Should I list a legal internship as an experience?

[Falconclaw]

Sorry if this has been asked in the big thread. I did a legal internship fall of my sophomore year, before I decided to become pre-med. Is it worth listing in the work/activities session?

Oh, one additional question. I am the editor-in-chief of a magazine at my school. Should this be listed under "extracurricular" or "leadership - not listed elsewhere?"

I'd be inclined to listed under leadership, if not for the "not listed elsewhere" part, which I'm confused by honestly.

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[snowflakes]

Yes, definitely include the legal internship. Nothing everything you do has to be medically related, and it's an interesting experience to have had.

Leadership. Not listed elsewhere means just that. Sometimes people have leadership roles in service activities and they'll list the volunteer position and leadership position together as one entry, under community service. Not listed elsewhere means you haven't done that.

 

[The Chemist]

I would! Explain how it will make you be a better physician. Legal knowledge? Compassion? exposure to diversity?

 

[DokterMom]

It's rumored that doctors don't really like lawyers...

So if you list the legal internship, be thoroughly prepared to explain. It may raise some questions, because the two most obvious similarities between law and medicine are prestige and money, and you don't want to cast yourself in that light. Why did you choose to do a legal internship? Were you interested in law? Did you apply to law school?

As to the editor-in-chief bit -- You want some activities in each category, so if it can go here or there, put it where you need it the most.

 

[Falconclaw]

It's rumored that doctors don't really like lawyers...

So if you list the legal internship, be thoroughly prepared to explain. It may raise some questions, because the two most obvious similarities between law and medicine are prestige and money, and you don't want to cast yourself in that light. Why did you choose to do a legal internship? Were you interested in law? Did you apply to law school?

As to the editor-in-chief bit -- You want some activities in each category, so if it can go here or there, put it where you need it the most.

Yeah, this in particular was an internship in the Brooklyn DA's office. Earlier on in college, I thought I wanted to go to law school. I ended up changing my mind in the middle because I realized I wanted to do something more meaningful and engaging. You're right about the money and prestige part - I won't lie and say that those don't have any part at all in my career ambitions, but they're certainly not the main part.

I appreciate the answers! I thought not listed elsewhere meant that it didn't fit any of the other categories.

 

[mrh125]

Yeah, this in particular was an internship in the Brooklyn DA's office. Earlier on in college, I thought I wanted to go to law school. I ended up changing my mind in the middle because I realized I wanted to do something more meaningful and engaging. You're right about the money and prestige part - I won't lie and say that those don't have any part at all in my career ambitions, but they're certainly not the main part.

I appreciate the answers! I thought not listed elsewhere meant that it didn't fit any of the other categories.

how many hours did you do? I shadowed and assisted several attorneys when I was interested in law for a while and chose to omit that because I was concerned about it painting the picture of me being confused. I'd recommend having way more medical volunteering hours to make up for it and perhaps instead of talking about your changing careers tie in your DA experiences with your desire to pursue medicine, assuming that is really there. You should be able to use it. I also used an unusual volunteering experience where I volunteered with a cosmetic dentist/oral surgeon and I linked that to medicine in terms of the medicines used and characteristics of procedures and the dentist did the same thing in my recommendation letter. Be careful and thoughtful and you should be able to pull it off.

 

[DokterMom]

For an activity with the potential to hurt your application (like law, veterinary or dentistry) it might make sense to paint it as an 'opportunity that dropped into your lap' that you decided to explore rather than as an opportunity you actively sought out. In these limited cases, to illuminate any family ties to the other profession (ex. "Interned in my aunt's law practice" or "shadowed my father, who is a dentist").

The key idea being that you didn't pass up good opportunities just because they weren't medical -- so you weren't indecisive, but you also weren't close-minded.