unpaid summer intern vs paid part time job for undergraduates

[Anonymous]

College freshmen, very hard to get a summer intern.

Which one is better? A paid part time job in retail, 20hr/wk, but nothing to do with her major. Or an unpaid volunteer in circuit court, 40hr/wk. Will the later help law school application?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College freshmen, very hard to get a summer intern.

Which one is better? A paid part time job in retail, 20hr/wk, but nothing to do with her major. Or an unpaid volunteer in circuit court, 40hr/wk. Will the later help law school application?

Law school will mostly care that she has the best grades and LSAT score. She can get relevant work experience in gap year so should do what makes her happy

[Anonymous]

The unpaid one because she can build upon that, summer after summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The unpaid one because she can build upon that, summer after summer

+1 unless the paid job is essential financially. IMO, better to spend the summer in a career-related activity even if unpaid, and then have a campus job during the school year for $$.

[Anonymous]

Take the unpaid internship

[Anonymous]

Unpaid internship. Mostly so she can see if being a lawyer is really what she wants to do. It can be a grind.

[Anonymous]

Get a JOB.

If SUCKERS stop agreeing to take unpaid internships then this EXPLOITATION will stop.

[Anonymous]

I would do the unpaid internship only because a lot of people think they want law, and then when they actually experience legal work, they don’t wanna do it anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College freshmen, very hard to get a summer intern.

Which one is better? A paid part time job in retail, 20hr/wk, but nothing to do with her major. Or an unpaid volunteer in circuit court, 40hr/wk. Will the later help law school application?

40 hours a week and she won't get paid a dime?

Jesus Christ!

That should be illegal.

If she wants to be a full-time volunteer, and your family is in a financial position to allow it, she should do it somewhere that actually makes a difference in the world like St. Jude's. Not some circuit court.

[Anonymous]

Too many full pay posters on this website during a workday favouring an internship. What a surprise.

[Anonymous]

Is she getting college credit for the internship?
What exactly will she be doing there? It could be boring work like checking in jury members or carrying around papers...

If she decides to take it, can she ask for Fridays/Mondays off so she can go on long weekends and enjoy some of summer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College freshmen, very hard to get a summer intern.

Which one is better? A paid part time job in retail, 20hr/wk, but nothing to do with her major. Or an unpaid volunteer in circuit court, 40hr/wk. Will the later help law school application?

Take the unpaid court internship, make money on weekends mowing lawns or other labor jobs, or be tutor for high school students for SAT, ACT, college apps. Both kids we know at HLS did similar their fresh and sophomore summers, building to prestigious judicial internship in DC after junior year.

[Anonymous]

Get a job and help pay for college-instill work ethic.

[Anonymous]

What court? The US government cannot accept free work. State? Local?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College freshmen, very hard to get a summer intern.

Which one is better? A paid part time job in retail, 20hr/wk, but nothing to do with her major. Or an unpaid volunteer in circuit court, 40hr/wk. Will the later help law school application?

40 hours a week and she won't get paid a dime?

Jesus Christ!

That should be illegal.

If she wants to be a full-time volunteer, and your family is in a financial position to allow it, she should do it somewhere that actually makes a difference in the world like St. Jude's. Not some circuit court.

This IS illegal if the internship is at a for-profit firm. They will be breaking minimum wage laws.

If the internship is with gov't agency or a non-profit, it's legal. I'd see if it would be possible to do the internship part time (3 days in the office for about 25 hours?) and also do the paid part time job.