Intern in Parliament, strong soft? Forum

[twinkleytoes]

I interned for a member of the UK Parliament one summer in their Westminster office, and I was wondering how strong of a soft this could be considered. Obviously I know this isn't enough to overcome a bad gpa/LSAT, but I'm wondering how impressed US adcoms would be by it(Americans in general seem a lot more impressed by it than brits).

[thederangedwang]

I interned for a member of the UK Parliament one summer in their Westminster office, and I was wondering how strong of a soft this could be considered. Obviously I know this isn't enough to overcome a bad gpa/LSAT, but I'm wondering how impressed US adcoms would be by it(Americans in general seem a lot more impressed by it than brits).

a lot of people, including myself, here on TLS has interned for a member of the United States Senate or House of Reps.....ur experience sounds identical to this.......this is not anything special at all...it is very very average

[5ky]

Not strong.

[ahduth]

Man, tough crowd. It sounds pretty good to me. It's not really going to move your application at all, could be a good PS topic. Something interesting to talk about at OCI (to differentiate it from the legions of people who interned with the US legislature).

[thederangedwang]

Man, tough crowd. It sounds pretty good to me. It's not really going to move your application at all, could be a good PS topic. Something interesting to talk about at OCI (to differentiate it from the legions of people who interned with the US legislature).

this is the problem...its just the british counterpart to a congressional intern..which is not at all impressive....just because something is foreign doesnt make it more impressive or unique if its the same thing........

[twinkleytoes]

Yeah I understand that a lot of people have interned for Congressman, and I have too. I was just wondering, because I seem to get a much stronger reaction from people when I tell people in the US that I interned in Parliament as an American. I think it sounds more impressive to them because it's foreign.

[thederangedwang]

Yeah I understand that a lot of people have interned for Congressman, and I have too. I was just wondering, because I seem to get a much stronger reaction from people when I tell people in the US that I interned in Parliament as an American. I think it sounds more impressive to them because it's foreign.

oh...i thought u were british....well, in this case...it is somewhat unique and prob better than just a congressional internship....lol...

[z0rk]

Did you intern during a study abroad program (i.e. Hansard? http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/studyandscholars)? I know several applicants to law school who have also interned in Parliament. While tt is true that your experience lends itself the a diversity of ideas, it doesn't really set you apart too much from the many applicants (like myself) who have interned in Congress.

I would not rely upon this experience to set you apart, but I would certainly package your internship with your other attributes (including other work experiences, interests, and your GPA and LSAT score) to present what you would bring to the classroom as an applicant.

One soft factor alone doesn't set applicants apart from each other. Diversity of experience and good academic credentials are what the AdComm is looking at.

[seahawk32]

Also I'm jelly because I love Parliament.

[mr.matt]

I totally miss the Parliamentary bacon rolls and partying with the MPs in Sports and Social. Good times.

[snehpets]

I did this (more or less) as well. While it does always impress random people in the US I don't think it's given me a boost, at least not noticeably. A few of my admissions came with personal notes and they mentioned my US internship rather than that.

[Nobody]

Most people in the US are also impressed that you're applying to law school. Don't trust them.

[twinkleytoes]

mr.matt Sports and Social was awesome. I have fond memories of doing Karaoke there actually .

[twinkleytoes]

whoops double post

[JustE]

Most people in the US are also impressed that you're applying to law school. Don't trust them.

[icpb]

Law school application is a very interesting process. Non-HYS+Berkeley schools don't care much about softs even if they are impressive because they are locked in a never ending competition to rise through the ranking. In HYS' application pools, interning at the UK parliament is similar to international students interning on Congress, and a lot of internationals students I know did just that.

[Lincoln]

I doubt adcoms will care much about this, but fwiw I know an American who did the exact same thing after college, and he got CBs will several magic circle firms, and an offer from at least one.

[ahduth]

Yeah, I feel like you might be able to leverage this to better effect during EIW, but either way, this is not a bad soft. It just happens to be a soft, and thus largely irrelevant. You've got six relevant digits unless you're applying to Yale, Stanford or Berkeley. (Not convinced it matters much at Harvard.)