Working on the farm?

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>I'm a junior, soon-to-be senior in high school.</p>

<p>My friend lives out on a farm, and I could work as a farmhand over the summer. I'm from the suburbs and my definition of outdoor adventure would be taking a ride down the bikepath through the behind my house, or maybe visiting the artificial pond. </p>

<p>I want to be a lawyer, but would this opportunity be something worthwhile? Would it make me stand out in a pile of applicants with identically high stats? </p>

<p>My dilemma is, would I be better off trying to get a job at a law firm (just gophering, office work, etc) or perhaps volunteering at the courthouse over the summer, or would my undergrad college look more favorably upon this suburban kid expanding his horizons by working on a farm?</p>

<p>I'm also a summer camp counselor (one week, overnight camp, unpaid), and I'm applying to a summer school program at a college, so if I get into those, I'd have to miss ~5 weeks of work. Would a law firm be okay with that? My farming friend would be, since her family is doing this more as a favor than anything else.</p>

<p>The disadvantages are I'd have to live away from home for the entire summer (I don't get homesick, but I would certainly miss my friends), I have no aspirations of being a farmer, and the pay would be less than spectacular. Also, I live in a town of 80,000 people with many surrounding suburbs of comparable - I'd be living on a farm outside of town, and town would consist of 2,000 people.</p>

<p>So what it boils down to is - what would be more impressive to an adcom? Working at a law firm in the city, or working on a farm? What are my chances of getting hired by a law firm, knowing that I would miss significant time (Although, it would be at the end of summer, I could just quit before then)?</p>

2

<p>The bigger question is: Which would you enjoy more?</p>

<p>Don't worry about what a college will think about it, worry about whether you will have a good time or not.</p>

3

<p>I personally think that if you are doing something just to impress the admissons officers without having any real interest in it, it will come through. Admissions officers aren't dumb, they've seen it all.</p>

4

<p>burgian, I am definitely interested in both. I know I want to be a lawyer, so working in a law firm would be a great opportunity for me. On the otherhand, however, I do wish I had a chance to spend more time outdoors and working on a farm would be a unique experience for me. I'm just wondering how adcoms would see it.</p>

5

<p>will it make you stand out? probably not. ls admissions is highly numbers based. the soft factors only count for borderline applicants, and even in this case, it will unlikely tip anything. L schools, unlike med schools, give no weight to having experience in the relevant field, so working in a law-related job will give you absolutely no advantage.</p>

<p>id choose the one that has nothing to do with career. you have the rest of your life to do that... think of whatever you do as a life experience - somthing you can tell your grandchildren about. theres no point in impressing adcoms. and this wont even impress them.</p>

6

<p>Well, if you are really interested in both then go with what your heart says. Working on a farm would definitely be a unique (and possibly once in a lifetime) experience but working in a law firm would give you a little better insight into the field and may give you a better idea if you really want to go into it. Perhaps you could initially pursue both options (don't turn down the farm quite yet and look into interning/volunteering at a law firm) and then once you learn a little bit more about each option you can make a decision. A word of caution however, it can be difficuilt for someone in High School to get an internship, a lot of places prefer college students so I would be careful about being so quick to turn down one option just incase the other falls through. </p>

<p>Also, for a law firm be sure to be upfront with them about the time you need to miss. There are short internships and they may be willing to do it; especially if you are unpaid they may be more flexable. Just be upfront about the prior commitments</p>

<p>My overall feeling though is do what your heart says.</p>