Gap Year -- High School/UG Forum

[LSRAT]

Hey all!

New to TLS, but I was wondering if anyone could give me their advice.

I've been thinking about my personal statement and more generally about the way in which I'd like to present myself to admissions. I've noticed some discussion regarding gap year(s) after UG and the significance about what you spend your time on during that period. I actually took a gap year after high school. I graduated young and decided there would be no better time to travel. I spent my year with a youth exchange program, attending an extra year of high school in Europe. I know that this is beneficial (certainly it's not detriminetal at the very least) but is it something significant I should be emphasizing in my personal statement? Or is there no need if I make note of elsewhere?

Thanks for your opinions in advance.

[Blueprint Mithun]

Hey all!

New to TLS, but I was wondering if anyone could give me their advice.

I've been thinking about my personal statement and more generally about the way in which I'd like to present myself to admissions. I've noticed some discussion regarding gap year(s) after UG and the significance about what you spend your time on during that period. I actually took a gap year after high school. I graduated young and decided there would be no better time to travel. I spent my year with a youth exchange program, attending an extra year of high school in Europe. I know that this is beneficial (certainly it's not detriminetal at the very least) but is it something significant I should be emphasizing in my personal statement? Or is there no need if I make note of elsewhere?

Thanks for your opinions in advance.

I don't think its something you need to address in your application, but if you have something interesting to say about the experience, then it could be good to include. For example, if you're telling the narrative of how you came to decide that you wanted to go to law school, then you could describe the aspect of that experience that influenced you in this regard (assuming it did). It could just be a short paragraph of a couple of sentences, or longer, depending on how significantly it factors into the story. Or if you think you could tell a good story about that experience that accurately and positively portrays your character and motivations for seeking law school, you could make it the focus of your PS. There's a lot of different ways to approach it.

[Dcc617]

Hey all!

New to TLS, but I was wondering if anyone could give me their advice.

I've been thinking about my personal statement and more generally about the way in which I'd like to present myself to admissions. I've noticed some discussion regarding gap year(s) after UG and the significance about what you spend your time on during that period. I actually took a gap year after high school. I graduated young and decided there would be no better time to travel. I spent my year with a youth exchange program, attending an extra year of high school in Europe. I know that this is beneficial (certainly it's not detriminetal at the very least) but is it something significant I should be emphasizing in my personal statement? Or is there no need if I make note of elsewhere?

Thanks for your opinions in advance.

As you describe it, I think this whole thing is much more interesting to you than it is to anyone else. You're presumably in your junior or senior year of college, I don't think anyone really cares that you fucked around in Europe for a year.

Your personal statement is your chance to show the admissions board something about yourself that's not reflected in your scores and resume. What is important about you? There are a ton threads and people who can help with it. I think your current idea is bad though.

[Abraham Lincoln Uni.]

Your personal statement is a chance to let the admission committee learn about you as a person, looking past the GPA, extra curricular activities, and LSAT scores. If you strongly feel that studying in Europe had a major impact on you in some way you may discuss it.

For example, was it there you decided you wanted to go to law school? While there, did you think more about a specific area of law, such as child advocacy if you worked with children?

If nothing significant happened that would lead to a strong personal statement it is best not to include it. If you want to include it in some way, you may write about it in the supplemental application or briefly introduce the experience and how it shaped you.

Best of luck!