I've decided not to enter law school in the Fall of 2010... Forum

[mstiger]

I have several scholarships on the table. It looks like I'll finally land a secondary teaching position in a school district close to my parent's home, which will enable me to save thirty to forty thousand dollars and apply next cycle without the fear that I'll go into substantial debt only to hate law school. At least if I decide I hate law school while I'm a 1L, at that point, I will have financed my first year of school and I will be in little to no debt.

I have several questions, though, before ultimately deciding to accept a teaching position and forgo law school for one year:

1. If I apply next cycle to the same schools that offered me scholarships for this cycle, will those schools consider that I rejected their scholarship offer the previous year when reviewing me for admission during another cycle? More specifically, are schools be less likely to offer me scholarship packages to the same individual in two consecutive cycles?

2. How long are LORs valid?

[akili]

You could always ask to defer a year... It couldn't hurt.

[albusdumbledore]

You could always ask to defer a year... It couldn't hurt.

Aren't you locked in to one school if you defer? Or is that wrong?

[msbeautifulbasham]

I, too, am considering forgoing a year. The fear of debt is killing me

[akili]

You could always ask to defer a year... It couldn't hurt.

Aren't you locked in to one school if you defer? Or is that wrong?

I'm not sure either. I think that some schools may lock you in if you still want the scholarship. Others don't? I'm planning on deferring a year and the school that I've talked to about it seemed positive and open to it, but I am willing for it to binding. (of course I'm not getting any schollys)

[GATORTIM]

save 30 to 40 g's?!? That's a pretty sweet teaching gig...are they still hiring?

[mstiger]

I, too, am considering forgoing a year. The fear of debt is killing me

The fear of debt sucks, but the fear of debt and the fear of hating law school or the practice of law really sucks. If I knew beyond any doubt that I would love to practice law, it would be different. However, I really have no idea whether I'll enjoy practicing law.

Right now, I know that I enjoy Music (Piano), Math, and English. I believe that I have the tools to succeed in law school, and in the practice of law, but I don't care what I'm equipped with if I eventually dislike law school and the idea of becoming an attorney. I certainly don't know that I'll like law school or practicing law.

[mstiger]

save 30 to 40 g's?!? That's a pretty sweet teaching gig...are they still hiring?

The salary for a teacher with no experience in Mississippi is around pre-tax $33,000 if I am not mistaken. Because I'll have no living expenses, I'll be able to save virtually every dime of the non-taxed portion of my income.

I'll also have the opportunity to work on the side for my parents, which will put another 5,000-10,000 in my pocket. So, the teaching gig won't allow me to earn 30,000-40,000, but the teaching gig combined with other means of income should allow me to earn and save in that range.

[msbeautifulbasham]

You could always ask to defer a year... It couldn't hurt.

Aren't you locked in to one school if you defer? Or is that wrong?

I'm not sure either. I think that some schools may lock you in if you still want the scholarship. Others don't? I'm planning on deferring a year and the school that I've talked to about it seemed positive and open to it, but I am willing for it to binding. (of course I'm not getting any schollys)

Hi akilli, I just PM'd you.

[yourdadcalled]

save 30 to 40 g's?!? That's a pretty sweet teaching gig...are they still hiring?

The salary for a teacher with no experience in Mississippi is around pre-tax $33,000 if I am not mistaken. Because I'll have no living expenses, I'll be able to save virtually every dime of the non-taxed portion of my income.

I'll also have the opportunity to work on the side for my parents, which will put another 5,000-10,000 in my pocket. So, the teaching gig won't allow me to earn 30,000-40,000, but the teaching gig combined with other means of income should allow me to earn and save in that range.

i'll wager that you save closer to 20

[mstiger]

save 30 to 40 g's?!? That's a pretty sweet teaching gig...are they still hiring?

The salary for a teacher with no experience in Mississippi is around pre-tax $33,000 if I am not mistaken. Because I'll have no living expenses, I'll be able to save virtually every dime of the non-taxed portion of my income.

I'll also have the opportunity to work on the side for my parents, which will put another 5,000-10,000 in my pocket. So, the teaching gig won't allow me to earn 30,000-40,000, but the teaching gig combined with other means of income should allow me to earn and save in that range.

i'll wager that you save closer to 20

You're probably correct. I have a coke habit that will easily eat away at not only the cartilage in my nose but my disposable income...

[redraiderette]

LORs stay on record with LSAC for five years.

[mstiger]

LORs stay on record with LSAC for five years.

Thank You

[yourdadcalled]

save 30 to 40 g's?!? That's a pretty sweet teaching gig...are they still hiring?

