Is it wise to take a whole semester off studying to intern/work full-time?

If the internship is really worthwhile, why not

It depends on your goals since there is no right or wrong answer to it. Generally,

If you don't know what to do in life, then gain as much work experience as possible to find out what you want to do for life.

If you know what to do in life, then faster graduate and pursue what you want to do for life.

Here is everything about me and what I do best.

I have chosen to take a leave of absence to do an internship before, and the main reason was that company was recognized and they also provided good training. At that time I was also finding out what my viable career options were, and the experience at work and talking to my colleagues really helped.

When I recruit fresh graduate, one of the criteria is look at their internship and industrial experience. For post graduate student, some they just take coursework, some students choose to attach to company for some project. The latter are the students that I would choose.