Defer UCLA or reapply to Virginia Early Decision???? Forum

[fallofrome213]

hey everyone,

my cycle has more or less ended. of the schools ive gotten into, i would definitely choose UCLA.

however, i am faced with somewhat of a dilemma that i was hoping you all could help me with. i no longer plan to go straight to law school. i would like to defer for one year, so my question is should i accept UCLA's offer, ask them if i can defer, and then just go to UCLA in a year?

OR

should i reapply for the next cycle, and apply early to university of virginia. i got waitlisted at virginia, penn, and duke...and would definitely be happy at all three. i feel like with my numbers, i have a pretty good shot at getting into UVA if i apply ED, and im wondering if you guys think that is a good idea. ive heard mostly great things about uva, and would definitely love going there. trying to get off the waitlist right now wont work since they dont let waitlist admits defer.

as far as my goals go, i am interested in corporate law, but also entertainment law...im not really sure which type of law i would like to practice, as im sure my tastes will change in law school. i would like to practice at an NYC big law firm, but eventually come back out to LA (im from here, and went to USC) to pursue film production.

also, wherever i end up going (UCLA or UVA), i want to try and transfer to columbia or stanford for not only the potentially better job prospects and strength of their corporate and entertainment programs, but also for the lay prestige afforded by both of those schools. as a result, the ability to transfer up from UCLA or UVA also plays a role in my decision process. also, transferring is by no means a guarantee, so i also have to consider actually graduating from UCLA or UVA. since i dont want to practice law forever, i feel like lay prestige is an important consideration. around here, UCLA hands down has more of such prestige than UVA, even though UVA is better regarded in the legal world and quite possibly on the east coast


any input would be greatly appreciated...thanks in advance!!

[fortissimo]

You're all over the place. If your ultimate goal is Columbia, retake the LSAT and reapply next year.
Better question, if you don't want to practice law forever, why are you even going to law school? It's not like a JD opens that many doors outside of law nor would it help you in film production.

UCLA has more lay prestige than UVA in the West, but I don't think people in NYC care about UCLA. (Tbf though, UVA doesn't have much lay prestige on the east coast nor in the South either.) Not sure why you care about lay prestige for the film industry though...it's the film industry.

[CanadianWolf]

I agree with the first responder's assessment that your post suggests confusion. Since there is no guarantee that you will be accepted by Virginia or any other law school next year--unless your gap year is to be a Rhodes Scholar--you should consider enrolling this year at UCLA & find out whether or not law school is for you.

[fallofrome213]

i know i want to go to law school for the sake of receiving the education and having a degree to fall back on. also there are plenty of lawyers ive spoken to that are extremely successful in fields theyve gotten into after having practiced law for a number of years. in many cases theyve attributd their success to having attended law school and having practiced law before branching out to do something else. the point is that a law degree is versatile, and while the knowledge you receive may not directly apply to other fields, from the people ive spoken to its had an immensely positive indirect impact.

my reasons for taking a year off involve family matters.

as for the LSAT, ive canceled twice and kept my third score...i took it in 6-09, 9-09, 12-09...im not sure when the next time i can take it again is as the two year rule confuses me, but i dont think its for awhile..

as far as lay prestige goes, it might not matter extremely heavily in the film industry, but having worked in it ive found that it still matters to degree. but i also want such lay prestige for any other industries i might want to get into outside of film and the law

i would greatly appreciate it if i can just get feedback based on the information ive provided and not a lecture on how i might seem confused or misguided..

thank you

[Richie Tenenbaum]

UCLA only offers binding deferrals?

It's hard to offer advice w/o knowing your numbers. I'm assuming you have a high GPA with a lowish (in terms of the schools you want) LSAT score. If that's the case, then you need to try and retake if you are taking a year off. There's limited information out there, but you need to request a school for permission to retake for a 4th time. Read up on it on LSAC's site, search TLS to see if there are any useful threads on the topic, etc.

Hard to give more specific advice w/o numbers though, sorry.

[voice of reason]

i know i want to go to law school for the sake of receiving the education and having a degree to fall back on. also there are plenty of lawyers ive spoken to that are extremely successful in fields theyve gotten into after having practiced law for a number of years. in many cases theyve attributd their success to having attended law school and having practiced law before branching out to do something else.

I suspect their success has more to do with these people being smart overachievers than with their law degrees.

the point is that a law degree is versatile, and while the knowledge you receive may not directly apply to other fields, from the people ive spoken to its had an immensely positive indirect impact.

How 'bout an MBA? It's cheaper, more versatile, takes less time.

as far as lay prestige goes, it might not matter extremely heavily in the film industry, but having worked in it ive found that it still matters to degree. but i also want such lay prestige for any other industries i might want to get into outside of film and the law

Lay prestige is a silly reason to choose a law school, but if you're going to do it, I would think UCLA has more lay prestige in Los Angeles than Columbia has.

[vanwinkle]

i know i want to go to law school for the sake of receiving the education and having a degree to fall back on.

We're in a massive recession, tens of thousands of lawyers have been laid off and are currently unemployed, it takes 3 years and $160,000 to earn a law degree, and you think of it as something good to have to fall back on??