Top Law Schools

Hi everyone,

I'm taking a year off. Right now, I have a summer job that pays very well and also gives me free room and board. I'm banking as much money as I can. Sadly, this job ends in September. I've started looking around vaguely for something in the fall, but I'm not quite sure where to start. I want to stay within the region I am in right now, Washington DC. So that rules out teaching English to Korean kids. I have a liberal arts degree, so absolutely nothing that transfers into something marketable (yay History).

As I see it, it doesn't matter AT ALL to law firms what I do with this year. It matters a LITTLE to law schools, but won't be a glaring hole (I'll be applying as soon as apps open in September, so long as I didn't bomb the LSAT, and I have a job through the summer).

My school is hosting a big job fair this Friday. What I'm curious of is 1) does anyone have any recommendations for an area or a field outside of law that may be interesting to work in? 2) should I tell employers that I'm headed to law school in one year at some point during the application? On one hand, it lets them see I have goals and I'm following through with them. On the other, one year isn't a superbly long period of time for their investment. 3) Any other general advice?

Thanks!

You really should just do what makes you happy. Unless you are battling genocide in Darfur (and there are candidates who have) your year-long occupation really will not be THAT much of a game changer. Additionally, a year isn't all that much to impact the application if you are doing something mundane to earn money. So again, do something that makes you happy. Consider Teach for America, Americorps, or the Peacecorp. I know TFA offer academic grants to its participants for graduate school studies not sure about the other two though. Although you said you wanted to avoid it, you should probably get some experience in the legal profession prior to entering law school. Make sure this is what you want to do with your life if you haven't already experienced the field.

Best of Luck

If you have to misrepresent your interest in and availability for a position to get it for a gap year, you're better off not working. You'll probably have to answer for the misrepresentation to the bar.

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:If you have to misrepresent your interest in and availability for a position to get it for a gap year, you're better off not working. You'll probably have to answer for the misrepresentation to the bar.

Im sorry if I am not understanding this. Are you saying that, you will get in trouble for showing interest in a posistion you really have no interest in? If that is the case working at McDonalds is out.

NewLobo wrote:

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:If you have to misrepresent your interest in and availability for a position to get it for a gap year, you're better off not working. You'll probably have to answer for the misrepresentation to the bar.

Im sorry if I am not understanding this. Are you saying that, you will get in trouble for showing interest in a posistion you really have no interest in? If that is the case working at McDonalds is out.

exactly, you do not have to say that you want to work there forever.. just say something like "I am considering all of my life's options and right now I want to try X job and believe that it may be my calling."

and maybe it will be your calling and you decide to withdraw your apps from law school. the bar, however, is not going to go to every interviewer you have ever been to and see every answer you ever gave.

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:If you have to misrepresent your interest in and availability for a position to get it for a gap year, you're better off not working. You'll probably have to answer for the misrepresentation to the bar.

This is needless scare-mongering. He shouldn't outright lie, but he's not obligated to tell his potential employer his whole life story.

dominkay wrote:

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:If you have to misrepresent your interest in and availability for a position to get it for a gap year, you're better off not working. You'll probably have to answer for the misrepresentation to the bar.

This is needless scare-mongering. He shouldn't outright lie, but he's not obligated to tell his potential employer his whole life story.

It was a poor comment. A majority of people work in jobs they have no interest in. If interest was a qualification we would have an abundence of astronauts and nba basketball players.

Oh it's a "poor comment" because it doesn't dovetail with sociopathic lying?

If it's a part-time or entry-level burger job, no one's going to care what you are doing in a year anyway. If it's not, as in the sort of employers that come to things like the OP's career fair, they certainly will. If you lie to them, they are likely going to be very angry because they will have wasted time and money training you. They would never have hired you if they had known you would be gone in less than a year.

This is bad conduct in the business world anyway but it's particularly bad for lawyers because C&F contacts past employers. Being a sociopathic jackass isn't really a trait they look for so it's not the best idea in the world to seriously irritate those employers.

Ironically this actually seems to have occurred to the OP.

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:Oh it's a "poor comment" because it doesn't dovetail with sociopathic lying?

If it's a part-time or entry-level burger job, no one's going to care what you are doing in a year anyway. If it's not, as in the sort of employers that come to things like the OP's career fair, they certainly will. If you lie to them, they are likely going to be very angry because they will have wasted time and money training you. They would never have hired you if they had known you would be gone in less than a year.

This is bad conduct in the business world anyway but it's particularly bad for lawyers because C&F contacts past employers. Being a sociopathic jackass isn't really a trait they look for so it's not the best idea in the world to seriously irritate employers.

Employers never ask how long you'll work for them, so you won't even have to lie. Furthermore a business will lay your ass off in a second if it make them a penny more than keeping you.

You absolutely will not fail C&F for not telling an employer you are going to law school. You wouldn't even fail it if you lied about it. Which you don't have to do.

Desert Fox wrote: Employers never ask how long you'll work for them, so you won't even have to lie.

