<p>Just wondering - as a high school junior, if you had the choice, which would look better on your college "resume" - </p>
<p>1) an internship with your state senator's office in your home city (interfacing w/constituents, answering phones, etc), or </p>
<p>2) a 4-week job with a conservation corps organization (doing trail restoration, etc, while living in a tent w/a team of 6 other teens at a national park, in a program affiliated with Americorps)? </p>
<p>Or are they basically equal? Does anyone know about the conservation corps summer programs? I haven't seen anything about them on CC. Long term goals are to major in international relations in college so maybe the internship w/senator is best.</p>
<p>Well, it depends on what field you’re looking to enter. If you want to be, say, a marine biologist, neither is particularly relevant to the topic. But if you wanted to enter politics, the internship would likely be more “impressive”–although really, it’s more “relevant”.</p>
<p>If you’re wondering which one would be more impressive on your own resume, I suggest you rethink the question. On paper, it’s a name. Adcoms don’t care about names because they don’t mean anything. What counts is what you make the experience. If you do the internship and are really bored and think it was a waste of time, then it probably won’t help you get into a university, because you did not benefit from it. But if you participated in the internship, was motivated to become a senator, join politics, etc. and that pushed you to further develop yourself in that field, then that’s what colleges want to see.</p>
<p>Moreover, it’s not just about doing the one that looks shiny on a resume, but the one that you will enjoy and learn from. I would prefer interning at a senator’s office rather than the conservation corps program, regardless of how much more “prestigious” the latter may be.</p>
<p>The two programs are completely different and are not comparable, in my opinion. You should consider each on their own merits and decide based on which you will benefit from the most.</p>
<p>Both options are exciting and equally of interest in their own way…one would be more of an “adventure” (the conservation corps) and would be fun to be with other teens in the wilderness, although obviously physically difficult work. The other would be more relevant to future studies (internat’l relations), and would probably be a better direct learning experience. Either one would be given 150% effort…different, but equally valuable life experiences would probably come from each. </p>
<p>I guess that’s why it’s come down to wondering which would be viewed more favorably by a college admissions committee. </p>
<p>If you are committed to going into international relations or a similar field, I’d go with the internship, which might show that you are really motivated/devoted to the field.</p>