Law School+Gap Years

Consider Benefits, Consequences of Gap Years Between College and Law School

All rights belong to Shawn P. O'Connor

Some students might benefit from a few years off between college and law school.

Law schools do not require any prior work experience. However, many applicants take at least one year off after college before matriculating.

I actually took four years off between my undergraduate and JD/MBA studies. Here are some pros and cons of taking time off before attending law school.

Pros:
• More time for LSAT prep and applications: During college, you spend much of your time studying and writing papers, so finding enough extra time for LSAT preparation and essay writing can be a challenge.
By delaying the law school application process, you can ensure that you devote enough time to your preparation so that you reach your full LSAT score potential and compose the best possible essays, which are critical to winning a spot in your dream school.


•New essay topics: If you have been struggling to come up with compelling essay topics, you may benefit from gaining more life experience.
For example, doing a service program after college, like education-focused Teach For America and City Year, can give you the specific examples of leadership and overcoming obstacles that will differentiate your essays.
[Find out how to use news to customize your essays.]

• More savings: If you work for a couple years before law school, you can use that time to save money and lessen the financial burden of law school tuition and living expenses when you enroll.
Entry-level jobs may not always pay particularly well, but any money you can save will definitely help.

[Learn how to negotiate law school financial aid awards.]

• More perspective: After working for a year or two, you may realize that instead of going into law you actually want to pursue business and obtain an MBA or go into government and obtain an MPA. You may even decide that graduate school is not the right path for you.
Having this extra time to gain real-world work experience after college can give you more perspective and help you decide if law school is truly right for you.

Cons:
•Tough job market: While the economy is in recovery, jobs are still not readily available for all recent college graduates. As a result, finding a fulfilling job with a JD from a top school in three years will likely be easier than finding such a job right out of college.
[Find employers hiring grads from your college.]
If you are already certain that you want to go to law school and you have no specific reason to delay, starting right after college can be beneficial as you can start focusing on your long-term career immediately.

• Loss of motivation: If you are able to find compelling employment after college, you may lose some of the motivation to go to law school that may have felt strong while you were sitting in political science or philosophy classes in college.
A stable job with regular paychecks often brings with it a comfortable lifestyle. If you enjoy your job and it offers growth opportunity, law school may seem like less of a priority.

• More time to fill: Law schools prefer not to see substantial gaps in your résumé. If you take time off after college, you will need to fill that time with jobs, volunteer programs, or other activities.
You will need to be as active after graduation as you were during college. Leadership positions you held in college will not be as valuable in your applications a few years later if you have not held similar positions with, for example, nonprofit organizations since then.

• Loss of momentum: During college, you spend most weekends and nights studying and writing papers. If you start working after college, you may grow used to the opposite schedule of working during the day and having nights and weekends to yourself.

Since your first year law school grades are essential to your professional opportunities after law school, you do not want to falter in the beginning as you are readjusting to an academic lifestyle.

Planning and Preparing for a gap year: by a student for fellow students

Gap Year Can Present Opportunity if Planned Correctly

By KRIS VENEZIA

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Published: Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Updated: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 11:10

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Courtesy of Hugh Grannum/MCT

Students are increasingly taking gap years in-between high school and college to pursue non-academic interests.

More high school graduates are deciding that time away from the classroom is a better decision for them from college. The Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California-LosAngeles says about 1.2 percent of up-and-coming college freshmen will take a year off before heading to a university.

That is not a huge number, but it is a growing trend. And hey, why not spend a year exploring a new country, learning a new language or working to earn some money to pay for school?

Jeff Coltin, FCRH ’15, columnist for The Ram, wrote that he likes the idea of a gap year. He says that he would like to visit a Spanish-speaking country to learn the language intensively.

Bernie Stratford is the director of experimental education at Fordham University’s Office of Career Services. He says that if young adults are productive with their gap years, it can look good on a resume. 

“With the marketplace being as volatile and as dynamic as it is, employers are interested in students’ experiences,” Stratford said. “I don’t even consider the gap year a year off, it’s just another year developing your employability and developing as a person.”

