KJD or take a year off? Forum

[dontrogerthat]

I know the common wisdom would be OF COURSE TAKE A YEAR OFF (or more).

The thing is that I am 100% positive I am going to law school. If I took a year off I would be working some very entry level position making 30-40k in NYC (nothing) or move back home to the middle of Ohio to live with my parents and work for something i'm not passionate about there (not my favorite idea). Also, I have a friend who is currently on his "year off" and absolutely hates it because he is making 35k in a very high COL city working 40-45 hours a week since he has his BA in a liberal arts major, like myself. He regrets not going right after college.

So, should I take a year off since it's the conventional wisdom? Or does it not matter too much?

Also do you think medians will go up from this cycle to next?

Thanks!

[Mack.Hambleton]

How old are you/what school are you attending

Medians will likely be about the same

[landshoes]

what are your stats?

a friend of mine took a year off to wait tables and study for a 180 (it worked)

[KMart]

We need a bit more info before giving solid advice.

Where do you want to go to school? What are your goals? What are your numbers? Often people advocate a year off when the applicant graduated early or should retake for a great outcome as opposed to an alright one.

[dontrogerthat]

I'm currently 21 so will graduate undergrad at normal age of 22. I currently attend a pretty good private college that falls usually somewhere in the Top 50 rankings-wise.

I don't have an LSAT score yet and currently signed up for the Oct test, but my GPA is probably going to be around 3.7ish and I am a hispanic URM. I would ideally like to attend a t14 (or t20) as I want to do big law.

[landshoes]

why not try to get a decent/interesting job/internship for this summer and parlay that into a decent/interesting entry-level job? it's worth a shot.

being 22 without any extremely high-stakes testing to look forward to can be pretty fun. working a "boring" job can be pretty alright if you work with decent people and you don't have too much responsibility (i.e. you can come in hungover).

when I look at people who stressed themselves out for 4 years to get that high GPA and LSAT, and then plan to immediately stress themselves out for 3 more years (and take on huge amounts of stressful debt), I think that it's a wasteful approach to some of some of the best years of your life.

now that I'm a little older, and wouldn't be out there partying and meeting hot 20-somethings and fucking around and falling in love anyway, it's not such a sacrifice to go to law school and then into one of the notoriously least fun professions. but it's a pretty big sacrifice for a 22-year-old.

[chueca910]

Totally agree with landshoes.

Plus, being young and broke in NYC is like a rite of passage. lol I'm not saying that should be a reason to take a year off.

But what are your reasons for wanting to take a year off vs. going straight through?

[dontrogerthat]

Really the only reasons i really see to take a year off is so i can enjoy my senior year without having to LSAT study fall semester. I just don't see how i can affordably live in NYC on such small salary and will have to move home for a year which is a bummer. I was 100% dead set on going next year but I think I will have to think about it more.

[Mack.Hambleton]

Why do u have to work in NYC

[seashellstandard]

I do think that the average law student is still K-JD. While the number of people taking time off before going to law school has increased, K-JD is not an anomaly. Do what's best for you.

[dontrogerthat]

Why do u have to work in NYC

I don't have to, but where else would I go? I think it'd be odd to a random cheaper city for a year.

[Mack.Hambleton]

I do think that the average law student is still K-JD. While the number of people taking time off before going to law school has increased, K-JD is not an anomaly. Do what's best for you.

That's not true at all lol. T14s are 70%+ people with work experience

[seashellstandard]

I do think that the average law student is still K-JD. While the number of people taking time off before going to law school has increased, K-JD is not an anomaly. Do what's best for you.

That's not true at all lol. T14s are 70%+ people with work experience

If that is not true, I apologize. That is just what I had heard (of law schools overall), thanks for the correction.

[Mack.Hambleton]

Most schools include that information in their class profile just FYI

[A. Nony Mouse]

Why do u have to work in NYC

I don't have to, but where else would I go? I think it'd be odd to a random cheaper city for a year.

Go wherever you want. It wouldn't be weird at all. People go live in random places a lot.

[TheSpanishMain]

Why do u have to work in NYC

I don't have to, but where else would I go? I think it'd be odd to a random cheaper city for a year.

Um, anywhere else? Wherever you can find a halfway decent, interesting job? The fact that you can't think of any option besides "NYC" or "small town in Ohio" suggests that you could really benefit from some perspective.

I mean, shit, if all else fails, be a paralegal for two years. Make some legal connections and make sure you actually want to be a lawyer.

[landshoes]

NYC on 40k with no kids is fine. Get some roommates or something. I agree that you could use some perspective and some time to explore options. There's a big world out there. There's also LA, Chicago, Denver, Austin, Boston...

