Which would be the better opportunity to capitalize on... Forum

[CincinnatusND]

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[Doorkeeper]

Definitely (2). A great recommendation from the professor and a publication under your belt before you apply to law school would both do a good amount for your application. I would try to keep the student government though, if possible. You don't want to not have any extracurriculars on your CV.

[benburns214]

#2 because the upside is greater... both will be beneficial, but if you can get published it would be huge. working for a law firm is great, but your experience there will help you more once you are already in law school since you do learn quite a bit while working there, but it wouldnt stand out as much as being published would.

#1 - Pros = looks good, get experience that helps during law school, LOR
#2 - Pros = looks good, and if you get published it looks better than #1, stronger LOR than #1.

Either way, this isnt a bad position to be in.

[instantwonton]

You can't really go wrong either way! If you're not 100% sure that you want to go to law school, then option 1 would be good to get experience and see what lawyers really do to see if that's definitely what you want to do. If you are sure, than I agree with the others that option 2 might have a slight edge- guaranteed money, building a strong relationship with a professor, and publishing research would all be great!

[spleenworship]

Unless you Have some overriding reason not to do so, I highly recommend the law firm. About 10% of my classmates have no real interest in doing what lawyers actually do- but after moving and paying tuition feel committed. Now they will finish their degree and either not practice ( a waste) or work in the profession and hate their life every day.

Also, unless u are a Canadian or something, do a fourth year, IMO.

[CincinnatusND]

First off, thanks for the input everyone.

The reason I'm finishing in 3 years is to avoid more the additional tuition costs, and I will have enough credits even taking the bare minimum to stay a full time student.

Also, I think I could probably get the internship in 2 years if I wanted to hold off, as it's through a family connection.

My majors are Psych and Comm, while the research would be in CJ.. Does that matter at all?

[spleenworship]

First off, thanks for the input everyone.

The reason I'm finishing in 3 years is to avoid more the additional tuition costs, and I will have enough credits even taking the bare minimum to stay a full time student.

Also, I think I could probably get the internship in 2 years if I wanted to hold off, as it's through a family connection.

My majors are Psych and Comm, while the research would be in CJ.. Does that matter at all?

Major matters not even a bit unless engineering.

[cinephile]

Neither will help with getting into law school. Not having anything certainly would look good, but these won't differentiate you from other applicants.

I'd recommend the firm for the reason others mentioned. Mainly, it'd be a good idea to see if you want to work in this type of environment before committing yourself to law school.

[in2win]

in past posts i have read that law schools don't really care much about having work experience in a law firm. 2 sounds like a better option to me

[J-e-L-L-o]

It seems to me the decision isn't so much as looking better for law school applications, but to see how the OP would like the actual practice of law.

I would say do the internship at a firm first. You never know you might not like it, which would make the decision to apply to law school moot. If you like it, then do research the next year, and expect to apply to law school. You can always do the research, but you want to make sure you want to go into law as a profession.