Why take a break before law school? Forum

[Texasboundanddown]

Thanks for all your responses, its greatly helped. To be more specific, I'm fortunate enough not to have to worry about UG debt, so money wouldn't be the primary reason for taking a year off. I've definitely thought about the paralegal track, and was wondering if anyone had any experience with that.

Sorry if I'm beating this to the ground but what exactly made you guys more motivated? Did you realize that the opportunity cost of going to law school is worth the time and money by exploring your other (or lack thereof) options? Also, just to clarify, when you guys say 1 year off, do you mean applying in the fall after you graduate or the fall after that?

Thanks in Advance

So I took a year off. I spent a few months working shitty jobs (though I had never had a retail job or multiple jobs at the same time before that) and this motivated me to really work towards something more than a 15 dollar an hour job. I wanted to try a bit of everything before going back. Work in the real world is hard, I put alot of effort into what I did, and I felt I wasn't getting properly compensated. It made me promise myself I won't mess around in school when I get my next chance.

I then got an actually much better paying job, but then I had to stop myself and ask, could I take this and work my way up or did I really want to be a lawyer. I talked to lawyers that I had met and worked with formerly, and realized I did. So for the first time in my life I was doing something for myself, with a clear goal in mind. In my UG (poor minority, went to a top 5 for little to nothing) I kind of coasted through with a hard science degree but I did it for all the wrong reasons. I did it because society expected it of me, my parents did, and I realized I was very immature in the way I handled myself (and their resources) while I was there. My job, traveling (during the year off), and more introspective self made me have a new respect for an education and I feel so much better for it.

Also, be warned. Paralegaling for a top firm (at least the ones I've had experience with) takes a while. What I mean is that it is a long interviewing process, hiring, training, multiple levels of paralegals so you may not be making much money, and since there are multiple levels you will be a gopher for a while. So you actually may not get as much experience as you would think. So apply as soon as you can if you want to paralegal.

Good luck. Ps. My year started from when I graduated in may til I guess August of this year.

[Dustin.]

Furthermore, in the current job-market, what kind of jobs can you expect to be recruited for with a social science degree like International Relations or Poly-Sci that can still offer some perspective into whether a legal career is right for you or not?

You should never expect to be recruited for a job, you need to go after them. A paralegal gig at a bigfirm seems like a good fit for you. Most large firms have 1 or 2 year programs for new ugrads.

How would you go about finding these positions?

What is the hiring process like?

Do you need relevant experience and/or a killer GPA?

Thanks.

[clintonius]

Compile a list of firms that have offices where you (want to) live. Go to their web sites, go to the city-specific pages for the locations that interest you, and there should be an employment or recruiting tab that lists what jobs are open, if any. I work at a big firm in NYC and I believe they are done hiring paralegals for the year, but I don't know about the timing of other firms.

It seems that requirements at this particular firm have gotten more stringent in the two years I have worked here. When I first started, there were probably 15 or so paralegals, a few from noteworthy undergrads, most from relatively unknown regional schools. The most recent advertisement listed a minimum GPA of 3.4 as well as either 1) internships or other experience in the financial industry for corporate paralegal positions, or 2) fluency in Spanish, French, or another language for litigation paralegals.

Note that there are also other positions available in firms from time to time. I work on the administrative side (would prefer not to say what department here, but feel free to PM me). I actually got the job through a recruiter, but we have since stopped working through those agencies and now operate solely through the firm's web site and personal referrals.

[Thanksinadvance]

Thanks for all the feedback, its all been incredibly helpful.

I guess to re-ask the question, when people say they're taking 1 year off, does that mean they're applying the summer after they graduate? Example: Graduate in May 09, Apply to enter Sept. 10?

Would you recommend taking paralegal classes or getting some sort of credential to boost your chances?

[ConMan345]

Taking time off and working helped me realize (in broad strokes) what makes me happy and keeps me motivated in a job. I can't imagine making the kind of career decisions one does in law school without this knowledge.

[TommyK]

Here's another question along a similar lines...

I'm currently working and have been out of undergrad for 6 years. If I'm able to sell my condo in time, I'm thinking of taking off couple of months prior to law school. The other option is that I work until about a week or two before law school begins and give myself just enough time to move in to a new place in the new town and get myself set up. I'm pretty sure I understand the pro's and con's of each, so I'm just looking for people who have done either and are happy they did it that way, or wish they had done the opposite.

Much appreciated.

[CryingMonkey]

I really feel like going straight from UG to LS to working at a firm would be absolutely killer. There's a lot of skills you just don't develop until you've had to work a 9-5 at the same place for some period of time - things like managing relationships/expectations, working out long term budgets, figuring out how to use really use free time effectively. Finding roommates, finding an apartment, really living on your own, paying bills, just all sorts of experiences that I just don't think most people can get from college or from a summer internship. Also, I know so many people who went straight through and then realized they didn't actually want to be lawyers. I don't really see what anyone loses from spending 1-2 years out there figuring out what you really want to do with your life - if you realize during that time you have a passion for law, you're not going to be that far behind your peers who went straight through. Sure, they may make partner at 36 and you'll be 38, but in the scheme of things that's just not a big difference. I think it's way, way better to take a year off and then decide you still want to go to law school than to go straight through and realize you'd rather be doing something else - after taking on 160k in debt.

[paratactical]

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[Kiersten1985]

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[bilbobaggins]

I noticed that people that took time off tended to have more motivation than I had just coming straight through. I was still tired from wrapping up Senior year, while they had been out in the "real world" and had seen how much it sucks and were ready to kick some butt. But there were also some very highly motivated kids that didn't take a break and did very well.

The reason they same more motivated is because the "real world" sucks and they were happy to be back in school. Not everyone likes to travel and the places most people end up traveling are very "eurocentric" so the "expanding your horizons" thing is vastly overstated. Best reason to take a year off is definitely for monetary reasons. If you dont have much undergrad debt then it isnt that big a deal if you go straight through IMO.

ITT: Kids give advice about stuff they are ignorant about.

The best reason to take a year off is whatever your reason is. There is no bad use of time as long as you're happy with how you're using it. If this means partying, working, traveling, etc. that's fine. The worst feeling in the world is looking back and feeling like you wish you'd spent more time doing what you want to do instead of what others think is smart or appropriate to do.

Most of the 2Ls I know who came straight through have expressed at least a little bit of regret at not taking time before law school to spend time getting some real world experience and just living outside of college before coming back to law school.

[T14_Scholly]

It might be needless to say but I wouldn't limit yourself to large firm paralegal positions if biglaw isn't what interests you. You will definitely find out whether biglaw is really something you want to do, and in my experience the majority of biglaw paralegals are turned away from law school (and in my view, the reason is that biglaw is not a good fit for most people).

[ladyjane]

I didn't realize I wanted to go LS until I had some perspective from being out of school. I worked in non-profits and found my path. I see friends who went straight threw struggle with burnout from too much school or unrealisitic expectations for salary since they have never earned a real paycheck. The poster who wrote about extended adolescence was dead-on. The working world forces you to grow up.

On the downside, I will be older when I'm done. And I will have less high earning year than a straight to LS student. But for me it was a worthwhile and necessary trade-off.