withdrawing apps...taking a year off and reapplying.

[Saint Willy]

Im beginning to think that I do not want to go to law school next
year. There are several reasons why I may put it off a year or two and
reapply.

I will discuss my reasons later ... but does anyone know how this
will affect me in reapplying?

Will I be penalized by schools at which I have already been accepted for reapplying next year or the year after?
Do I need new letters of recommendation?
I guess I would have to write a completely new PS?

Does anyone have any idea?

[TDPookie1]

1. i don't think you'll be penalized.  savannah did the same thing, and she was accepted really quickly at UT because they treated her like a deferral.

2. you can use the same LORs.  they'll still be on file at LSAC.  (i think this is what savannah did too.)

3. you should write a new PS to address what you did during that one-year gap.

the advantage will be that you'll already have everything (transcripts, LORs) on file.  keep a copy of all the stuff you submitted so that next year when you're  doing the apps again, you can do them quickly because you won't have to figure out dates all over again.  just write a new PS and submit as soon as they'll accept your app.

[ilsox7]

What she said.  Also, if you have been accepted, inquire about deferring a year.  This way you don't even have to reapply.

[Saint Willy]

deferring isn't really an option because i am not sure where I want to attend, and I dont think I  can make the decision right now.

I have had a lot of crud happen with my applications (those who are familiar with me know this) and i just found out that my grandfather has early  alzheimer's .
I am not sure that going "away" is the best thing for me right now.

I sort of want a clean slate when i do reapply.

[TDPookie1]

What she said.  Also, if you have been accepted, inquire about deferring a year.  This way you don't even have to reapply.

deferral usually requires that you commit to that school, and you can't apply to other schools in the meantime.  i don't know whether that's the case for ALL schools or just for the ones i've seen.

a clean slate will be nice, esp since i know the crud of which you speak   it may not be COMPLETELY clean, as some schools ask whether you've applied before, esp if it was in the last couple of years since they keep applications on file for a little while.  but that shouldn't be a problem, and really the "crud" that happened wasn't that big of a problem anyway.  it was an annoyance, but i can't imagine it would impact any decisions.  it'll be nice for you to just have the one clean app next year, though.

i'm really sorry to hear about your grandfather   i hope everything works out!

[ilsox7]

Understood.  Sorry to hear about your Grandfather.  I know it's tough.  My Grandpa had a stroke the night before the LSAT 4 weeks ago.  We're lucky he's even alive right now.

Good luck with everything and you'll be in my prayers.

[TDPookie1]

aww, sorry about your grandfather too

mine passed away over a month ago.  i hadn't seen him in over 10 years, though, so it's not quite the same as your situations.