Which internship to do over the summer? Forum

[orangestripedpeaches]

Hi everyone! I'm a sophomore in college who's pretty set on going to law school. Currently weighing my options for the summer and would really appreciate some guidance.

Some background: I'm interested in PI and health-related law (my internship last summer and most of my student leadership activities relate to health care advocacy). But obviously that might change since I'm only a sophomore and haven't had much experience.

Internship 1: May-August, full time, unpaid. I'd be working with the general counsel of a firm on Wall Street. The position involves doing legal research and writing reports, possibly working on the trading floor, and writing articles to publish in periodicals. I've basically had no exposure to business/finance but I'd definitely like to learn more about it. The work also sounds super interesting, especially the writing articles part.

Internship 2: June-August, full time, unpaid. I'd be working at an organization that provides legal aid to low-income/elderly people. The position involves reviewing medical records, researching medical conditions and health care policies, and doing intakes. It's similar to work I've done in the past but this would be for disability benefits specifically. It's a small office so I'd get opportunities to work with all the lawyers, not just my supervisor. I could probably also return here for next summer.

Which internship would be the better choice? Costs aren't a big factor, since I'd be able to apply for a grant for the first one and could just live at home for the second one. I understand that they're both pretty much the same as far as softs go, so it wouldn't make a difference for my application. I'm mostly just debating whether to stick to my current interests or explore something new. Thanks in advance for any advice!

[cavalier1138]

No one will care about the substance of the internship (literally no one will ever care), so do the one that you're more interested in.

And now for the unsolicited part of the advice: Stop thinking about this stuff. Even if you go straight through--which you shouldn't--law school is years away. Live your life; don't try and make it some sort of weird competition for brass rings. Eventually, you'll run out of rings to chase.