Internship Question for Undergrad Student

[Borgulous]

So I'm currently applying to a bunch of internships for this summer (The summer in between my Junior and Senior year of undergrad.) I've had three previous internships--all technical: Lockheed Martin, an Internet start-up and also my current undergraduate university. My major is information systems. I'm planning on applying to business school right out of undergrad.

I currently have a choice this summer to take either an additional technical internship or something within the financial industry--either a financial analyst for a private equity firm or bank.

So my question is should I take an additional technical internship (where I already know the CEO of the company and probably would get a superb recommendation) or enter into something I have no experience and attempt to broaden my horizons and potentially get a less stellar recommendation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear Borgulous,

Which internship to take depends on what you want to do and which makes the most sense. If you want to stay fairly technical and work in information systems as your career, then the technical opportunity might be worthwhile. However, if the technical internship does not provide you any new skills or greater responsibility than you've had before, it might not be the best choice. With regards to the financial industry internship, it would only be smart to take that if you think you want to work in the industry post-MBA or it provides some skill set related to what you want to do post-MBA.

Hope that helps,
Lisa