Gaps in education

[bushwickbill180]

I dropped out of college for 6 years and finally completed BA last January. Any advice (canned language) as to the "break in education" question on applications besides "I was not ready for college, etc." Thanks!

[kasper11]

I think it really depends on what you did during that period. Were you working? Did you travel? Vollunteer? I would talk up the experience you gained during that time.

[ANGELSBBJ.D.]

I dropped out of college for 6 years and finally completed BA last January. Any advice (canned language) as to the "break in education" question on applications besides "I was not ready for college, etc." Thanks!

I quit school for 7 years and am one year away from my B.A. in sociology.  I'm planning on going to ls and my ls counselor told me that it shouldn't hurt me to bad.  Just explain what you were doing.  I was working the whole time.

[thescreed]

I flunked out and returned 12 years later. I've been told by pre-law advisor and professors who have been writing LORs for decades that if you have a strong record of accomplishment in the years you are out of school, adcomms will basically disregard anything older than 5 years.

In fact, one of the reform proposals for law school admissions is to stop requiring the reporting of grades older than five years. They don't report LSAT scores more than 5 years old, even though the LSAT is supposed to test an aptitude that shouldn't change much over the years. Meanwhile, grown adults with professional records are still held accountable for mistakes made when they were basically kids. It's not fair.

Bottom line: good LSAT, good resume and your old grades should matter much. I hope!!

[bushwickbill180]

Thanks all..good advice!

[shaz]

that's good to know.

[ljl3y]

Boy I hope that turns out to be true!  Here's to the splitters, and the non-trads!  When we've all attended T14 schools and are out changing the world in the name of justice and stuff, we'll meet each other randomly in first class seats (the ones that lie down flat for the whopping four hours it takes to get from NYC to London) and we'll all laugh at the silly kids who went straight through UG and got 4.0s - what do they know about life, we'll say... and then we'll take turns showing pics of our kids to each other ...



don't mind me ... just giddy that there was no strike so I didn't have to hoof it from Brooklyn in the rain this morning...