The salary for a teacher with no experience in Mississippi is around pre-tax $33,000 if I am not mistaken. Because I'll have no living expenses, I'll be able to save virtually every dime of the non-taxed portion of my income.

I'll also have the opportunity to work on the side for my parents, which will put another 5,000-10,000 in my pocket. So, the teaching gig won't allow me to earn 30,000-40,000, but the teaching gig combined with other means of income should allow me to earn and save in that range.

i'll wager that you save closer to 20

You're probably correct. I have a coke habit that will easily eat away at not only the cartilage in my nose but my disposable income...

that's the problem i always run into

[raperez129]

LORs stay on record with LSAC for five years.

Not true. I have some on my account that go back as far as 2000. I've done nothing special to request they be retained, they are just there. Not that I would still use them at this late date. However, my LSAT score from 2000 is NOT there anymore.

[champ33]

Back to the OP... right the LOR's can be used for 5 years and from what I've heard there is no worry with using the same ones on multiple cycles. As for the likelihood of being offered a scholarship by the same school you declined the previous cycle, I'm interested in this as well as I'm considering a year off to improve my LSAT among other things. I'll wait here for an answer..

[initech]

I'm considering taking time off as well. This cycle hasn't gone as I would have liked, and I have been interested in other options (2 year options) more than going straight to law school anyways. I was really hoping to get into a school I liked so that I could defer, but now it's looking like I'll be re-applying.

[februaryftw]

I suspect the answer to whether schools will be less inclined to take you the second time through is: it depends.

If you have a good reason for taking the extra year, schools might not hold it against you. But if you don't pursue the possibility of deferring a scholarship at a school because you don't want to be bound by it, and want to play the field your second time through (and it is hard to think of another reason why you wouldn't accept a binding deferral if this wasn't the case), you probably aren't going to look as committed to the program as you did your first time through. In some cases, this might not matter. But in other cases, I'd suspect that schools would be more willing to commit the big dollars to students who really want Law School X over other law schools. If a student turns down a Hamilton at CLS, I suspect CLS is thinking the student wants Yale and is a good chance to choose Yale the second time through if admitted, so they might focus their limited recruitment resources elsewhere. At the very least, the student seems less committed to Columbia. Also, having a special stake in the school seems to matter at some schools more than others, which is something to keep in mind.

This is mostly a guess, but an educated one.

One last thing to add: if there is the drawback outlined above, I think the question you should ask is whether what you are doing in the year off is sufficient to compensate for the refusal of a binding offer, or might get you offers at schools which you rank higher than the ones currently giving you offers.

[Faesha]

I don't know how much help my experience is, but after applying to a bunch of schools last year I ended up waiting an extra year to go. I didn't bother with deferring any of my acceptances because I knew I was going to retake the LSAT and apply with (hopefully) better numbers. When I applied this year I changed most of my school list because I was aiming higher, but the couple of schools I ended up reapplying to still all offered me scholarships. So in my experience I'd say that reapplying shouldn't have a detrimental effect on your scholly offers. I'd also recommend doing something to improve your package a bit, whether it's retaking the LSAT, volunteering, or trying to get different work experience. Hope this helps a little with all of you struggling with the "should I wait a year or not" decision! I know it's a hard one

[jitsrenzo]

Why don't you try to figure out if you want to be a lawyer first (not whether you like law school, which is only 3 years)? Do an internship or something. Even if you save a little money, you still won't have that problem resolved in any way.

[09042014]

save 30 to 40 g's?!? That's a pretty sweet teaching gig...are they still hiring?

The salary for a teacher with no experience in Mississippi is around pre-tax $33,000 if I am not mistaken. Because I'll have no living expenses, I'll be able to save virtually every dime of the non-taxed portion of my income.

I'll also have the opportunity to work on the side for my parents, which will put another 5,000-10,000 in my pocket. So, the teaching gig won't allow me to earn 30,000-40,000, but the teaching gig combined with other means of income should allow me to earn and save in that range.

i'll wager that you save closer to [strike]20[/strike]10

[jack duluoz]

yay! less saturation for the class of 2013! I urge others to make the same decision as OP.

[09042014]

yay! less saturation for the class of 2013! I urge others to make the same decision as OP.

Plenty of people waiting to take the spot.

[jack duluoz]

yay! less saturation for the class of 2013! I urge others to make the same decision as OP.

Plenty of people waiting to take the spot.

yeahhhhh, i know.

*sigh*

[jcl2]

You could always ask to defer a year... It couldn't hurt.

Aren't you locked in to one school if you defer? Or is that wrong?

Not necessarily, I think it depends on the school. I deferred last year and it was not binding. I could have re-applied other places this year if I wanted, but I didn't.