Taking a year off?

[tilapiahollandaise]

I'm about to take the LSAT and graduate in December, but I'm considering taking a year off and applying the fall after this one to get established in the areas I want to apply in so that the transition from my current city to wherever I attend is easier. (My parents don't have much money, so my cushion is minimal.)

Is this a sound thing to do? I'm worried about (1) GPA medians going up, as mine is around 3.3, and (2) my loan repayments kicking in -- will I be able to defer until after law school?

Thanks in advance to whoever replies.

[theadvancededit]

Taking a year off is never a bad thing. There are several pros not including the ones you just listed: more work experience, more time to study for the LSAT, and even possibility to increase your GPA by taking extra classes at a local school.

It does suck to wait yet another year but the wait could be more beneficial to you than you think.

[bostonlawchick]

Taking a year off is never a bad thing. There are several pros not including the ones you just listed: more work experience, more time to study for the LSAT, and even possibility to increase your GPA by taking extra classes at a local school.

It does suck to wait yet another year but the wait could be more beneficial to you than you think.

If you graduate, you won't be able to up your gpa. Only classes taken before you get your first degree count towards your lsac gpa.

Also, your loans will kick in usually six months after you graduate, so most likely in June. I'm not sure it's the same for every loan, but at least for the ones I took out you can't defer your payments until you're actually enrolled in law school, so you'd be making payments for about a year and a half.

If you can afford to do so, a year off to gain some experience is always a valuable thing.

[rabbitrun]

im in almost the exact same boat minus the loans from undergrad. that sucks. have you looked into teach for america? that would last about a year and would take care of some of the loans.
Besides the financial reasons for taking a year off, im working my ass off this year to boost my GPA and then taking the year after to hopefully work in a firm to make sure i want to be a lawyer or to go do something i really want to do that might also be a really good soft/personal statement topic.
some schools want applicants who have been out of school for a while (ex: statements by Bloat's dean on this site).
i also think it might look better because you won't appear like one of those people who just is going to law school bc they are in UG and they dont know what to do with themselves.

[ahduth]

im in almost the exact same boat minus the loans from undergrad. that sucks. have you looked into teach for america? that would last about a year and would take care of some of the loans.
Besides the financial reasons for taking a year off, im working my ass off this year to boost my GPA and then taking the year after to hopefully work in a firm to make sure i want to be a lawyer or to go do something i really want to do that might also be a really good soft/personal statement topic.
some schools want applicants who have been out of school for a while (ex: statements by Bloat's dean on this site).
i also think it might look better because you won't appear like one of those people who just is going to law school bc they are in UG and they dont know what to do with themselves.

I didn't read this, because it had no capitalization or punctuation, but... take a year off! Take a few. I imagine law school is a nightmare for people who fell into it thinking it would be a simple or obvious career. These people in my class are sharks. They will abide no mistakes. And I go to NYU! Imagine the snakes at Penn or Columbia. (shivers)

If you can score a job or do a Teach for America / Peace Corps kind of thing, it'll only benefit you. And even if you can't, this is the only time you'll be 22. Think about what you'd like to spend that time doing.

[Kring345]

I didn't read this, because it had no capitalization or punctuation, but... take a year off!

Seriously. Dont you realize that no one takes you serious at all when you write like a 13 year old girl texting her friend about the cute boy she just saw at the food court?

Also, yes. Take a year off! Travel the world for 3 months, work somewhere awesome for 9 months (conquistador, stripper, or shark fisherman), and then BAM it'll be a year later and you can go to law school.

[yuzu]

Note that everyone is telling OP "go off and do something interesting/valuable" rather than "move to new city to make the transition easier" like OP said. TFA/Peace Corps would take OP far away from new city. I think that it is a good thing to do, but OP wants to take a year off for the wrong reason.

OP, don't be scared - go do something fun, interesting, and good for your resume. But don't go to the new city and sit around for a year. And when opportunity knocks somewhere else, don't limit yourself to staying in that one city. In fact transition to a new environment is easiest when you're in school, since lots of other people will be new to the school as well.

