<p>So I have an opportunity to be an intern for a state representative (as in that person is a representative to the house of representatives of my state). </p>
<p>Let me cut to the chase: I really want to go to Wharton undergrad, be a pre-admit to Ross, or go to Sloan at MIT for college. Seeing as these are all business-related, would working with a politician help at all? Would it help me stand out among a lot of really well-qualified applicants?</p>
<p>I would like to know this as well, I have an opportunity for intern with a PA Rep, and I would like to go Wharton or CalTech.</p>
<p>Come on, can somebody who has personal experience on this matter answer me?</p>
<p>Well, I will try. For what you want to study, OP, business internship > political internship. But political internship > retail job/camp counselor/lifeguard. You need to (1) look at your other options, and (2) consider what skills you will build in the internships. Because internships are not JUST about what looks good on your resume. What will you really learn? </p>
<p>You might ask about what responsibilities you will have as an intern (a campaign intern does different things than an intern in the office during session does). Generally, interns spend a lot of time dealing with voters or constituents regardless. One of my kid interned for a US Senator, and answered the phone and updated a database of magazine articles all summer. It was “shiny” on her resume, but the actual work was the least productive and least skill-building of all the internships she ever had. </p>
<p>So my take is that it beats sitting around for a summer, it is good for building people and communications skills, but isn’t right on target for a business (or Caltech) application. </p>
<p>One way to look at internships and summer experiences isn’t “how does it look on my resume”, but instead “can I find an experience that helps me explore possible career routes so I can confirm or reject a given path based on that experience?” One of my kids went to an engineering camp summer after junior year of HS – and learned that while she loves STEM (which she already knew), she does NOT want to be an engineer. That was a valuable experience, and she talked about it in some of her essays. You are young and colleges are okay with the fact you are still looking for your path – what they want to see is that you used your time productively to explore options and learn about yourself.</p>
<p>So you are saying that if I get the internship I should look into helping with stuff like fundraising, marketing, etc.? </p>
<p>Or I should look into getting an internship at Goldman Sachs or something?</p>
<p>Basically she is saying not to be a brainless resume builder but you don’t seem to get that point.</p>
<p>Sure Brown, you’re right. However, you must understand how desperate I am as a high school student looking to crack into Wharton. So while what you are saying has an element of truth to it, I would rather right now be given advice on how best to “resume build” so that I could get into MIT or Wharton.</p>
<p>The best way to “resume build” is to follow your interests.</p>
<p>Apply Sideways - if you haven’t read it
[Applying</a> Sideways | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways]Applying”>Applying Sideways | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>Being an intern at the state level is interesting, you meet STATE people, but it is not a golden ticket to anything. If you are interested in government, politics, or the specific committees you work on, it will help you. If you don’t like it, spend all your time having coffee with other interns and don’t learn anything, it will just be a resume item and there are hundreds of other students who have this same resume item. If you are asked about it, you’ll say ‘Umm, I don’t know about that’ and you might have been better off working fast food and learning the cash register, people skills, scheduling, etc.</p>
<p>I worked as an intern in college in the state house, and I loved it. It was not a free pass into law school, or even into a job. I did work on some interesting bills and learned a lot.</p>
<p>Alright. Let me rephrase my question. </p>
<p>I do have an interest in politics. One of my grandiose dreams is to be a Congressman. However, I also really want to go into finance.</p>
<p>I have an opportunity to intern with a representative, but I am worried that this experience, rather than help me, will actually hurt me because it is not business related. So, will it help, hurt, or do nothing?</p>
<p>I sincerely do have an interest in politics and I don’t drink coffee. I am sure I will learn a lot while interning with my representative. However, I have to think ahead to the next part of my life, which hopefully involves Ross, Wharton, or Sloan.</p>
<p>What sort of 17 and 18 year old “business” opportunities do you think are available to propel applicants into college? You can serve ice cream every summer and be prepared to study business or finance at schools like Ross, Wharton etc. </p>
<p>Your thinking that every aspect of your entire existence needs to be “business related” is faulty. Top schools want broad academic success and potential and a willingness to learn. Ease at quantitative subjects is a plus.</p>
<p>Your decision to intern or not should not be based on some fear that it makes you less sold out on being a potential Donald Trump to college admissions officers.</p>
<p>You may be disappointed that your fellow business school freshmen may be former Walmart employees or restaurant dishwashers. Oh the horror.</p>
<p>Instead of focusing on the title, focus on the skills you will acquire (or can at least claim you acquired). If you can reasonably say that you learned how to</p>
<ul>
<li>be responsible,</li>
<li>meet deadlines</li>
<li>organize information</li>
<li>analyze information</li>
<li>and work well with other people</li>
</ul>
<p>then the experience will be worthwhile.</p>