ethic. Writing skills a plus though most offices won’t let an intern within light-years of a writing assignment. Demonstrated phone/people skills also a big plus.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>