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For those that quit their jobs to study
Mustbe8Characters
Member
I know that there are a couple of 7Sagers who ended up quitting their jobs to study. For those who have done this, do you mind telling me your rationale for quitting and whether or not you thought it was worth it?
Thanks!
Comments
Because my uGPA is competitive, and a scholarship from any of the T14 could potentially be worth several years of pre-tax income that I could get from working.
My former job was really impacting my ability to focus on the exam. I also became sick. It took some convincing, but I am happy I humbeled myself and moved back home. I have made much stronger gains focusing on the test on a full time schedule. There are some who can work full time and study, but I am definitely not one of those people. I much prefer studying full time for the LSAT than suffering with my condition at my former job.
I stopped working for a little over a year and spent some of that time studying and applying. I wanted to get my life in order and be around my kids a lot before starting law school (I'm older, in my 40's), and I figured it would be my last chance to have that much freedom for a long time. My job and lengthy commute were also impacting my study time and alertness (I was chronically sleep deprived, much clearer to me now than then). In the end I probably could have been more efficient with studying and ended up in the same place, but it took me a while to figure out what I needed to do and I honestly kept falling asleep listening to the core curriculum on the weekends; once I quit I felt like I was finally understanding what JY was saying and it became interesting. I had enough work experience that I didn't feel that I needed anything more for my application. Although I was told by a couple of folks at a well-known admissions consulting firm that quitting would be a terrible idea before applying because it would look bad, I decided to ignore them because it didn't make sense to me personally. (The benefit of being older - you trust your intuition more and see other's opinions as just opinions, although they did freak me out at the time). My work history already showed I could work hard and I had a good excuse for stopping (kids). Fortunately, my gap made no difference at all to the admissions committees. I got into all the schools I expected to get into with my scores and even one reach school plus higher scholarships than I expected. Overall, it was totally, totally worth it. I'm in a much better place to start law school now. If I couldn't have stopped working altogether, I would have taken on a "fun" or "interesting" job just to pay the bills, because life's too short to be exhausted and overwhelmed all the time.
Definitely worth it! I was tired when I would get home and this means less focused on LSAT. LSAT is one of those tests that I believe requires all your mental energy and even a little bit deficiency in mental alertness can cause a decrease in points.
I do think that quitting has its own stress -financial and you can easily lose a sense of schedule. Because of that its really important to stick to a strict LSAT daily schedule and treat LSAT like it was your full time job. It's also really important that you can take the quitting financially. I was able to not have rent or any big bills when I quit. I am very lucky in that I have family who is incredibly supportive of my dreams and more than that always encouraged me to quit and just focus on LSAT. So that transition was actually pretty easy as my family was all for it. I also have friends who are all about their school career and are full/overtime students, so socially it was not a big transition as well.
Looking back, I am so glad it made that change.
I don't think I would be here in a good position if I had not.
I just graduated last year, so my situation might be different, but I was doing a full-time internship while going through the CC -- working from 7:30am - 3:30pm before coming home and studying for most of the evening and sleeping around 11 or 12pm. I was able to study well most of the time, but there were definitely days I didn't get enough sleep and tough days at work that sometimes affected my ability to get work done (the atmosphere at my workplace wasn't positive, unfortunately). I also wasn't as active as I used to be -- a desk job was a tough transition, so I think that may have contributed to not being as efficient as I normally was.
I ended up turning down an internship extension and a full-time job offer because, while my uGPA isn't bad by any means, it makes me a splitter for several of my target schools. Devoting time to the LSAT could means a score that could get me into my target schools and possibly some scholarship money. A good school also means better job prospects. In the long-run this would most definitely compensate for my lost income from not working for a year.
Hi there! This post caught my eye since I quit my job 2 months ago in order to study/finish up my degree. I was working & going to school full-time so adding the 3rd element of LSAT study would have been too much for me! I definitely think it was worth it for my situation since I prioritized what mattered to me. Studying well, getting a good LSAT score, having free time to apply to schools, etc., were all more important than keeping my job. If you have the ability to do it, then it's worth it. You obviously need to save your $$ beforehand but it is doable! Hope this helps --
@Sami - I'm in the same boat. I'm thinking about quitting my full time job to study for the LSAT. How long did it take for you to reach your target score? Another thing I'm worried about is how adcoms would view an employment gap in my resume - any insight/advice?
Hi there! I quit my job in May 2019 so hopefully I can offer some perspective on your decision. Quitting has not been without its ups and downs. I think the answer regarding whether you or anyone should is highly dependent on circumstances, family, and financial situation.
Here are a few considerations:
1) Can you support yourself financially (rent, bills, groceries, etc)?
2) How many months are you giving yourself to study for the LSAT? 3, 6, 9, etc?
3) Are you a disciplined of enough person to treat studying like 9 to 5+ job?
4) Are you prepared for the possibility that you may not reach your score even though you quit your job?
5) Are you leaving a job where you have worked to rise through the ranks or one where you'd be happy leaving?
6) After you take LSAT, are you prepared to find another job for another year until you go to school? What is your region's job market like? Finding a job with similar salary and responsibilities will likely be difficult and, in reality, many employers will ask themselves: why should I hire this person that is planning to law school in a year (assuming you tell them)? Finding a job can also add an additional 2-3 months.
7) How will you handle your employment gap on your resume?
8) Do you have people that will support your decision (friends, family)? If you don't, are you prepared to tackle unemployment, solely studying for months at a time, without support or understanding from folks around you?
