Summer: Job, Internship or Volunteering?

Applying to College
1

<p>Question about the summer. I’m looking into different opportunities for summer and have come across volunteering, a job, or an internship.</p>

<p>As I already actively volunteer at my library, I was wondering if it would be more worthwhile to get an internship or get a job. I really want to become a congressional page for my representitive or get an internship with his local office in Portland (OR). Both are impressive, but is a job necessary for admissions or would it just be too much. I already volunteer and will get an internship… is a job too much on top of that?</p>

<p>What would admissions officers think about the above?</p>

2

<p>Can you try out doing an internship and volunteering at the same time first to see if you can handle a job? That’s what I would do.</p>

3

<p>all three would probably be a lot…
just the volunteering and internship should be pretty good…</p>

4

<p>I don’t think a job is necessary if you do an internship and volunteer. You might not have the time, and these both look really good already.</p>

5

<p>I would say do volunteering and then either the job or internship. Talk to your parents and see what they suggest: they might be expecting you to take a job to start saving up for personal expenses/books in college. But I would definently not do the job and the internship. Neither are very flexible, and you’ll be stressed out to try to fit them together, and I doubt you’ll be having fun. Volunteering will be flexible, and hopefully its something you like doing, so it will be a nice break from the internship/job. Plus, you’ll be continuing an ongoing volunteer position, which looks excellent to colleges.</p>

<p>As for the internship vs job: I vote internship. If you could work on Capitol Hill, I woudn’t pass that chance up. I interned and it was absolutely an amazing experience, and wish I wasn’t studying engineering so I could do it again =P Plus, when it comes to getting recs, having that political power is always a plus, and will win out over your local resturaunt or business’ boss saying how much of a hard worker you are. Go for the internship, you’ll be around people who are <em>generally</em> smart and interesting and want to be there, and i’m sure it will be a great atmosphere to be in. Especially if you want to study something along the lines of political science/theory, history, english, ect in college.
Good luck!</p>

6

<p>if the volunteer oppportunity you’re considering is the library, then I’d say go for the internship. Community service is nice, but colleges are looking for leadership and achievement in ECs. Simply putting in more hours in the library does not impress an adcom. On the other hand an internship shows your personal interests to the adcom and teaches you something you can bring to the college community; how a political office works, etc. The internship is also useful in its own right because it will expose you to a new situation and you’ll have a chance to see some jobs/careers up close, work with smart & dedicated people, etc.</p>

<p>BTW since the library seems to be an interest of yours, why not try to do more with the situation? Organize book drives, fundraisers, perhaps set up a study hall where kids who are good in a class volunteer once a week to tutor others, etc? These are just off the top of my head; you can probably think of dozens more things and come up with something that you’d really like to do. And that’s what colleges want: initiative, leadership, and achievement. As Stanford says in its FAQ

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