I am a third year undergraduate student with a planned graduation date of May 2009. My dilemma is that honestly less than half the people I talk to tell me to go directly into law school. The majority recommend taking a year or 2 off and working just to gain life experience. Right now I'm really torn. I need to decide pretty soon because if I'm not going to go into law school fall 2009 then I won't take the LSAT this summer. Any help would be appreciated.

If you're sure you want to go to law school, I'm an advocate of not wasting time in a dead-end job. If you're unsure or think it might help you, take the time off. About a third of law students go straight through, so it's not like you'd be the only one.

Also, ask yourself whether, if you go out into the workforce, you might not be able to find the time/motivation to come back to graduate school, and whether you want to take that risk.

(Full disclosure: I went straight through.)

If you are going to take time off, I would make sure it has a purpose. Either help people, enrich your life with valuable experiences, or add quality to your resume. Don't just take a job for the sake of having one for two years.

That is my two cents.

I'm on my year off right now, and I'm glad to have not gone straight from UG. I've been fooling around, working a goddamn dead-end job, but I didn't have it in me to go straight into LS>plus, I am about to leave and do some sweet travelling until August. You're only young once, and you will conceivably have the next 50 years of your life to pound the books as a lawyer. Go sow your wild oats or something along those lines...

you can also defer for a year once you do get in

^
i'm with katkins on this. also, i'm able to squeeze in some of the traveling/vacations i want to do, next semester easing my transition. however, if you aren't sure about law school, i'd strongly consider taking a few years off "finding yourself and your passion".

disclosure: i'm going right through.

You can get into a lot of great law schools straight out of UG, but possibly motivation for waiting would be to get into schools that traditionally look for work experience (ex: Northwestern).

I may wait. Depends on if I get accepted to a good enough school.

I talked to a few lawyers about this last summer. I wanted to know whether I should take a year off to try to get some extra ECs so I could be a more competitive applicant, and everyone told me that it was only worthwhile to take the year off if I was burned out on school and needed a break. I'm planning to go straight from undergrad, but if I did defer or apply later, it wouldn't be for the sake of having an extra line on my resume or a year of shallow experience in the working world. If you are mentally prepared to enter into a rigorous course of study, I say go ahead and enroll early.

I am similar to trex in that I did not feel like I was truly motivated to go ahead and really study my ass off the way that you need to in order to succeed in law school...graduated in '06 and i'm applying to start in '08 and it's really be a good experience. I have pretty much worked jobs that required a lot of hours (60 plus) a week and also a high quality of work output (financial advisor, consultant at morgan stanley, working as an analyst for a hedge fund operations company) and I was studying for my lsat at the same time. It really forced me to prioritize my life and make certain sacrifices (pretty much catching up on my favorite shows on the weekends or on dvd...not going out much on weekends) that most people will have to make...not necessarily in law school, but definitely as a first year associate. I always look at in this manner...how many people leave top 14 law schools? Not many. How many people leave a top law firm paying them upwards of 160k plus a year? More than 40% after three years of practice. And with the possibility of a first year salary going up to 200k base, all that really means is even more billing hour requirements. I think its a huge culture shock to go from law school, where you only need to really cram for 3 weeks for finals, to firm life, especially when summer associates work 40 to 45 hrs a week instead of the more typical 65 hrs a week. It's like running a full marathon when you've spent the last few years of your life barely running a mile or two on a treadmill. Life experience is a big plus in my opinion, because it really helps you to figure out if you're cut out for firm life, which is the point of law school for most students.

I took a year off and I wish I hadn't. I wanted to work to make money to help pay for law school, but all it means is one less year with the income of a lawyer. I'd rather come out of school with $20,000 more in debt when I'll be making $100,000+ a year than wasting my time at a dead-end job surrounded by uneducated and uninspiring people. I'm miserable right now and can't wait to start school. I'm sure it's different for every person and some people would be happier taking a year off, but I'm just letting you know that people with the opposite feelings exist. You just need to figure out if that year will be worthwhile for you personally.

I think taking a year off is an especially good idea if you're even slightly burned out. I graduated in 2007 and was too sick of studying to even consider grad school right away. A few months out of school, however, I realized that I missed the academic and challenging environment and now am 10 times more motivated to work hard in law school. I work for a top company in a good job, but I don't think it matters whether you take a year to screw around or take a "quality" job. Just make sure your mind is ready and willing.

Another note, both of my parents are lawyers and they often say that their best associates are the associates that took at least a year off. Money isn't free, and a $160k job is a LOT of pressure if it's you're first "real" job. A year of real work experience is good to help you get the feel of things before the things really matter.

I am an advocate of taking time off. I am currently in my second year out of college, and I could not be happier about having worked.

I was entirely skeptical of just how beneficial working a real world job could actually be for only a short amount of time, but I really have come around to realize that it is SO VALUABLE. You learn a lot more than you can imagine you would.

I especially recommend you do a non-law related job. There will be plenty of time for law later on, so learn something more about the world you live in. Finance, even for me as a history major, has been a great field to work in. And, I know that what I have learned about investing and even personal finance will help me in law school, as a lawyer dealing with clients, and as an individual investor once I start to bank oodles of money from being a lawyer.

The same sort of thing happened to me. I graduated in 2006 and did not even consider law school then. I also knew I should not go to any other grad school because there was nothing I wanted to study at that level. So I got a job, moved out on my own, gained some confidence, and learned a lot about how to work (project planning, time management, voicing my opinion to the higher-ups, etc.).

The job incidentally also made me realize that I really wanted to go to law school, so I'm all about the "take some time to do something else and find your passion" spiel. And having worked, I feel like going to school will be something new and refreshing (at least at first). I can't wait to go back and work my butt off.

...

I would recommend taking time off. I work with a lot of different attorneys from a lot of different firms, and when I ask them about their experiences in law school I have yet to have an attorney tell me they regretted taking time off, but I've had plenty who said they wish they would have taken at least a year.

really, only you can make up your mind about what is best for you. if studying for the lsat will take away from your gpa or if you wont be able to study for it as much because of school, then take a year off. if you dont have any options for a job during that year off besides starbucks or something like that, then i would say go straight through. it all depends on your situation and goals.

i took 2 (will be 3) years off, but i also didnt think of law school as an option when i graduated. but my time off has given me excellent work experience, tons of travel, time with my bf that i would not have had, and best of all, a direction in the type of law i want to practice.

if i were you, i would start a pros/cons list