Furthermore a business will lay your ass off in a second if it make them a penny more than keeping you. [/quote]

You seem to have a bit of a problem with the disconnect between "we have employment at will" and "this is really shitty behavior and they have all the hurt ability." The bar doesn't ask about your work history for kicks. Do you really want an angry personnel manager responding to that letter? I'd personally rather avoid that.

Virtually nothing actually keeps you out of C&F admission but screwing around with anything related to honesty just isn't a good idea.

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:

Desert Fox wrote: Employers never ask how long you'll work for them, so you won't even have to lie. Furthermore a business will lay your ass off in a second if it make them a penny more than keeping you.

You seem to have a bit of a problem with the disconnect between "we have employment at will" and "this is really shitty behavior and they have all the hurt ability."

They have no hurt ability. C&F won't care about what your butthurt manager says, unless they claim you embezzled or committed fraud.

Desert Fox wrote:

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:

Desert Fox wrote: Employers never ask how long you'll work for them, so you won't even have to lie. Furthermore a business will lay your ass off in a second if it make them a penny more than keeping you.

You seem to have a bit of a problem with the disconnect between "we have employment at will" and "this is really shitty behavior and they have all the hurt ability."

They have no hurt ability. C&F won't care about what your butthurt manager says, unless they claim you embezzled or committed fraud.

You sound like a mature and rational person with extensive experience with C&F for a 2013 who should be dispensing legal advice over the Internet.

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:
You seem to have a bit of a problem with the disconnect between "we have employment at will" and "this is really shitty behavior and they have all the hurt ability."

They have no hurt ability. C&F won't care about what your butthurt manager says, unless they claim you embezzled or committed fraud.

You sound like a mature and rational person who should be dispensing legal advice over the Internet.

You realize you are giving advice too right? Shut up, you are fear mongering for no reason.

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:
This is bad conduct in the business world anyway but it's particularly bad for lawyers because C&F contacts past employers. .

Yes, they will keep you from becoming a lawyer for leaving a job to attend law school. Make sense?

I'm actually being quite careful not to dispense legal advice over the internet. "Don't lie to and piss off people who will later be contacted as references/for investigation" is, at least I thought, pretty good common sense. As is "bar contacts past employers." Napalming bridges has never been a good idea. I don't see why it would suddenly have become one.

"You absolutely won't have a problem with C&F if you do [insert X here]" is legal advice that 0L's who don't even know what C&F is have no business giving.

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:I'm actually being quite careful not to dispense legal advice over the internet. "Don't lie to and piss off people who will later be contacted as references/for investigation" is, at least I thought, pretty good common sense. As is "bar contacts past employers." Napalming bridges has never been a good idea. I don't see why it would suddenly have become one.

"You absolutely won't have a problem with C&F if you do [insert X here]" is legal advice that 0L's who don't even know what C&F is have no business giving.

So your advice is to stay at a job for several years and put off law school? The only other option is not work?

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:I'm actually being quite careful not to dispense legal advice over the internet. "Don't lie to and piss off people who will later be contacted as references/for investigation" is, at least I thought, pretty good common sense. As is "bar contacts past employers." Napalming bridges has never been a good idea. I don't see why it would suddenly have become one.

"You absolutely won't have a problem with C&F if you do [insert X here]" is legal advice that 0L's who don't even know what C&F is have no business giving.

wait, so if instead of leaving after ~9 months you stick around for three years, make yourself an integral part of the organization, have everyone believe you are climbing the corporate ladder and then pull the rug out from under them.. that is suppose to be more conducive to employers writing better letter to C&F???

or do you propose that all the unemployed, some-day-to-be applicants to law school remained unemployed because of your fear mongering and, consequently, starve in the streets because of a lack of income? does that look better to C&F - oh yeah thats right, most people cannot survive without employment.

OP, I would just aim to do something you're actually interested in doing for a gap year. If that involves gaining more WE, great, but it's not like that one year is going to make or break you. If anything, saving as much $$$ before heading law school might not be a bad idea (although doing that in DC is easier said than done).

Also, if I were you, I would not tell your potential employer (during an interview, etc) that you plan to leave for law school. It's already tough enough securing a job ITE, and breaking this news will definitely scare off some employers. I mean, if they ask what some of your longer term goals are, I don't think it's unreasonable to say that going to grad school is on your mind. I just wouldn't say that you know for sure that you will be leaving in a year or less.

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:I'm actually being quite careful not to dispense legal advice over the internet. "Don't lie to and piss off people who will later be contacted as references/for investigation" is, at least I thought, pretty good common sense. As is "bar contacts past employers." Napalming bridges has never been a good idea. I don't see why it would suddenly have become one.

"You absolutely won't have a problem with C&F if you do [insert X here]" is legal advice that 0L's who don't even know what C&F is have no business giving.

This is retarded advice. People leave jobs all the time for a variety of reasons and there's nothing dishonest or immoral about it. Everyone has the right to quite a job WHENEVER they want. Are the C&F people going to have a mind-reading machine to TRULY see if you intended to go to law school and thus deliberately lied to your past employer?

Ridiculous.

Wow.. I must really be in trouble then. I'm going to school part time and working full time. Once I graduate and quit my job I guess I'll be in deep doodoo with the bar.