Is a gap year to "apply to law school" common?

[Anonymous]

I thought this colleague's daughter was an underachiever when he told me she moved home after college last year. She was part-time volunteering around the city or something. He just dropped she's now at an Ivy League law school! I vaguely recall a couple of other similar occurrences. What exactly makes you a stronger applicant when you apply only, what, 3-4 months after college ended?

[Anonymous]

Law schools only care about GPA + LSAT. It doesn't matter when you apply as long as you have the stats for it.

[Anonymous]

PP is totally WRONG. Today, law schools are indeed looking for those who really want to study law. Taking a year off just to apply? not good. Taking a year (or two) off to work in an area of interest that lends credence to the argument that one really wants to attend; good move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Law schools only care about GPA + LSAT. It doesn't matter when you apply as long as you have the stats for it.

+1. Admissions are struggling. A year off is not a sign you don't want to study law. It is very common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Law schools only care about GPA + LSAT. It doesn't matter when you apply as long as you have the stats for it.

I agree.

I worked full time while studying for the LSAT. I probably should have done a gap year too . But I would have ended up at the same place so I guess it's all fine in the end.

[Anonymous]

My son had a super rigorous senior year of college (research with a professor, an internship, extracurriculars, difficult classes) and decided to do a "gap year" because 1. he wanted to dedicate more time to his applications than he would've had during his senior year 2. he needed a breather.

No biggie. He got into a top law school and is doing well.

[Anonymous]

It gives your more time to study for the lsat.

It would be idiotic not to take at least a year before going to law school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought this colleague's daughter was an underachiever when he told me she moved home after college last year. She was part-time volunteering around the city or something. He just dropped she's now at an Ivy League law school! I vaguely recall a couple of other similar occurrences. What exactly makes you a stronger applicant when you apply only, what, 3-4 months after college ended?

With the cost of housing, etc.. I no longer think of kids who move home temporarily after college are underachievers. As long as their doing something productive- working, applying for further education, saving money- I think it's a really smart thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It gives your more time to study for the lsat.

It would be idiotic not to take at least a year before going to law school.

Isn't law school cycle same as undergrad, everything in by November? That's not a lot of time to from graduation. And what do kids do after the apps are in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It gives your more time to study for the lsat.

It would be idiotic not to take at least a year before going to law school.

90% of my 1L class came straight from college. The rest were non-traditional students coming from the workforce.

[Anonymous]

First, law schools start taking applications in the fall but you can supplement your test scores and application usually through the spring if you happen to take the LSAT in Dec or Feb and get a higher score. I graduated from law school two years ago and I applied my senior year of college and then actually took two years off in between and it was the best decision. Applying to law school is literally a full time job if you do it right and put in the right amount of time like you should in to picking your schools, studying for the LSAT and your applications. My LSAT score went up 15 points from when I took it as a college senior vs when I had actual time to study and take it during my gap year. Also, I worked at a law firm during those gap years and it put me so much ahead of most of my class when it came time to apply for jobs 1L year because I had actual legal work experience vs some of my classmates who went straight through from high school to college to law school and had never really worked anything than an after school or summer job like babysitting or lifeguarding. And, once you start law school, it's very hard to get a break from school, work, internships even after you graduate so I treasure those two in between years when I worked as easy job and actual got to enjoy living in the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First, law schools start taking applications in the fall but you can supplement your test scores and application usually through the spring if you happen to take the LSAT in Dec or Feb and get a higher score. I graduated from law school two years ago and I applied my senior year of college and then actually took two years off in between and it was the best decision. Applying to law school is literally a full time job if you do it right and put in the right amount of time like you should in to picking your schools, studying for the LSAT and your applications. My LSAT score went up 15 points from when I took it as a college senior vs when I had actual time to study and take it during my gap year. Also, I worked at a law firm during those gap years and it put me so much ahead of most of my class when it came time to apply for jobs 1L year because I had actual legal work experience vs some of my classmates who went straight through from high school to college to law school and had never really worked anything than an after school or summer job like babysitting or lifeguarding. And, once you start law school, it's very hard to get a break from school, work, internships even after you graduate so I treasure those two in between years when I worked as easy job and actual got to enjoy living in the city.

* was supposed to say took two years off in between before applying again and finally going. Final note- the caliber of law schools I got accepted into from when I applied in college vs. when I applied after the gap years- whether due to higher test scores, more time devoted to application, or work experience went significantly up. In college the best school I got into was one ranked #150 and I ended up attending a top 20 school.

[Anonymous]

^ if everything's due in early part of the fall, why does one need a gap YEAR?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ if everything's due in early part of the fall, why does one need a gap YEAR?

Because you can only get a temporary job for less than a year before school starts the following summer.

[Anonymous]

Law school admissions might not care but employers are going to ask about that gap in the resume and they will NOT be impressed if all you did was study for the LSAT.