taking a year off b/t college and law school?

[jammer]

Hmm... This all good advise. My only concern is actually GETTING an entry level job. I'm going to receive a BA in Classical Humanities so it's not like I'll have a relevant degree to any job to which I may apply (unless I teach) and I'm really concerned about that. Also, I'm right now under my parent's health insurance and that would be lost if I took a year off, another financial worry of mine. What would be a good entry-level job to take? Again, I understand the benefits of it all but I'm not sure I CAN get a good, fairly well-paying job that will allow me this freedom. 

Ha! I can relate as an English/Poli Sci major. The job market really sucks right now for any major, let alone anything with the liberal arts. From my experience, I found that most professional people didn't seem interested in hiring me when they found out I was going to law school. With the amount of planning that goes into law school and the admissions process, it wasn't exactly something I couldn't tell them. I went back to the BS job I had over the summer. Nothing great, but it makes money. When you take a year off, I'm not sure that it's critical to have professional work experience.

As for the insurance concern, you can find a decent plan to hold you over. I found cheap insurance with halfway decent coverage for around $60 a month until I can get back on my parents' plan at the start of school. No dental or vision or anything...just in case something big happens.

Is living at home out of the question? It's a helluva lot easier to save some cash living at home if it doesn't drive you crazy and if your parents don't mind.

[WashLaw]

Is living at home out of the question? It's a helluva lot easier to save some cash living at home if it doesn't drive you crazy and if your parents don't mind.

Yeah, it would be a lot cheaper. The problem is that I am currently living with them right now as an undergrad. What I was really hoping to do was to move out on my own for a year before adjusting to life in law school. I'm really not sure I want to live at home for another year just to save some money.

[Special Agent Dana Scully]

Is living at home out of the question? It's a helluva lot easier to save some cash living at home if it doesn't drive you crazy and if your parents don't mind.

Yeah, it would be a lot cheaper. The problem is that I am currently living with them right now as an undergrad. What I was really hoping to do was to move out on my own for a year before adjusting to life in law school. I'm really not sure I want to live at home for another year just to save some money.

Do it.  Seriously.  I moved back home after college...it wasn't that bad...but I was able to save 10gs to start school off (to buy my laptop, furniture, etc...still have over 5gs left).

[MrDiggler]

Take a year off just to be sure you want to be a lawyer. You may think you want it now, but make sure. There's no race to get a JD (especially not in this economy). There is, however, a high attrition and low satisfaction rate among lawyers in the industry -- many of whom attribute this to just going to law school because it seemed like the next thing to do.

I consider myself the polar opposite. I didn't want to go to law school when I graduated 2 years ago. Over time I realized that it was what I wanted and I am starting in 3 months.

Work experience can't hurt you when you apply. Take the year off. Make an informed decision. You may think you want it now, but you should approach your own intuitions with a healthy dose of skepticism...like lawyer would.

[$Bill]

My year(s) (2005) off have killed my academic abilities and made me lazy and dare I say...indolent?  I fear grad school.  Maybe not TCR but thats how I feel.

[Team Awesome]

My time off made me 100% sure of my decision to go back. It's made me think more realistically about debt load. I've had my chance to go out and get hammered on a Tuesday night. It's out of my system so I can buckle down and focus come fall.

I really recommend some time off if you're thinking you might benefit from it.

[cantwaitforuva]

If you think time off would help you mentally I say go for it. I've talked to many people who did take time off and not one regretted it.

However I'm not going to take time off. Here are my reasons: I know that law school is the thing for me so I don't need time to make sure, I would have to start paying my ugrad loans if I took time off and there is no way I could afford that with an entry level job in the city I currently live and would want to work in, and I want to have a new start for myself (ie I'm not sad about leaving my friends). Perhaps most importantly, there is a huge opportunity cost to consider when taking a year off. If I took a year off I would at most be making $50k. That's a potential loss of $150k because if I went straight through I would have an extra year of possibly making $200k (160 in salary and about 35 in bonus). While it might be worth it to some, it is not worth taking time off to me because of the amount of debt I currently have.

[MrDiggler]

Incidently, all the former lawyers and law students I know who have left practice/school all thought that law school was the thing for them when they completed their undergrad.

[cantwaitforuva]

Incidently, all the former lawyers and law students I know who have left practice/school all thought that law school was the thing for them when they completed their undergrad.

I know many people who only see the study of law as a means to an end. I think these people are far more likely to leave legal study/practice than those who truly love law. I am the latter.

This is something I've wanted to do for over 10 years, so it is not a whim or even something I discovered while in college. I love the law and that is why I know it is what I want to do. I used to read Black's Law Dictionary for fun and reading an E&E gives me as much excitement as the latest Harry Potter gives others. I have also had the priviledge of taking classes not offered to the average student with some great lawyers who ran their classes both in style and content like a regular law school course. I've even had the pleasure of studying the intricacies of civil and common law and how they impact potential EU collaboration at a prestigious school in Europe. I know that law is what I want to study and practice and I have the experience to back up that assertion.

[MrDiggler]

thats very impressive.

to OP: by and large, I would recommend waiting a year before enrolling.