Regarding 4, to be completely transparent, I took the September LSAT and bombed it. My test score made me second-guess my decision considerably. I had foregone months of income, spent money rather than made money, and had, frankly, accomplished very little (in terms of an LSAT score) to show for it. I'm still in the process of studying and planning to re-take in January 2020.
This may sound 'doom-and-gloom' but I want to stress how important of a decision it is (dependent on your circumstances). I have looked at the entire experience much like investing in a business. Where, in this case, I'm the business and my long-term goal is getting into law school. I've had to adjust to repeated failures, re-evaluate my strategy regarding this test, and keep focused - all without any certainty that I will reach the score I want. Unfortunately, like most new businesses or startups, they fail. So, not reaching your goal is something you have to be prepared for and learn from.
Regardless, I have learned much about myself in the process, and I'm happy I did it (ask me again in 2 months haha).
In the process of applying for jobs (mid-level, my experience is government affairs) and I can tell you: navigating the employment gap depends on the type of jobs your applying for, and how you pitch your gap to an interviewer. If it's entry-level, seasonal work, then you should be fine. If you're applying for mid-level jobs, you need a good story.
I hope the best in what you decide. If you want to talk in more detail, feel free to PM me. I'd be happy to give more detail.
EDIT: For additional context, I had been studying and working full-time from August 2018 till May 2019.
I think it really depends. I was working in a foreign country, and the workplace was a competitive environment. I went to Starbucks every morning before work for around 1.5 hours, 30 minutes during lunch time, and 1-2 hours after work. I studied 8-9 hours on weekends. Although it definitely affected my studies to an extent, I feel like I was more desperate and self-motivated to study during this time. After I quit, I began to study full-time for around 9 months. Of course I had more time to spend, but on the flip side, it put more pressure on me because of my own expectations/other's expectations. People (me including) thought that I should be doing better because I was studying full-time. So I suffered a mental downtime, and although I managed to pull myself through (no more LSAT for me!), I don't know if I could do it all over again. My advice to you would be to think through the pros and cons. Just because you have more time to study, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll do better (mentally, at least).
I actually took a study leave from work
I am off for 6 months and return in January (I write in two weeks)
If I were you, I would first request a study leave or a sabbatical. Take a solid 3-6 months to focus on the LSAT full time. I took 6 months off, but I find I am a much slower learner. Also, I am not aiming for a T14. If you are, then you need more time.
Alternatively, you can look into finding a new job and work only part time (say 20 hours a week). What kind of job do you currently have? I work in audit, and I work long hours (typically 50+hrs per week) so it is really not feasible to study for the LSAT and work full time
Make a budget for yourself, calculate your rent, food, transportation etc. And see how long you can go given your current savings.
I think it also depends on where you work, and your ultimate goals post- law school. My employer recently offered to help finance my law school education and have extended the option of working for them both during/after law school, if I'd be interested. My direct manager is a corporate lawyer herself, and has been pretty supportive of my long-term goals- I've been very lucky in that regard. I've worked out an arrangement with them where I can work from home or take time off to just focus on studying.
For further context, I've been working as a paralegal for two years within the field of corporate law. I think I'd like to continue on in this field, post law school. Right now, at the very least I have a strong network to fall back on, should I ever need it. So, before fully quitting, I would recommend checking to see if your place of employment can offer an extended leave period or working out another flexible arrangement for you to balance both working and studying, if possible. Best of luck.
After graduating from undergrad, I moved across the country for a fellowship program. When that ended, I unexpectedly ended up working on the east coast for another year. After two years on the east coast, I honestly got really homesick and the NY winters were taking a toll on my mental health. I impulsively put in my two weeks at work (they totally understood and I still have a great relationship with them!) and moved back home to be closer to family and to study for the LSAT. I am really lucky to have two loving parents who didn't ask questions about my decision and were ecstatic to have me home. I know everyone doesn't have that privilege so definitely consider if you can extend your study time if that's the case.
I'm not quite sure how I'll explain the four month gap in my applications tho. If anyone has a similar experience, pls let me know.
I'm sort of in the same boat: I quit my job last summer and have been studying full time since then. To pad my resume and ensure that this significant lull in my employment history doesn't sink my application, I've been volunteering consistently with several organizations, legal and otherwise. I was fortunate to find opportunities that only require a few hours a week of volunteering and that don't disrupt my study schedule. For instance, I have more than a year of volunteering at a homeless shelter and I've been doing volunteer work at a public interest organization that proffers legal services to the poor and underrepresented. On top of that, last year I volunteered on a couple of successful congressional campaigns and am currently volunteering on a presidential campaign. Recently, I met with a family friend who's an attorney and he did me the favor of going over my resume to see if it needed polishing before I apply to law school, and he actually remarked that he was quite impressed by all my volunteer experience. So volunteering and non-profit work can certainly be helpful.
I had been contemplating going to law school for nearly two years. I officially quit my full-time job due to wages (commission) not be fully paid out and overlooked by a promotion. I knew this was my opportunity! I left 9/6/19, and two weeks later, I started collecting unemployment. My wife works full time, and unemployment helps. I am still finishing my undergrad as well online. It worked out for me. I quit my job and have about four months to collect.
@"a. valdez" I have a very similar experience! I worked in NYC after college for 2 years and got really homesick. I moved back home to LA in January and started working part-time in March, but quit in July to study full-time. I was planning to write an addendum explaining that I was studying during the gap period, but I’m worried that the time off/not working will hurt my application. Thoughts?