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If you have the money, absolutely do this.

If you do decide to go through with this, I highly recommend Singapore. It is one of the coolest places I have ever been to.

Do it, but be careful. I did something similar and almost decided not to return to the US for law school.

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taylorswiftfan wrote:I would love to take two years off to travel for fun but don't know if not having a job for two years would look bad on my law school admissions application. So would law schools look at my resume and view a two year gap for traveling as a sign of laziness?

No, they mostly don't give a shit (NU bring the exception). It could hurt come time to getting a job though.

Real Madrid wrote:Do it, but be careful. I did something similar and almost decided not to return to the US for law school.

taylorswiftfan wrote:Hi,

I took a couple months off recently (after finishing a Master's program) to travel and plan to continue traveling for fun for another year. I plan to take the December or October LSAT and wanted to know how much it would impact my admissions to law schools if they knew I took a year or two off to travel for my own leisure. I graduated from college and went straight into a masters program for a year and a half. Since then, I've decided to travel for a bit before I go back to law school for my last degree. I'm mostly doing this because I feel a little burned out.

I don't know if it looks bad on a law school application that I've traveled and had no formal job for such a period of time. I would appreciate advice on this.

Find a job that allows you to Tavel. I spent time in Mexico, all over the US, in England, Turkey, and Australia over the past 2 years. And it didn't cost me to make the trips. Win win.

deputydog wrote:

taylorswiftfan wrote:I would love to take two years off to travel for fun but don't know if not having a job for two years would look bad on my law school admissions application. So would law schools look at my resume and view a two year gap for traveling as a sign of laziness?

No, they mostly don't give a shit (NU bring the exception). It could hurt come time to getting a job though.

+1 on this for jobs. you might go into a firm interview and someone will ask "so what did you do for those two years" and if your answer is that you just fucked around, you might experience some judgment (although perhaps that is a good warning sign about working there). but bottom line, the trip could affect your chances of getting a job. i would try to come up with some tangible thing you did abroad: teach english, volunteer, etc.

I'd try to work something substantive, service related into the trip. I interviewed someone who took a year off after HS to travel and spent a good portion of his time doing relief work. It gives you interesting stories too tell and makes you seem cultured. The downside is it could make you look privileged.

Regardless, I think your decision should be about whether or not its important to you as a person, for your own personal development. You could get a lot out of a trip like tha.t If I had the cash to do it I'd do it in a second, law school admission chances be damned.

englawyer wrote:

deputydog wrote:

taylorswiftfan wrote:I would love to take two years off to travel for fun but don't know if not having a job for two years would look bad on my law school admissions application. So would law schools look at my resume and view a two year gap for traveling as a sign of laziness?

No, they mostly don't give a shit (NU bring the exception). It could hurt come time to getting a job though.

+1 on this for jobs. you might go into a firm interview and someone will ask "so what did you do for those two years" and if your answer is that you just fucked around, you might experience some judgment (although perhaps that is a good warning sign about working there). but bottom line, the trip could affect your chances of getting a job. i would try to come up with some tangible thing you did abroad: teach english, volunteer, etc.

-1

This person will come back much more interesting and level headed than most if his peers who stayed working at unfulfilling jobs in their early 20s

I'm not going to comment on how it'll impact your chances at places (simply because I have no clue), but I would absolutely recommend it. I was only able to do it for a few months during school, but it was one of the best/most impactful things I've done.

taylorswiftfan wrote:I would love to take two years off to travel for fun but don't know if not having a job for two years would look bad on my law school admissions application. So would law schools look at my resume and view a two year gap for traveling as a sign of laziness?

I have no idea how a 2 year gap year looks, but a 1 year gap year where the person did nothing but travel isn't really that uncommon. But, of course, if you could try to do other things while you're traveling to put on your resume, that would be the best solution.

And I think it's great that you're doing this. No need to push yourself into burning out.

twentypercentmore wrote:If you have the money, absolutely do this.

cinephile wrote:
And I think it's great that you're doing this. No need to push yourself into burning out.

Bro, law school will always be here waiting for you when you are ready.

IMO who the fuck cares what it looks like. Do it.

ManoftheHour wrote:

twentypercentmore wrote:If you have the money, absolutely do this.

cinephile wrote:
And I think it's great that you're doing this. No need to push yourself into burning out.

Bro, law school will always be here waiting for you when you are ready.

And once you're in law school, there won't be time. Not for many, many years.

I've been all over the world and I think meaningful* international travel is absolutely critical to someone becoming a cultured, well rounded adult. However, do try to something while you're traveling. Find a job that involves a lot of international travel, do the Peace Corps, whatever. It doesn't have to be a particularly demanding job. Even if you're just teaching English for 20 hours a week, that's dramatically better than doing nothing at all. Not only will it look better to potential employers, you'll find it helps you grow a lot more and really absorb the culture if you actually live there doing something as opposed to getting drunk and partying the whole time.

Trust me, even if you're there working, you'll still have time to go out, mingle with the locals, drink exotic foreign brews, etc.

*Not one of those pretentious undergrad trips where you spent four weeks drinking and oversleeping in Germany and come back talking about how it changed your life, blah blah blah.