Will gap semester during college influence law school admission?

jmcmomo619

I am currently a sophomore and plan to take a gap semester to better prepare for LSAT and internships. Will this gap year influence my law school admissions. Should I justify and explain reasons of this gap semester when I apply? I am confused and genuinely appreciate some answers!

gracelowery1

The age of law school students is going to vary more than the age of students in your undergrad classes now. Plenty of law schools accept students who have taken gap year(s). If you can, I would try to get a job or internship relating to law. I notice you say gap semester twice- if you're planning on applying to start in the spring term for law school I would be pretty careful, only some schools allow this and it puts you at a disadvantage for internships/clerkships/jobs in the summer because compared to your classmates, you will only have one semester of grades to show for

SubpoenaColada

If I understand correctly, you're planning to graduate a semester early and take the spring semester to study. It will be helpful to do something during your gap semester, such as low time commitment volunteering or a part time job - mostly because law schools will be curious what you did with your time if you weren't enrolled in college. Some law schools even ask for a detailed breakdown of what you did when you weren't in school (i.e. usually summer breaks); Harvard and some others ask for this. Aside from that, law schools won't mind that you graduated early.

HOWEVER, if you're saying that you're taking a gap semester in the middle of completing your degree...it's highly unusual to do this purely for the sake of LSAT studying. Having a gap with no explanation aside from studying for the LSAT may hurt you in admissions. Remember that you're applying with applicants who studied for the LSAT while working or in school. Why not study during the summer when you have less academic commitments?