This has been on my mind a lot lately--I've been studying Mandarin on and off for about 4 years, and recently became quite serious about it. It's rather sad to know that once I go to law school I'll essentially be unable to proceed in my language study to any meaningful degree, so my goal is to apply to a few programs and live in China for at least a year (State Department or teaching most likely).

I'm not really sure if it would be wise for me to send out applications this fall and then request a gap year if accepted (from what I've read, only 5-10 requests are granted per year), or if I should simply wait and apply upon my return. If the latter, is there a way for me to somehow save or store recommendation letters from my current professors? I imagine it would be unwise to take advantage of that resource, especially if forgoing it means resorting to non-native English speakers writing them instead.

If anyone has experience with anything remotely related, I would be very glad to hear your thoughts. :)