Top Law Schools

I ask this question as a K-JD. I know the general consensus is to take a year off and get work experience, but knowing that applications for the next cycle opens up in September (and submitting early makes a difference), there really isn't enough time to gain a full time work experience to add substantive value to my application. So "year off" really doesn't mean a whole 12 months to make any difference. Any thoughts?

Getting a job is still better than doing nothing and you can express somewhere in the app that you plan on working until starting law school.

If not, I would at least join a volunteer org so it doesn't look like you're sitting on your ass watching netflix all day (nothing wrong with that though.. it's what I'm doing right now).

.

thanks!

Well if you are totally happy with your numbers/application I don't see as much value. I thought about this a lot since I felt taking a year off I think it would have helped me a lot, however at the expense of waiting a year.

You can rewrite the LSAT, get your apps in on the earliest possible date, have better grades (take classes/have final year grades in on time), take more time to work on your PS/essays and perhaps have more experience. Depending on the school and your numbers, the added bit of experience could help a borderline candidate. Each of these things individually can make a large impact on your application.

If the rest of your application is strong, I can't imagine it making much of a difference. For what it's worth, people always say that work experience is relatively important for Northwestern, but I got in as a K-JD with a below-median LSAT score and without any real work experience.

Two years is better, but one isn't going to hurt

It's nice to step away from academia even for a year and gain some perspective. I am very glad I took a year off to make some money and friends.
Bumped up my LSAT score too.

Yeah I think that it will help your apps. They'll be more concerned with how much experience you'll have when you matriculate - not how much when you apply

phireblast wrote:It's nice to step away from academia even for a year and gain some perspective. I am very glad I took a year off to make some money and friends.

+ 1

It may very well help your apps (how much probably depends on what you'd be doing with the time) but personally I think it's worth it even just because it allows you to gain some real world perspective and recharge before jumping back into school. The overwhelming majority of people I talked to who had been to law school recommended it (either because they had done so and were glad they did or because they hadn't and recommended it) and I'm glad they did!

Building on what a few others above me have already said--I think taking time off is more important from a personal and future success standpoint, than as a marginal boost on admissions.

I took two years off and it not only helped me verify that I wanted to practice law, but also helped me develop a professional work ethic that I simply didn't have in Undergrad. Now, you may already have an amazing work ethic, know you want to practice law, and perhaps not be burned out from school. In which case, maybe it's not so valuable for you; but, I can certainly say that the two years off will make me a much better law student and also gave me time to develop as a person.

sjgonzalez3 wrote:Building on what a few others above me have already said--I think taking time off is more important from a personal and future success standpoint, than as a marginal boost on admissions.

I took two years off and it not only helped me verify that I wanted to practice law, but also helped me develop a professional work ethic that I simply didn't have in Undergrad. Now, you may already have an amazing work ethic, know you want to practice law, and perhaps not be burned out from school. In which case, maybe it's not so valuable for you; but, I can certainly say that the two years off will make me a much better law student and also gave me time to develop as a person.

I usually only comment when I think responses to a question are skewed or need some nuance. However, here you guys have hit the nail on the head.

A year, or even two, is unlikely to make a significant difference in your law school applications. However, there are other reasons to do things that are not based on how they impact your ability to get into law school. Working for a while can have many benefits, most of them mentioned above. Save money, become sure law is what you want to do (or not), and just general growth and maturity that comes with time. (I know that one sounds like BS when you're 22, but when you're on the other side of 30 you'll agree.) Life experience is the well that you go to when you have a difficult class that you need to buckle down for, when you're trying to balance a law school finals study schedule and your personal relationships, and when you need to empathize with a client that may have just been the victim of a horrific tragedy.

There's no magic clock that measures that kind of stuff. Some people make the most of college and have had the types of experiences that would prepare them. Others may not have. Everyone's choices will differ.

So OP, if you're only concern is maximizing your admissions outcomes just go ahead and apply. You can always decide to wait if you aren't happy with your options. Otherwise, the general rule that working for a year *can* help, and certainly never hurts, is correct.

