Question about internships/work experience before graduate school

PoliSciGuy94
Mon, 18 Nov 2013 12:29:10 +0000

So I’m in this quandary: I really, really hate the cramped, fourth tier college I go to, and want to finish up my degree as soon as possible and head on to grad school for either a Masters in Public Administration or in a program related to Political Science. I’ve maintained a high GPA (I’m in the honors program) and will be studying hard for the GRE.

The issue is work experience and internships. If I am to complete my degree as soon as possible, I will need to take 15 credits for full semesters, and 12 in the summer. If I were to do an internship, I will either have an hour to myself every night or a diminished GPA. Probably both. So I have thought of this plan: Graduate in three years, and then spend one year doing internships and applying to grad schools (I’ll be applying to these internships without any previous experience, which sucks, but I’ll probably get something).

Is this feasible? And what are my chances if I don’t find an internship? I got burned by not having extracurriculars in High School (I went to a private school that didn’t have any, and got out too late to find any on my own), I don’t want it to happen again here.