Padding a resume is not the only reason people are delaying going to college; some students need time to save up cash. According to USA Today, tuition went up 15 percent from 2008 to 2010. Administrators in Fordham University’s Office of Admission say they understand that some students must defer going to college for a year because of financial reasons.

“Since 2008, we’ve seen more students expressing the need to save for college,” John Buckley, associate vice president for undergraduate enrollment, said. “Economic reasons [among deferring students] have probably climbed in recent years.”

The gap year can have its downsides, as some young adults struggle to find the motivation to get back into the swing of things. A study done in 2003 by the National Center for Education Statics shows that only roughly 15 percent of students who waited a year to go to college picked up a bachelor’s degree. In that same report, 44 percent of those who went straight to a university got their diploma.

There are some high school graduates who defer enrollment for a year and take classes at a community college. This is a risk, as students who perform poorly at a local school can hurt their status at other universities.

 “If they [gap year students] go to another school for a period of time to strengthen their academic profile, there would be a reassessment of their credentials” Buckley said.

Stratford agrees that anyone thinking about time off should have a strategy in place.

“If you’re going to take a year off, make sure you have a plan because the importance of receiving an undergraduate degree speaks for itself,” he said.

The U.S. Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections has some tips for those interested in taking a gap year. The department says students should figure out how their financial aid will be affected by talking to the school they are interested in attending. It is also important to plan out a budget that calculates living expenses for the year.

After talking with Fordham’s Office of Admission, career services and students on the Rose Hill campus, I thought about whether I would have taken a year off before coming to Fordham knowing what I do now. I could have gone to Italy, learned Italian and found a nice Italian gal to settle down with in Venice. Luckily, coming to the Big Apple from a small suburb in Arizona has worked out pretty well for me so far.

“The whole idea of a year off sounds like a good time,” Martin McCormack, FCRH ’15, said. “But I don’t regret my decision to come to New York City. I’m having a blast here.”

I could not agree more.

Education - anywhere, anytime, for everyone

This week we would like to highlight an article that was published in the Globe and Mail by Caroline Alphonsso.  Our gappers, and all gappers, are explorers of the world.  They are keenly interested in learning more about themselves, others and the world around them.  Often this means becoming aware of their place in the world and exploring ideas and beliefs around belonging. 

Katimavik, a Canadian volunteer program, recently cancelled by the Federal Government, offered the participants credits for their involvement in the program.   Why is this important, you ask?  Well, I invite you to read this article and think about the intersection of gapping as informal and experiential education.   Maybe while you are taking a gap year you want to learn more about your deepest passions - this could be a good place to start. 

What if anyone around the world could learn from the best instructors, for free? 

Daphne Koller is dramatically transforming the face of higher education, and she’s doing it through technology.  Dr. Koller, a professor at Stanford University, is also the co-founder of Coursera, a major U.S. initiative that offers open online courses for free to anyone in the world, from some of the best instructors in top institutions. The program has about 1.25-million enrolments, proof that students want more out of their university education than simply attending lectures.

More Innovator profiles

• David Helfand What if you only took one class at a time?
  
• Hossein Rahnama What if you could monetize your education?
  
• Robert Mendenhall What if you could receive university credit for what you already know
  

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"With the technologies that are now available, there is an opportunity to remarkably enhance the traditional lecture experience," Dr. Koller said.
Coursera holds plenty of appeal for older learners and those in remote locations around the world. And traditional undergraduates can build on what they are currently learning with courses that their university does not offer.
Students log in to Coursera, and have lecture modules every week and homework assignments that are graded for free either by their peers or through Coursera’s online program. For those who argue that there’s no substitute for face-to-face interaction, it turns out that students who take these courses self-organize into small online groups to work together. At the end of the course, students receive a certificate if they have mastered the material.
Coursera's success is evidence of the exploding interest in open online courses. More than two dozen universities, including the University of Toronto, offer courses through the online program. For Dr. Koller, it is about not denying anyone the opportunity to learn in a global economy.
"I would like to make it so that education was a right, and not a privilege. [So that] anyone around the world who felt the wish to learn ... that opportunity would be there for anyone, at any time, regardless of their geographic, financial or social circumstances."