<p>I am currently a high school junior who is doing pretty well. I live in California. The opportunity has arisen for me to intern this summer for my state senator and my congressman. It wouldn't be anything super advanced like analyzing legislation (hopefully I'd get to do some of that though) but I would at least have done something over the summer and could probably get a letter of recommendation from them for college. My question: would it look better if I interned for and have a letter of recommendation from A) state senator (Mark DeSaulnier) or B) congressman (Jerry McNerney)? I'm really interested in politics, and I'll have fun either way. I'm just curious if either one would look better than the other to admissions advisers. Thank you!</p>
<p>P.S. If I don't intern, I'd take a few classes (Cultural Anthropology, Intro to Philosophy) at my local community college. Could that be a good option?</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter who you intern for. It matters what you do while you are there. Take some initiative. Figure out what you can do to make yourself more valuable and useful to the staff. Ask someone on the staff who has a job you like how they got there and what you can do to help them, in particular, so you can watch them in action. As someone who interned for a congressman, I can tell you that it will be excruciatingly boring if you don’t get invested in the issues under discussion, make a connection with a staffer and find a way to contribute in a meaningful way.</p>
<p>I’m going to apply to intern for Mark DeSaulnier. He has a better personality, state issues feel more close to home and realistic to me (for some reason federal always just seems like a giant slug in my mind) and I’d probably get more experience and definitely more interaction with him. For Jerry McNerney, he’d be in D.C. Mon-Fri and he has more people working for him, meaning I’d get lost in the shuffle. DeSaulnier, even though McNerney is a great guy, is probably more concerned and friendly with all his staff. He’s also at his district office much more. Thanks for the help!</p>