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so i am graduating in december and i am wondering what you guys think i should do for 8 months before law school in the fall. i have an opportunity to do an internship with the governor's office of my state. i could probably get a paid internship in dc as a legislative assistant. i could work at a law firm. or just travel and bum around. im guessing law schools consider what you are doing with your time during the application process so even though i am coming from a top 20 school where i busted some balls during my time here and would like to chill out for a while i feel like i should do some resume building....thoughts, suggestions?

lolol10 wrote:so i am graduating in december and i am wondering what you guys think i should do for 8 months before law school in the fall. i have an opportunity to do an internship with the governor's office of my state. i could probably get a paid internship in dc as a legislative assistant. i could work at a law firm. or just travel and bum around. im guessing law schools consider what you are doing with your time during the application process so even though i am coming from a top 20 school where i busted some balls during my time here and would like to chill out for a while i feel like i should do some resume building....thoughts, suggestions?

Do whatever makes you happy; it's almost assuredly not going to meaningfully affect your app.

Don't know what you should do, but you shouldn't have unprotected sex. You don't want to be a new parent a month into law school.



But seriously, just don't do anything stupid. This is your last chance to enjoy life for a while (At least hopefully. If you have this kind of free time when you graduate, that means you are unemployed.). If you can find a low stress, low hours job (volunteer or paid), go ahead and take it. If not, just enjoy your last 8 months of freedom.

Got to Ft Lauderdale at the end of the month for the boat show, walk the docks to get a deckhand job on a 150' yacht and spend the winter in the Caribbean.

They won't care. Either make a chunk of change or chill for the last time you will ever be able to.

lolol10 wrote: i could probably get a paid internship in dc as a legislative assistant.

I wish you have done some research before saying this.

bk187 wrote:They won't care. Either make a chunk of change or chill for the last time you will ever be able to.

I second this.

Fap.

Have fun or make money. Law school isn't going to care.

And, of course:

I think you should come on TLS daily for the next 8 mos to consult random strangers about your agenda for that day. TLSers will give you your tasks and then you will report back around 10ish to let us know how it worked out.

Hey I'll be in the same position (graduating in December). I started working part-time at one of the V100's in my city. I'm just working in records, but it pays better than any other job I've worked and I have the chance to bank a decent chunk of money. Hopefully they'll take me on full-time when I graduate from UG. I'm also trying to get another job working the night desk at a gym and I just plan to read/maybe do a little prep a month before school starts. I know people say its not enough time to do anything meaningful, but I disagree. I worked at a small firm during my summers in college and they offered to hire me back my 1L summer (that would be paid fwiw). Also, at my job at the V100, I've been able to talk with a ton of associates and a few partners. The V100 is in the city where I will most likely go to law school and I am on a first name basis with the legal recruiter. I also was able to schedule an informal meeting with a partner in the practice group I am interested in, just to find out more about the group. When I talk to ppl at small firms and tell them where I am working, they have all been pretty impressed, eventhough I'm just in records. Hopefully, if I don't get offered to come back and work at the V100, my minimal WE and particularly the name of the V100 firm will help me land a job at a mid/small firm (which from my experience talking with mid/small lawyers, I think it will). Just my two cents, my situation may be the exception though.

Road trip.
Drugs.
Backpack through Peru.
Manage a strip club.
...

rad law wrote:Fap.

And fap some more.

pjo wrote:Hey I'll be in the same position (graduating in December). I started working part-time at one of the V100's in my city. I'm just working in records, but it pays better than any other job I've worked and I have the chance to bank a decent chunk of money. Hopefully they'll take me on full-time when I graduate from UG. I'm also trying to get another job working the night desk at a gym and I just plan to read/maybe do a little prep a month before school starts. I know people say its not enough time to do anything meaningful, but I disagree. I worked at a small firm during my summers in college and they offered to hire me back my 1L summer (that would be paid fwiw). Also, at my job at the V100, I've been able to talk with a ton of associates and a few partners. The V100 is in the city where I will most likely go to law school and I am on a first name basis with the legal recruiter. I also was able to schedule an informal meeting with a partner in the practice group I am interested in, just to find out more about the group. When I talk to ppl at small firms and tell them where I am working, they have all been pretty impressed, eventhough I'm just in records. Hopefully, if I don't get offered to come back and work at the V100, my minimal WE and particularly the name of the V100 firm will help me land a job at a mid/small firm (which from my experience talking with mid/small lawyers, I think it will). Just my two cents, my situation may be the exception though.

lol.

Do like me, get Black ops and play like a retard for 8 months straight.
Or, get World of Warcraft and farm rep in Silithus, it will be the longest 8 months you've ever lived.

lolol10 wrote:so i am graduating in december and i am wondering what you guys think i should do for 8 months before law school in the fall. i have an opportunity to do an internship with the governor's office of my state. i could probably get a paid internship in dc as a legislative assistant. i could work at a law firm. or just travel and bum around. im guessing law schools consider what you are doing with your time during the application process so even though i am coming from a top 20 school where i busted some balls during my time here and would like to chill out for a while i feel like i should do some resume building....thoughts, suggestions?

read books that you would like to read

drink, go fishing, chill out, work on a farm do manual labor

OP: If you have an opportunity to work for a firm, that should be your primary goal. Making connections and learning how to network with attorneys are valuable skills, and although they are not easily quantified, they are immensely important. Plus, you can make sure that you want to do what lawyers do.

I'm in the same position OP, I thought about working, but realized that I won't get a job that I like even a little bit (though you say you have some opportunities, so it may be diff, but the leg. assistant job is not going to happen, coming from someone who knows what that job actually is). My plan is to chill in in the 305 living with my parents for 7 months until fall. I'll just read lots of academic type books, including some law books, and Getting to Maybe so I won't go into law school rusty.

When I graduated early I stayed at college and drank for a semester. I recommend this course of action.

doing well in law school =/= getting a good job in the legal field

That's all I'm going to say. I'll let you all decide what to do now.

Enlist

Get a job you bum.

ok so new developments. i have the opportunity to work at a fast growing/promising company (exact target http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExactTarget) that would look good on my apps of i get waitlisted to some schools that i am applying to. i would be working a job that has the potential for moving up the corp. ladder a a decently good pace but i would be doing it for only 8-9 months then i would leave in the fall for law school (unbeknownst to them). i would be on salary making a pretty decent amount for right out of college (approx 45K a yr salary). on the other hand...i could play music, finish writing a book/screen play, read things ive wanted to read, go places ive wanted to go (backpack europe etc) work a crap job, play counter strike, drink, etc. etc. etc. and most importantly party as the awkward graduate still hanging around campus...

what to do?

Good employment recs are important at this stage, so leaving them without giving notice may not be in your best interest. For me, I found doing paralegal work at a local firm on a temporary basis (managed to get a District judge to recommend one to me...which helped me get in in spite of a bad economy and a terrible 2nd interview) was useful in seeing if I could handle the repetitive nature of law and the mountains of paperwork. Work there, but then relax 1-2 months before school starts, making sure you're settled in your apartment the week before classes begin. That's the best 0L preparation (that and reading getting to maybe).

You could always get involved in a social marketing scheme also known as a pyramid scheme.

GATORTIM wrote:I think you should come on TLS daily for the next 8 mos to consult random strangers about your agenda for that day. TLSers will give you your tasks and then you will report back around 10ish to let us know how it worked out.

Seconded.