Are you in school in NYC?

[dontrogerthat]

Why do u have to work in NYC

I don't have to, but where else would I go? I think it'd be odd to a random cheaper city for a year.

Um, anywhere else? Wherever you can find a halfway decent, interesting job? The fact that you can't think of any option besides "NYC" or "small town in Ohio" suggests that you could really benefit from some perspective.

I mean, shit, if all else fails, be a paralegal for two years. Make some legal connections and make sure you actually want to be a lawyer.

I think that's kind of uncalled for to say I don't have perspective. I think sometimes it's lost on here to think that posters are real people with lives. Would you honestly move to say Cincinnati or Des Moines for 8-12 months just because it has a more reasonable COL where you know nobody and will be leaving very shortly. I think I may give moving home a bigger consideration though.

[landshoes]

your attitude is similar to a lot of people in NYC (they think there are no other decent places to live) but there are actually lots of decent places to live. I don't know. I guess you should go to law school right away, then.

[Dcc617]

Why do u have to work in NYC

I don't have to, but where else would I go? I think it'd be odd to a random cheaper city for a year.

Move to Austin. Or San Diego. Somewhere fun and warm. Law school is still going to be there. And you'll never get to redo college, so make sure you make the most of it.

Worst case, you reconfirm your decision to go to law school. Best case is you have a couple really great years and go into law school more mature, rested, and with a better perspective.

You have your whole life ahead of you. Don't feel like you have to sprint from milestone to milestone.

[dontrogerthat]

Why do u have to work in NYC

I don't have to, but where else would I go? I think it'd be odd to a random cheaper city for a year.

Move to Austin. Or San Diego. Somewhere fun and warm. Law school is still going to be there. And you'll never get to redo college, so make sure you make the most of it.

Worst case, you reconfirm your decision to go to law school. Best case is you have a couple really great years and go into law school more mature, rested, and with a better perspective.

You have your whole life ahead of you. Don't feel like you have to sprint from milestone to milestone.

That's true. I need to get out of the mindset that I have to do it now now now. Thank you.

[TheSpanishMain]

Why do u have to work in NYC

I don't have to, but where else would I go? I think it'd be odd to a random cheaper city for a year.

Um, anywhere else? Wherever you can find a halfway decent, interesting job? The fact that you can't think of any option besides "NYC" or "small town in Ohio" suggests that you could really benefit from some perspective.

I mean, shit, if all else fails, be a paralegal for two years. Make some legal connections and make sure you actually want to be a lawyer.

I think that's kind of uncalled for to say I don't have perspective. I think sometimes it's lost on here to think that posters are real people with lives. Would you honestly move to say Cincinnati or Des Moines for 8-12 months just because it has a more reasonable COL where you know nobody and will be leaving very shortly. I think I may give moving home a bigger consideration though.

I apologize if that seemed rude. I'm sure you're a smart, decent person. I just don't understand why your imagination is so stunted. You're, what, 22 and single? This is the time of your life when literally everything is on the table.

And yeah, I might have moved to Des Moines or Cinncinnati at your age if I got a decent job, sure. When I graduated college, I went Michigan - > Arizona -> South Carolina -> DC -> Hawaii -> DC. Now, granted, some of that was out of my control because I was in the military, but I'm so grateful for those years. Go see the world and get some life experience. This is the time of your life when you're able to move and jump at random opportunities. You're not going to have that flexibility forever.

[BizBro]

Honestly, I probably would've struck out during OCI if it weren't for my work experience. Make of that, as you will.

[BiglawAssociate]

your attitude is similar to a lot of people in NYC (they think there are no other decent places to live) but there are actually lots of decent places to live. I don't know. I guess you should go to law school right away, then.

The weird part is that many of these people aren't even from NYC, so they have lived in other places. And what's even weirder is that most of these people with this mentality are poors who will never save up any amount of money worth talking about and will be slaves to their job until death, just to live in NYC. Maybe all dat culture makes up for working 60-70 hour weeks living in a rat infested shithole the size of a prison cell? Why not just commit a crime and get incarcerated in NYC?

[A. Nony Mouse]

your attitude is similar to a lot of people in NYC (they think there are no other decent places to live) but there are actually lots of decent places to live. I don't know. I guess you should go to law school right away, then.

The weird part is that most of these people aren't even from NYC, so they have lived in other places. And what's even weirder is that most of these people with this mentality are poors who will never save up any amount of money worth talking about and will be slaves to their job until death, just to live in NYC.

Stop bitching about poor people in the on-topics. You're not answering people's questions.