<p>I am applying and most likely will get an internship at Representative Scott Garret's office my freshmen year at Colby College. Scott Garret has extremely conservative views on abortion and marriage. I am concerned that when I apply for Law School my senior year that schools with a liberal base like Columbia and NYU will not like my resume because of this internship for such a conservative Congressmen. Should I not take the internship because of this? I feel like its a good opportunity.</p>
<p>It’s unlikely there’s a liberal litmus test to get into those law schools. I’m sure there are Columbia and NYU Law School grads who clerk for conservative judges all the time. You are considering passing up a definite great opportunity over a highly theoretical and possibly non-existent future negative. There are other law schools that if you are a strong candidate, would be happy to have you, if NYU and Columbia are so stupid as to have a political bias in admissions.</p>
<p>Just remember, no lawyer makes any money until there are two sides to an argument. There is no money to be made when everyone agrees.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that it would matter to admissions officers. Chances are that they may not even know who Scott Garrett is, and he may not even be in office when you apply. I think the more interesting, and maybe important, question is why you would want to be an intern for him.</p>
<p>Law schools will not care in the slightest.</p>
<p>That’s right.</p>
<p>I concur with everyone above.</p>
<p>It’s a non-issue. Stop worrying about it.</p>
<p>First, LSAT and GPA are about 95% of law school admissions; the other 5% involve things like really incredible research, undergrad school, major, geographic diversity, etc. It’s so numbers-driven that your internship will likely not play a role either way.</p>
<p>Moreover, you can always use it to your advantage: isn’t “I interned for a Congressmen with very different views on contentious social issues” reasonably good fodder for an essay? </p>
<p>You may want to leave it off your resume when you apply for jobs. While law schools may not care, some employers will. </p>
<p>The dean of Columbia Law School is, horrors, probably a Republican. (He’s a member of the Federalist Society.)</p>