So I have two questions/issues for anyone who has been through this before.

First, I recently went to a summer leadership program, and heard back that the recruiters didn't think I was a serious candidate because I said that I wanted to join the Peace Corps (they must be confusing me with someone as I've never even thought about joining let alone mention to a potential employer that I want to join). I also made a comment at a very informal dinner about how much free stuff gets given out at events such as the one I was at, and that didn't go over well I guess. So my question is, how do I fix this? Should I just bite the bullet and forget about getting an internship at this firm which I wish I didn't have to do? I was at an event in the northeast and have actually changed my plans and would like to work in the southeast. The recruiter who I would now be dealing with and who deals with my school apparently knows about this incident (even though he doesn't know me and wasn't involved in this office visit anyway) so I got his phone number and plan to call him. What can I say that will make up for this? Obviously I made a bad decision in making the comment I did, but I really didn't think it was that bad. However, the whole Peace Corps thing and not being interested in a career with the firm is simply false. I never said anything to even suggest not being committed to long-term employment. I really don't want to burn any bridges, especially before formal recruiting even starts. It seems like it was a huge mistake to even go to this thing because now I feel like it hurt my chances of getting an internship with this firm.

Secondly, prior to finding out about my previously described fiasco, I set up an informal office visit with a different firm. This is not a summer conference but some kind of an informal visit. What can I expect from this? Obviously I won't be making any jokes/comments. How can I make a positive first impression since clearly something was lacking in my previous attempt?

Thanks,
ajk

thanks for the input, nink. I think it ended up working out well. The recruiter had not heard of what had happened but I apologized anyway and made sure he knew I was still serious in pursuing a career. I ended up having 3 office visits with 3 firms last week and I think they went well (much better than the first try). However, I emailed thank you letters to everyone I interviewed with and the recruiters at the firms and only like two people got back to me. Is it normal that people will not reply to these? Am I just overreacting thinking that I've screwed something up by their not replying?

I have heard 10 times worse from some of our interns. The comment you made was not out of line, and I think you are blowing it out of proportion. If you perform well in school, one of the big 4 will give you an offer.