Taking Time Off Between College and Law School Lends Perspective for Many

Undergraduates enter law school with different objectives. For some, it's a plan to weather a tough economy and hope for better job opportunities when they graduate. However, according to the article, those Yale students interviewed felt that taking some time off to work between receiving their bachelor's degree and entering law school helped them mature, and helped them decide what type of law they wanted to study, or not study. In addition, they felt it gave them conviction in their decision to enter law school.

Interestingly, only 20 percent of the first-year class at Yale Law School began their studies directly after college. Over half of the remaining population had taken time off, and had been out of school for two plus years.

Taylor Asen LAW '12, worked for several years before going to law school. He was quoted as saying: ''For younger people, law school can sometimes feel like just an extension of college. But for older students, it has a more professional feel.''

In addition to gaining perspective, having real world experience appeared to correlate directly with a strong personal statement, a key element of the law school application.

Dean of Admissions Asha Rangappa LAW '00 was quoted as saying: ''Sometimes the experiences themselves can also just make them more interesting, particularly if they are able to write about it. Somebody working in an investment bank during the economic meltdown is going to have something real that they looked at, and if that's what they are interested in, possibly a more thoughtful personal statement.''

Romy Ganschow LAW '12 took over two years off to involve herself in social work, teaching and advocacy, and she wrote about these experiences in her personal statement. ''I briefly mentioned the other things I had tried and how experiencing other things had convinced me that law was the right path,'' she was quoted as having said in an e-mail.

Brigid Davis LAW '12, was quoted as saying: ''Even if you know you have a passion for the environment or prison reform, you might not necessarily know if you want to pursue that in government or direct services or public policy. I think that's one of my big regrets: not having the time to have figured that out as much. If I had done some legislative advocacy before coming to law school, for instance, at least I could have known whether I could rule that out.''

However, that's not to say going to law school directly from college doesn't have its merits as well.

Stephanie Turner LAW '12 was quoted as saying: ''It's not the case that students who come straight through don't write good personal statements or have good reasons for coming to law school. Otherwise we wouldn't be here. [But] if you are a junior or senior in college, thinking that law school might be an option but having a really hard time figuring out exactly why you want to go to law school and coming up with a personal statement, you might want to consider whether that process would be easier for you a few years down the road.''