Should I apply to law school even if I know I want to defer because of TFA

sidney.wright-1-1

I was accepted into TFA last spring and I definitely plan on serving. TFA has certain schools that allow you to defer if you are accepted into TFA for the two year commitment but typically people apply during their senior year of college so they are waiting for both acceptances at the same time. For me, I applied early as a junior so Im entering into my senior year already knowing that I will start TFA at the end of the school year. I want to apply to law school now but I'm unsure how admitting that I want to defer for 2 years would look. Do you think this will hurt or harm my chances?

eldavis

Current 2nd year TFA member here who was accepted to TFA through the junior admit program. I can't speak to what the "right" thing for you to do is, but I can speak to my own thought process/experience.

I spoke with a few law school reps about how TFA would be perceived in the admissions process and how the deferments worked at a grad school fair. My understanding is that if the school has committed to granting the deferments than they won't penalize you in the process for requesting one. Also, if a school doesn't publicly state they grant deferments for TFA they still might give you one (definitely check with schools you're interested if the deferment route is the option you take). The reps I talked to seemed enthusiastic about my TFA plans and gave me positive feedback on both deferring and waiting.

A downside to applying now as opposed to at the start of your 2nd year is that you won't be able to speak about your TFA experience in your app. My app will be heavily centered on my commitment to public service and TFA fits really well into that narrative. I also thought I would raise my GPA a bit my senior year and had some unusual LSAT circumstances (LSAC canceled my administration so I took it later than planned) that made my decision to wait easier. A factor I didn't consider as I was making this decision in 2019, but you should is how crazy this cycle might be. My guess is a lot of the pandemic driven craziness will be gone in two years (though this is total speculation). The big cons to waiting to apply are lacking the certainty of where you will be at the end of TFA (I can't wait to know where I'll be so I can start planning lol) and having to deal with applying during TFA (I'm trying to use the summer to get a lot done, but know if will be overwhelming still since I start teaching again early August). There isn't a right or wrong move here so do you. Best of luck teaching. You're going to rock it.