<p>i’ve worked for a famous retired government official for two summers (filing documents), would this be regarded by admissions as purely a matter of family connections, or would it be something interesting and worth elaborating on in its own right?</p>
<p>by the way, it wasn’t an internship or anything, just a very casual, personal thing. i was the only one working with this person</p>
<p>Who was it?</p>
<p>janet reno. a remarkable human being for whom i have this much <------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
admiration 
it was an honor to work for her…</p>
<p>Cool. That’d be a pretty interesting essay if you tied in your family, loyalty, hardworking ability, intellectual curiosity, and future hopes and how princeton fits in with that.</p>
<p>It probably helps in the way a summer job helps, but I don’t know if it would go beyond that.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice. i think i’m already going to use the essay for something else, more important, but glad to know that it does count for something :)</p>
<p>Good move. It might be interesting to mention it, if you’ve gained something from working with her or if it sparked a particular interest of yours etc. But there is no point in mentioning it just to throw the name about. With admissions officers, it might have a backfire effect and the last thing you want is people thinking you’re snobbish, had a good life and ridden off family connections and that you only “worked” for Janet Reno so you could add it to your application. Mention it, yes. Elaborate only if it has significant personal impact or if it changed you in some way.</p>