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Law School Application Concern

kunzzzzzkunzzzzz Alum Member
edited September 2014 in General 29 karma
Hey fellow 7sagers!

I'd love to hear some input regarding an issue that's been buggin' me for quite some time.

So I completed my undergraduate degree in May of this year. After graduation, I was accepted into a summer fellowship program which ended in August. Upon completion of the fellowship, I began studying full time for the December 2014 exam using 7sage and the LSAT Trainer. While I feel that I've certainly improved my skills since then, I'm considering to push back the test date to February 2015. My goal is to score a 170 or higher, and feel that spending more time to study will be necessary for me to achieve this.

However, one of my concerns regarding this is the effect it will have on my law school application and what law schools will think when they notice that I was unemployed from August 2014 until February 2015. I underestimated the difficulty of this exam and would prefer to study full time until February, but also I'm concerned whether a seven month gap of unemployment would significantly hurt my application.

Any sort of advice would be much appreciated. Would love to hear what others have to say.

Good luck ya'll!

Cheers,
Kunal

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Comments

  • godawgs24godawgs24 Alum Member
    53 karma
    Hey man, it depends on when you are trying to start law school.

    I would NOT recommend you taking that test date if you are applying for Fall of 2015. Dec should be the latest test you take.

    If you are applying for admission for Fall of 2016, then you can even push the test back to June 15 or even Oct 15.

    Your score on the LSAT and your UGPA make up the bulk of what most schools look at. Lack of work experience won't hurt you if you make up for that with a great LSAT score. I've been studying for the test full-time as well since June so don't stress over the fact that you aren't working. I have friends that took a year off solely to study and performed well on the test (170+) and got into all the schools that they wanted to despite their lack of employment during the entire year.
  • helloitsdianahelloitsdiana Alum Member
    67 karma
    Hey thank you for posting this. I recently quit my full-time job to dedicate myself to study full-time. It's been hard for me to really dedicate myself at 100% just because I am so used to working and going to school so just focusing on one thing is pretty hard. But I am thinking of volunteering or doing a part-time just so that it won't look like that is all I was doing (especially if my LSAT score isn't as high as I am hoping). I think at the end of the day it really depends on you--can you be okay with just focusing on one thing without distractions? if so then i don't think it will affect you negatively if you get a great LSAT score.
  • poohbearpoohbear Alum Member
    496 karma
    Hey just wanted to give my little input on this-- I'm a recent grad as well and was studying full time up until recently. I've decided that I wanted to get a little more involved with causes that I'm still really interested in and do more for them so I apply to two different internships. I've been accepted into both (they require at least 16 hrs each) but decided to only take on one. So right now I'm part-time interning/volunteering for this organizing and studying for the rest of the time. I honestly think it's up to you and if you're satisfied mentally and emotionally about where you are in life. For me, I've been studying full time for a few months now and felt like I was missing something so part time interning has been great to just let me do something a little bit different and worthwhile in my time. I will be honest though, it's been a challenge figuring out how plan out my time and balance the two. Best of luck!!
  • kunzzzzzkunzzzzz Alum Member
    29 karma
    Thank you all for the quick responses. After giving it plenty of thought, I've decided that I'm going to continue to study full time for the February exam. Like @godawgs24 said, I personally feel that a killer LSAT score would trump work/interning experience. So it's time to keep on chopping!

    Thanks a ton for this. It really has put things into perspective. Good luck to you all!
  • immanueladeolaimmanueladeola Free Trial Member
    42 karma
    I agree with everything that has been said. I graduated with my BA in May, and did a summer internship as well, which also ended in August. My one regret is that I signed up for the September LSAT thinking I could juggle a part time internship in politics with LSAT prep (and watching the World Cup!) but I couldn't do so effectively. I didn't cancel my score because I think its good to have an accurate measure of where I am.

    But I'm taking the December LSAT with the mindset of getting into law school for Fall 2015. I'm not working or doing any job hunting until after my LSAT exam. I think its a huge sacrifice to take a gap year to get ready for law school, but it is also a worthwhile investment. If you are able to marshal all your brainpower, attention, and resources into the law school process, you will definitely be able to get into a good law school. As long as you have the loving financial and emotional support of your family or relatives, which is critical for a gap year, success is just a matter of you doing the best you can with what you have!

    I know you're all aware of the bleak job market for lawyers right now (which apparently the BLS says will get better starting in 2018 haha), and it's gonna get worse in the upcoming years before it gets better. So I think that makes it important and worthwhile to do everything possible to get into a top law school as to place ourselves in a better position in the legal job market after three years of law school and God knows how much in debt. So hang in there man, we're all here with you.

    And props to all of you for the support you give each other! I hope we all get perfect scores and laugh about this during 2L at Harvard haha. (I might consider a career in motivational speaking if law school doesn't work out)
  • DrackedaryDrackedary Member
    edited October 2014 239 karma
    My guess is that lack of work experience would hardly make a dent on your application to law school, which is based mostly on the LSAT and GPA. The exception might be if you attempt to apply in "discretionary" categories that some schools may have. These are mainly for people with life experiences and struggles that might speaker louder about an applicant's suitability than a pure LSAT/GPA consideration.

    Focus on your LSAT goal.
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