What is the general consensus on summer abroad for 1L? Forum

[Gamecubesupreme]

I remember reading somewhere that doing summer abroad in law school is a complete waste of time and money.

Is this true?

[keg411]

I remember reading somewhere that doing summer abroad in law school is a complete waste of time and money.

Is this true?

If you want to go abroad, take a post-bar trip or go 3L year (so long as you have a job lined up). From everything I've head, people who study abroad have an EXTREMELY difficult time getting 2L summer work.

[missinglink]

I remember reading somewhere that doing summer abroad in law school is a complete waste of time and money.

Is this true?

If you want to go abroad, take a post-bar trip or go 3L year (so long as you have a job lined up). From everything I've head, people who study abroad have an EXTREMELY difficult time getting 2L summer work.

When I did summer abroad during UG, it was one long party really. In fact, everyone I know had a similar experience.

I imagine it might be difficult to convince employers that you didn't spend most of your time abroad messing around.

[notanumber]

To piggyback on this question: How about doing a project or internship abroad? Something like legal work for the UN or a nonprofit?

[warumnicht]

Doing legal work abroad is a good idea. There are quite a few international organizations that hire interns for the summer. Almost all are unpaid, though, but you may be able to get funds through your school, if it's public interest work. A few of my friends had international internships after their 1L year, and they were able to travel before and after. This shouldn't hurt you when it comes to interviewing, because you'll be able to talk about your employment just like everyone else who had judicial internships and other typical 1L jobs over the summer.

As for studying abroad, yes, it's better to do it during the school year, unless other obligations, like journal, are preventing you from doing so. The one exception would be if you are a part-time student and would like to switch into the full-time program after your first year; part-time students in that situation have to take summer school to catch up credit-wise, and there should be no problem doing that abroad. That should not put you at a significant disadvantage during OCI, provided that you explain your situation and maybe try to do some volunteer work when you study abroad as well, just to get some legal experience.

[random5483]

Summer abroad can be a decent choice. Some of the summer abroad programs include a working aspect to them, and those programs might not put you in a noticeable disadvantage for OCI. However, summer abroad in general is probably a waste of money and a wasted opportunity to get work experience.

[DeSimone]

From everything I've head, people who study abroad have an EXTREMELY difficult time getting 2L summer work.

This.

Do it as a last resort.

[klj1]

I've been looking into one of my school's study abroad programs, & at various networking events, attorneys have all been really intrigued and overly supportive of the idea. They were also extremely adamant that the most important thing to do with your summer is find work or some sort of experience that you can really speak about with enthusiasm, and that no one really cares what that experience is. The most negative response I heard in regards to it was not to go abroad just for the sake of going, which obviously makes sense - you should always be able to articulate legitimate reasons for anything you've done.

So I guess I'm just curious where all of this negativity on TLS comes from - people seem to get really hysterical when someone mentions going abroad 1L summer, and that attitude has not translated to any professionals at least that I've interacted with, and certainly does not apply to older students from my school who absolutely did not struggle to find employment because they went abroad.

[worldtraveler]

I worked abroad at an NGO after my 1L year. There are a fair amount of other people at Berkeley who did the same.

As for how it looks, there is no general consensus. It all depends on what you want to do. Keep in mind that working for an NGO or non-profit in another country is going to be very, very different from any legal job you would have for the summer in the US (with few exceptions). You won't be writing memos or briefs and a lot of the work you will do will be quasi-legal in nature. These jobs are hiring now, so get on it.

Depending on what you're doing you might also have long hours in some very stressful conditions. Some big NGOs are known for working interns to the bone or giving them really shitty tasks. Some are really great and you will learn a lot. I really enjoyed my summer work, for the most part, and I learned a lot. It was also incredibly stressful and a bit risky in terms of safety.

I have no idea about summer study abroad. Although, I'm amazed that people want to spend more money rather than at least break even in the summer.

IMHO, if you want to go abroad, do it through an internship. You would learn more. 1L summer is the type to put the stuff you learned over the year into practice. If you just study, you'll miss that. There are also tons of internship opportunities out there. A lot of students seem to have this idea that you have to go through some kind of program at your school or have it somehow set up for you. Just google stuff.

[Amy wineBerry]

I've been looking into one of my school's study abroad programs, & at various networking events, attorneys have all been really intrigued and overly supportive of the idea. They were also extremely adamant that the most important thing to do with your summer is find work or some sort of experience that you can really speak about with enthusiasm, and that no one really cares what that experience is. The most negative response I heard in regards to it was not to go abroad just for the sake of going, which obviously makes sense - you should always be able to articulate legitimate reasons for anything you've done.

So I guess I'm just curious where all of this negativity on TLS comes from - people seem to get really hysterical when someone mentions going abroad 1L summer, and that attitude has not translated to any professionals at least that I've interacted with, and certainly does not apply to older students from my school who absolutely did not struggle to find employment because they went abroad.

Well, when you look at it, I imagine going abroad is a good experience; however, if I were an employer, I'd probably bank on someone who did legal work with their summer than the person who studied abroad. For this reason, my school suggests doing both 1L summer. I want to study abroad, but I'll do it in the fall of my 3L year if anything.