Could being young hurt my chances? Forum

[kirsi]

I don't have anything to add about your likelihood of getting into a law school at such a young age, but I was/am kind of in the same situation. I graduated from college before I turned 20 and immediately started on an MA... and then dropped out a year later. I was burned out from school (no summer breaks for me) and tired. I went back to school to complete my second BA, then quit doing that, and now I'm working full-time doing a meaningless and mindless job. I graduated from college two years ago and am not even 22.. and hoping to go to law school next year. Anyhow I would say that working, being out of school, etc. has given me a different perspective on things and has been a valuable experience. But I could be one year away from graduating if only I had gone to law school then, immediately after my college. On the other hand, I think I have more patience and will value my opportunities in law school starting later after doing different things. I don't know if it is the same for you, but I wasn't involved in anything during college because I did everything so fast (two years). I feel like I missed something special.

My best advice after all that is just go for what you want! Not like that helps.

[northwood]

my only advice is to follow your gut and your heart. I went from undergrad to graduate work and have a master degree in special education. When I was student teaching, I realized that my heart wasnot in teaching. Nevertheless, I thought at the time, since im 8 weeks away from graduation, I might as well just finish it- get a job somewhere and go back to school if I really hate it.. Well I got the master degree in Special Education in a year ( since I couldn't find a teaching job- i went back to work at the landscape job I had throughtout college) and finally landed the job. After 7 months, I hated it so much, that durning a follow up meeting with my supervisor on a performance review i handed her my 4 week notice even though I was doing a fantastic job and i had no job prospects lined up( I went back to landscaping and snowplowing). Looking back, I wish I had listened to my heart and not gone with teaching, but take some time and weigh out what i want to do. In the end , i did that and realized that I had strong desires to become a lawyer, but I just didnt listen to it.

Anyway the moral to the story is, only you know what it is you want to do and don't want to do. Listen to yourself and while its important to seek guidance from friends and family, make sure taht you know their biases( evryone is biased!!!) and their opinoins about the professions, etc If you have any doubts, take time off and weigh out all of the things you like and dislike. Go see your career center for guidance. Dont rush into something, or start something because you" feel like you have to " or need to be doing something. I ll be 27 when I start lawschool in the fall 2011. As long as your healthy and dont have to feed anyone, you can always switch careers. Money is important, but the worst thing in the world is waking up dreading the fact that you have to go to work, or wish that work got cancelled every day ( I know from experience- it sucks, and it makes you miserable and cranky- which makes it even worse).
Good luck kid- itll all work out

[daesonesb]

Take some time off.

Party, have fun, travel, or look for an interesting but low paying job ...

In essence, live without responsibility for a while.

Law school is not going anywhere. When you are a 22 year old law graduate, looking at working 70-80 hours a week for the rest of your young life, you will probably really regret your rush to get all growned up.

I'm looking at gradding LS at 25 (22 now) and that still feels young.

Then again, maybe you've done the whole independent, carefree living (outside of your parents roof) thing and you didn't like it. Perhaps you need rigid structure, bills, debt, and a crushing workload right this instant. Who am I to judge?

[Other25BeforeYou]

A number of folks on this board are or have gone into law school 1-2 year younger than most people coming fresh out of undergrad. I don't see that it's had much of an impact on any of them.

I'm a year younger than most people in my 1L class who came straight from undergrad, but I also took a year off before law school, so that may be why it didn't impact my cycle last year. A couple kids in my class were younger than me - we had two or maybe three students turn 21 after first year started.

If you aren't taking time off, I would suggest it, but that's not particularly because of your age. I'd suggest at least a year off to anyone.