Straight to law school or a year off? Forum

[rau9288]

I'm currently a 4th year undergrad with ambitions of law school. As well as being a full time student I have two jobs that occupy about 50-55 hours a week. I have a 3.65 GPA and have yet to take the LSAT. My question is: Should I try to cram the LSAT in in December and get my applications ready why cramming work and school or is it okay to take the year off from school next year to focus on the LSAT and the application process?

I hate the idea of taking a year off of school, but I'm leaning toward the year off just to make sure I have put forth a 100% effort.

Thanks for everyone's input!

[bizzybone1313]

You are probably not a special snowflake and will be able to crank out an elite LSAT score in two mnths and be back in skool in August. Whatever you do-- don't get a full time job when you graduate. Prep for June and apply next fall. Don't waste time going down another career path that you had no intention of going towards. You either knock the test of the park and attend an elite school or you bomb it and move on with your life and not become a victim of the law skool scam.

[Duchess14]

If I were in your shoes I would absolutely take time off-- focus on maximizing your LSAT score and put yourself in the position to get your apps in early / on time (can help your chances of admittance and can also affect scholarships offer).

Browse TLS-- there are a lot of circumstances in which it doesn’t make sense to go to law school. Make sure you are making an informed decision about if/where you go to law school by taking employment stats, debt, etc. into account.

I’ve taken time off and am prepping for the LSAT now and am really glad I have. I’m sure you can find many threads on here that discuss benefits of taking time off.

The LSAT and where you go to law school are very important so don’t rush it! Good luck!

[jingosaur]

Year off. GET A GOOD FULL TIME JOB IF YOU CAN, but make sure that there's some time off before you start and get your intense LSAT studying in then and then prep after work too. Who knows, maybe you'll like a different job so much that you'll stop thinking about law school.

[rau9288]

Thank you everyone for your input! I think I'm going to take the year off and just focus on being prepared for the LSAT/admissions process, that's basically a full time job in itself!

[redsox]

Taking a year off immediately after finishing school to prep for the LSAT/apply to schools seems unwise...what are you going to do if the LSAT doesn't go well? Just go to any law school that will take you? Or try to get a job? I imagine that taking that kind of time off with nothing to show for it would make you pretty unemployable in a lot of fields...but maybe not. I don't know your situation. Maybe you're independently wealthy and don't need a job anyway. Maybe you're already unemployable as it is.

No way I'd do it without already having a solid LSAT score.

[bizzybone1313]

Taking a year off immediately after finishing school to prep for the LSAT/apply to schools seems unwise...what are you going to do if the LSAT doesn't go well? Just go to any law school that will take you? Or try to get a job? I imagine that taking that kind of time off with nothing to show for it would make you pretty unemployable in a lot of fields...but maybe not. I don't know your situation. Maybe you're independently wealthy and don't need a job anyway. Maybe you're already unemployable as it is.

No way I'd do it without already having a solid LSAT score.

Don't listen to this guy OP. Most companies probably don't check graduation dates from college nor would they care if you took time off from Jan. 2013 until June 2014. Just don't put your graduation date on your resume if you decide not to attend LS. Here is the key point OP: If you don't begin working a professional job in the first place, then you cannot have a resume gap. Kill the test--> attend T-14. Bomb the test--> do something else with your life.

After you graduate, you should quit the lowest paying job out of the two you hold and keep the other one. So, you should have a weekly schedule that looks like this:

(1) 20-25 hours of part-time work (or quit all together and shift these hours to the other items on this list)
(2) 20ish hours of LSAT prep
(3) 5-7.5 hours of gym/playing basketball/lifting weights
(4) 5-7.5 hours of "dating"
(5) 3-5 hours of video game playing
(6) 5-10 hours of reading a stack of books that will help you process the words on the LSAT more easily
(7) 56ish hours of sleeping
(8) 7-10 hours of eating, drinking water and discarding of waste
(9) 5ish hours of TLS, E-Bay and other internet websites

I think I pretty much covered what your week should look like until June 10ish of 2014.

[redsox]

Don't listen to this guy OP. Most companies probably don't check graduation dates from college nor would they care if you took time off from Jan. 2013 until June 2014.

You hear that? Most companies probably don't check! Sounds pretty solid. Bet your career on it!

[bizzybone1313]

Don't listen to this guy OP. Most companies probably don't check graduation dates from college nor would they care if you took time off from Jan. 2013 until June 2014.

You hear that? Most companies probably don't check! Sounds pretty solid. Bet your career on it!

I know a guy that got a job 9-11 months after he graduated from undergrad. He is trying to make his career a legal one, so he should focus on the most important component that leads to a successfull career in said industry.

"I began studying in August and took the test in December. I did not work or go to school during this time, and I had to move home with my parents to allow that. For some, that might not be possible, and for many more, it would be undesireable. For the latter among you, I suggest you take the time to assess what is really important: a test that can and will contribute significantly to determining the career opportunities you will have for the rest of your life, or your personal lifestyle for the next few months? If you lean towards the latter, I suggest you re-evaluate your commitment to law school to begin with." --TLS User: Unstoppable

[redsox]

I know a guy that got a job 9-11 months after he graduated from undergrad. He is trying to make his career a legal one, so he should focus on the most important component that leads to a successfull career in said industry.

Whoa, sorry, didn't realize you knew a guy. Why didn't you say so before? That changes everything.

[bizzybone1313]

I know a guy that got a job 9-11 months after he graduated from undergrad. He is trying to make his career a legal one, so he should focus on the most important component that leads to a successfull career in said industry.

Whoa, sorry, didn't realize you knew a guy. Why didn't you say so before? That changes everything.

