I am really interested in being a senate page but I don’t know whether I should I apply for a summer session or the fall session. If anyone has advice or recommendations I would really appreciate it.
I was a summer Senate Page for the first half of the 2018 summer in Georgia for Senator Johhny Isakson.
There are pros and cons for semester and summer sessions. The semester session is easier to get into, as fewer people apply. Many applicants for the summer have crazy connections to the Senate. Some of my fellow pages had family ties to Senators or were neighbors or whatever. I didn’t have any crazy connections, but I was able to find a small connection which I think helped slightly, but I think my interview is mostly what got me in. Application specifics vary greatly from state to state. I had to fill out a short written application, was called and asked for an interview, then shortly after was called and told I was accepted, but I heard other states have lengthy applications and require transcripts and whatever.
The summer session is really short, and you don’t get to become too familiar with Capitol Hill. Semester Pages will get to talk to senators more and generally become better connected as a whole. Semester Pages do have to deal with the Senate Page School, which from what I’ve heard from a Georgia Semester Page is extremely stressful. You’ll be working a full-time job while being a full-time student. Class starts extremely early and has a ton of homework. It will most likely bring your GPA down, but colleges will recognize it and won’t see it negatively.
I personally chose to apply for the summer because I had many commitments in high school, and I was transferring schools my junior year, so I didn’t want to miss an entire semester of a new school and miss all my extracurriculars. That being said, if it weren’t for those two factors, I would have done the semester program over the summer program. No matter which you chose, the Senate Page Program is an amazing experience that I would encourage anyone interested in politics to apply for. Feel free to ask any further questions.