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So I'm thinking about potentially deferring admissions until next year.

I've been out of school for more than 1 year. Since then, I've been working in a job not within my major (was too busy w/ personal stuff, didn't apply to any jobs within my major), but I've recently started a full time job as an engineer. If I go to law school this year, I'll have 1/2 of a year of FT engineering WE. My question is, would it be worth it to defer admissions so that I have 1+1/2 years of FT WE as an engineer? I'm also wondering if law firms will see me as a job hopper if I only work 1/2 a year as an engineer before starting law school (i.e. negatively affect me during EIP/OCI).

My current goal is Columbia -> Biglaw.

Thank you in advance for your opinions, fellow TLSers.

(Coming from a 0L that works in BigLaw)

I would defer to take advantage of the admissions cycle and apply as early as possible. Why rush? The maturation involved in gaining work experience is what law schools really look for rather than the experience itself. The ABA unofficially recommends two years prior to law school attendance in actuality. The experience itself isn't really going to hold that much weight, considering there will always be people applying with more diversified and "meaningful" experiences than you. Perhaps if you were to go into a more technical field such as patent or IP, a better understanding of engineering might help you in the long run?

Thanks for insight. My post may have been unclear--sorry about that. The WE would be for law firms, not law schools. I'm wondering if the added WE as an engineer will help me land a biglaw job during EIP/OCI/Mass Mailings. I have already been accepted to Columbia with $$, and I'll be entering law school 1.5 years after graduation from UG (2.5 years out of UG if I defer). If I defer, I won't be reapplying to law school; I'll be asking Columbia to defer my admissions until next year, which might mean I won't get any money next year and I'll probably be paying more b/c of the increase in tuition.

Do you want to do IP?