Why don't you actually try to attack my argument rather than the proponent (me) of the claims? I know 4-5 guys that have done this. Is that enough of a sample to not make it a flawed argument? My argument isn't based on knowing a guy that did this, but rather on the fact that it is a dumb idea to balance a full time professional job with LSAT prep.

[bizzybone1313]

You noobies need to learn how to use the search function. This shit has been debated on TLS in countless threads. Do whatever you want OP.

[redsox]

Why don't you actually try to attack my argument rather than the proponent (me) of the claims? I know 4-5 guys that have done this. Is that enough of a sample to not make it a flawed argument? My argument isn't based on knowing a guy that did this, but rather on the fact that it is a dumb idea to balance a full time professional job with LSAT prep.

I thought I was attacking your argument. At what point did I attack you personally?

First, I tried to point out (sarcastically, I admit), that your claim (without evidence) that most companies don't check graduation dates isn't very comforting. But I'll try to do it over again without sarcasm, lest you interpret it as an ad hominem attack. I'll start by saying that I think your claim is probably incorrect, but the only evidence I have is anecdotal, so I really can't prove it. But you haven't backed it up either, so if I were the OP I still wouldn't bet my future on it. But suppose you are right. Suppose that there are two types of companies out there, Type A and Type B. A job candidate is unable to distinguish Type A companies from Type B companies. Type A companies always check a candidate's graduation date. Type B companies borrow a 20-sided die from their nerdiest employee, roll it once, and only check a candidate's graduation date if the die shows a nine or lower. 49% of companies are Type A, and 51% of companies are Type B. This is a world in which most (51% of) companies probably (55% chance that they won't) don't check graduation dates". Yet, in this world, a job candidate has a 71% chance of having his graduation date checked whenever he applies for a job. Like I said, not very comforting.

Second, I (again, sarcastically) pointed out that you knowing one guy who found a job might not be a representative sample. You obviously figured out that this was an attack on your argument, because now you know 4 or 5 guys.

So I'm not quite sure where I attacked you and not your argument...

[bizzybone1313]

Why don't you actually try to attack my argument rather than the proponent (me) of the claims? I know 4-5 guys that have done this. Is that enough of a sample to not make it a flawed argument? My argument isn't based on knowing a guy that did this, but rather on the fact that it is a dumb idea to balance a full time professional job with LSAT prep.

I thought I was attacking your argument. At what point did I attack you personally?

First, I tried to point out (sarcastically, I admit), that your claim (without evidence) that most companies don't check graduation dates isn't very comforting. But I'll try to do it over again without sarcasm, lest you interpret it as an ad hominem attack. I'll start by saying that I think your claim is probably incorrect, but the only evidence I have is anecdotal, so I really can't prove it. But you haven't backed it up either, so if I were the OP I still wouldn't bet my future on it. But suppose you are right. Suppose that there are two types of companies out there, Type A and Type B. A job candidate is unable to distinguish Type A companies from Type B companies. Type A companies always check a candidate's graduation date. Type B companies borrow a 20-sided die from their nerdiest employee, roll it once, and only check a candidate's graduation date if the die shows a nine or lower. 49% of companies are Type A, and 51% of companies are Type B. This is a world in which most (51% of) companies probably (55% chance that they won't) don't check graduation dates". Yet, in this world, a job candidate has a 71% chance of having his graduation date checked whenever he applies for a job. Like I said, not very comforting.

Second, I (again, sarcastically) pointed out that you knowing one guy who found a job might not be a representative sample. You obviously figured out that this was an attack on your argument, because now you know 4 or 5 guys.

So I'm not quite sure where I attacked you and not your argument...

I hold a degree that could easily get me a $50K job at almost any point in time in my life regardless of resume gaps and other professional flaws I may have. For most of you guys that hold a liberal arts degree, your advice might be warranteed. I wouldn't personally follow it, but maybe OP should. At the end of the day, if OP were to follow my advice and decide not to attend LS, he could find SOME company to hire him. He won't be unemployed forever. I just don't understand why 95% of you guys advise people to get a full time job as if we are all planning on applying to MBA programs. Law schools don't care. In the past, most peeps went K-JD.

[redsox]

Thought so.

[bizzybone1313]

Thought so.

I don't feel like wasting 15 minutes of my life responding to your weak argument that OP should get a full time professional job.

[hephaestus]

I know a guy that got a job 9-11 months after he graduated from undergrad. He is trying to make his career a legal one, so he should focus on the most important component that leads to a successfull career in said industry.

Whoa, sorry, didn't realize you knew a guy. Why didn't you say so before? That changes everything.

Why don't you actually try to attack my argument rather than the proponent (me) of the claims? I know 4-5 guys that have done this. Is that enough of a sample to not make it a flawed argument? My argument isn't based on knowing a guy that did this, but rather on the fact that it is a dumb idea to balance a full time professional job with LSAT prep.

Its not a dumb idea. I was fairly easily able to manage a full time job with LSAT prep. And having WE is a noticeable boost during recruiting.

[redsox]

I imagine that taking that kind of time off with nothing to show for it would make you pretty unemployable in a lot of fields...but maybe not.

I don't feel like wasting 15 minutes of my life responding to your weak argument that OP should get a full time professional job.

I'd characterize it as more of a weak musing than a weak argument, but it's your call.

[Nelson]

Not having work experience won't hurt you getting into law school but it sure will hurt you during OCI.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Plus it's just easier to figure out what you do and don't want in a professional job when you've actually had one.

[Tiago Splitter]

An aggressive LSAT prep regimen is like 20 hours a week for 4 months. You can hold down a job while doing that. If after that time you aren't scoring reasonably well it's time to move on and do something else with your life.