best gap year options (beyond TFA, PC etc)

[Icculus]

None of the above

Hike the Appalachian trail, backpack through Europe, or hitchhike cross country.
Or take on the kind of jobs you otherwise never would, just for the stories (lifeguard at a beach, rancher, icecream maker, something out of the ordinary)
For one thing, it's an opportunity to do something different and unusual, for another it'll give you a good conversation piece during interviews

Seriously, go do something crazy.

TCR.

With every hour I burn on TLS at my safe, boring gov't desk job, I regret not doing exactly this more. It takes some effort to be an interesting person. (See: [url=http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=202797&hilit=Ludocab]Ludo[/uirl])

Oh my fucking god. I've never seen that post by Ludo before, but it was fucking epic.

That was the most amazing thing I have ever read on TLS.

[suzige]

work and save. work and travel a bit. a year isn't going to allow you to do something insanely epic job-wise or volunteer wise, so make the most of it.

[BlueLotus]

I did City Year through AmeriCorps. It is a one year commitment, with the option to apply to do a second year in a leadership role. You serve on a team of 18-24 year olds in an underperforming school at one of 24 sites across the US, where you will act as a tutor/mentor for a small caseload of students, as well as an afterschool coordinator and community outreach person.

It is similar to TFA in that you work in a school, but you have a very different role with the students. You focus on building relationships with students on the cusp of falling behind, and while I tutored and taught any of my students a great deal, you have a greater impact through leading lunches and afterschool programs with the students and helping them develop goals and aspirations.

+1. Did City Year in Philly a couple years ago. Despite the abysmal stipend, crazy hours, patronizing higher-ups, and cultishness of the organization, my gap year changed my life for the better and inspires the sort I work I choose to do as a law student. Still in touch with many of my kiddos.