[83947368]

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[American_in_China]

I'm taking a year off to study right now. Wonderful experience, I'm going to work at a law firm in Beijing for 6 months, become fluent, etc.etc. I would recommend it; for one, I got to take the LSAT twice (although we'll see how well that pans out in a few days). Law schools definitely don't think worse of you, as long as you do something productive. Sucks about the loans though; that's not something I'm dealing with.

[rabbitrun]

I didn't read this, because it had no capitalization or punctuation, but... take a year off!

Seriously. Dont you realize that no one takes you serious at all when you write like a 13 year old girl texting her friend about the cute boy she just saw at the food court?

Also, yes. Take a year off! Travel the world for 3 months, work somewhere awesome for 9 months (conquistador, stripper, or shark fisherman), and then BAM it'll be a year later and you can go to law school.

I respectfully disagree about the style. I feel like commenting on someone's lack of capitalization is the internet version of yelling at passing cars to slow down. That's how kids these days talk. Who needs a fucking shift key anyways? Right?

I did not realize that forum posts were meant to be so formal. Screw the SHIFT key. And yes, it is because I'm a lazy senior who is used to typing in Word where everything autocorrects, allowing me to speak like a meme.
But thanks for the advice about taking a year off. I'm taking note of your creative year off ideas. Conquistador and stripper seem like good plans. I know firm jobs are probably impossible to come by. Luckily, I have a family friend who is giving me an internship. Unluckily, he isn't going to pay me (hopefully this isn't where the stripping comes in). At least by the end of it, I might have a better idea and perhaps I will learn grammar.

[Kring345]

Internet forums are the epitome of formalities. Get with the times, bro.

Dont bag on strippers. Theyre real people just like you and me. For the most part, at least.

But seriously, do it.

[bouakedojo]

I'm about to take the LSAT and graduate in December, but I'm considering taking a year off and applying the fall after this one to get established in the areas I want to apply in so that the transition from my current city to wherever I attend is easier. (My parents don't have much money, so my cushion is minimal.)

Is this a sound thing to do? I'm worried about (1) GPA medians going up, as mine is around 3.3, and (2) my loan repayments kicking in -- will I be able to defer until after law school?

Thanks in advance to whoever replies.

1) I don't think you'll have to worry about school's GPA medians going up. The law school applicant pool seems to be shrinking from the boom.

2) Taking some time off is always a good thing, IMO. It makes you a well rounded person.

[Jimbola]

Just remember finding a real job that looks good on a resume for law school isn't as easy as it sounds still. So, don't fall into complacency, which is pretty easy to do living at home. I know!

[tilapiahollandaise]

TFA/Peace Corps would take OP far away from new city. I think that it is a good thing to do, but OP wants to take a year off for the wrong reason. OP, don't be scared - go do something fun, interesting, and good for your resume. But don't go to the new city and sit around for a year. And when opportunity knocks somewhere else, don't limit yourself to staying in that one city. In fact transition to a new environment is easiest when you're in school, since lots of other people will be new to the school as well.

The idea of living in the city for a year before I go to law school there is attractive to me for two reasons:

1. I went to college in my hometown so I have some experience with what it feels like to have that feeling of familiarity. It's way too easy to accidentally get an apartment on a bad or overpriced side of town, and even if you avoid both of those things you can get stuck with an infuriating commute every day. The people I know who were able to get apartments close to college had some parental cushion, and I don't have much of that, especially with my huge UG loan debt.

2. My girlfriend and I have been together for 2.5 years and we're considering getting engaged, but we haven't shared rent yet. That's something we want to experience if possible.

I know these are boring reasons. Although it doesn't sound like it, #1 matters as much to me as #2. I stress over finances a lot and I want to avoid getting stuck with a costly living environment, especially because I'm stuck with so much loan debt. If I can save that stress while I'm in law school, that might be a good thing.

[whenwin]

Another "yes" vote here. Assuming you can work out the loan thing, I see only positives to taking a year off.