Dean Perez

not exactly a counter-point, but taking a year off can do wonders for your app if you use the time to retake the LSAT and get a higher score

thanks for all the advice!

To the people saying that it won't help, what do you make of adcoms and deans saying that they're trying to admit fewer students coming straight from university? Empty talk?

It makes no difference

Far more than a boost to my admissions, I have really, really grown from my year off and I wouldn't want to go straight from UG. I believe I will be more successful in LS, in OCI, and in employment because of my experience.

So far as admissions, the vast majority of 1Ls each year at the best schools are not K-JDs, and Spivey recently blogged about how K-JDs are having a rough cycle. Work experience serves as a better predictor of employment success than mere GPA/LSAT. With the greater emphasis of employment outcomes, LSs may begin to prefer candidates with w/e. True, you may only have three months of experience by the time you apply, but AdComms will definitely see your position and can likely assume you'll be in it for the fully year.

.

thanks for all the advice! but I have decided to not take a year off. it really doesnt make sense for me because:
1) I have maxed out on the LSAT (Taken it 3 times) so theres nothing to prepare for.
2) I have no real job lined up for the fall
3) dont think i want to stay at home watching netflix all day. i get bored out of my mind doing nothing serious for a while.
4) I'm doing alot of travel this summer and I dont think i would do more over the year.

drawstring wrote:To the people saying that it won't help, what do you make of adcoms and deans saying that they're trying to admit fewer students coming straight from university? Empty talk?

While "more" schools might be putting a finger on the scale in favor of applicants with a bit more work experience, at most places we're still talking about hair-splitting at the margins. More than half of law schools last year had admit rates of 50% or more; a lot of schools this year ain't being that picky. That said, the anecdotal evidence (in my experience, law schools are bad at collecting "real" data) is like Spivey mentioned on his blog. Namely, that students who have interviewed for jobs before and worked a bit tend to fair a little better in their job search. Does that mean 1 year FT WE > 3 more points on the LSAT? No.

People on here tend to speak very categorically - "always", "never", "everyone" - when the reality is alwaysusually more nuanced.

OP has made his/her decision, but for anyone else reading this who is in a similar situation...

chizzy wrote:3) dont think i want to stay at home watching netflix all day. i get bored out of my mind doing nothing serious for a while.

While you CAN do this, you SHOULDN'T do this. If you aren't able to find a paying job, you should be volunteering somewhere at least 20 hrs. a week, in my opinion.

Dean Perez

I'd say that people who underperformed would be better off taking a year off because they can improve their application. You might have put off adcoms in your PS, or made a mistake or something. If you reread your app fully and think it is as good as it can be, I think the difference would be marginal.

I sincerely believe that the single year I took off made the difference for me in where I ended up. I recommend it highly for anyone, even if you don't anticipate having a full-fledged "career" type-job. Just do SOMETHING. Get paid internships, do volunteer work, get part time jobs, just do something besides school.

I just think some people are different in the sense that they would prefer to get school out of the way as soon as possible without taking a break. And you still have some summers to do internships and study abroad. I think it really comes down to preference and what works best for you.(This excludes improving the LSAT score, in which in that case, it would be recommended to take a year off)

.

suzige wrote:I sincerely believe that the single year I took off made the difference for me in where I ended up. I recommend it highly for anyone, even if you don't anticipate having a full-fledged "career" type-job. Just do SOMETHING. Get paid internships, do volunteer work, get part time jobs, just do something besides school.

It also bears remembering that you are not the only thing that changes from cycle to cycle. I'm not saying this happened with suzige, but the rest of the pool also changes. I have people that were borderline last year that didn't get in, and this year the pool dipped enough around them that they found themselves just on the good side of the line this year. Your LSAT goes up a point or two while your target school drops a point, suddenly you could find yourself in a very different position.

When I applied to law schools the first time in 1999-2000, it was the first year applications went up in like 7 years. In that scenario, waiting could hurt someone if the degree they improve their app during that year isn't significant. It's going to be a while before we get to that point, though.

Dean Perez