Gap year advice--applying to T14

<p>So, I'm planning to take at 1-3 years between now and law school. I'm not applying this year because I'd like to have my senior year grades in my GPA, so my gap year(s) will be an important component of my application.<br>
-I am at a top 20 school now for undergrad.<br>
-I would like to go to a top 6 law school and my stats are very consistent with their admits, although I will apply to every T14. </p>

<p>Basically here are my choices:
-I am applying for Peace Corps
-I am considering doing a master's program in South Korea (mostly to work on my language skills)
-I could stay here for an extra year and get my master's (4+1 program)
-I could stay here and work in civil service for a bit (considering working with local law enforcement or DCS)
...if I do the last two I will foster parent. This is something I am passionate about and would really like to do, because there is an incredible need for foster parents here and I am well-qualified (lots of childcare/special needs experience, I work with at-risk youth, etc). </p>

<p>Basically, I'm not sure what I should do during my gap year(s), and I don't know what is the best choice for law school. I really want to foster parent but I also recognize that it would be difficult to balance with school, and I want to be sure of my choice before I make that kind of commitment. If I'm accepted to peace corps I will almost definitely do that, but because I am not very flexible with location it's much less likely I will get it. </p>

<p>I'd love to get some advice on this. Due to very different deadlines for some of these possibilities, I need to make my choice sooner rather than later and I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out what I want to do. </p>

<p>None of those choices are relevant to law school. I’d definitely not go for a master’s though unless you’re doing it for free and it’s in a field that’s actually useful for law (EE/CS). What’s the point of another degree before a JD? Law firms like to see work experience, so if Peace Corps doesn’t work out, working is definitely your best option from a legal employment standpoint.</p>

<p>disagree with demo on this one. Peace Corps is a nice soft (academics love it), much better than the standard MA. (Of course, nothing will beat high GPA+LSAT.)</p>

<p>But need more information: foster parent? May I assume that you are a non-traditional student? If not, do you really think that DCS will give a child to a near child of ~22 years of age?</p>

<p>I would do Peace Corps or the master’s in South Korea. Both of those are “explainable” and could be good segues into working abroad in a US law firm’s foreign offices, or focusing on a practice targeting a particular foreign geographic area.</p>

<p>If you have no interest in that, however, then I’d just work for a year or two in the field that you want to be in (e.g., if you want to be a real estate lawyer, work in a real estate business). Prior work experience in the field that you want to go into as a lawyer would be good because it would make interviewing much easier: “Your firm does practice area X; I worked for 2 years after college in a business in that industry, and so I know how the deals are done and I just love the industry, so your firm is a perfect match.”</p>

<p>Staying and getting a master’s in the US or working for civil service will not add anything to your legal practice or interviewing.</p>

<p>22 year olds can absolutely foster if they meet the requirements (spare bedroom, training, homestudy, enough income, etc.). I think the income issue is the biggest one if you are planning to do grad school. Also, foster care can last much longer than 1-3 years. Would you be willing to stay in your area for law school if you had a child placed with you? Would you need to relinquish that child? Most agencies wouldn’t let you move to a different state before adoption, and some might not even let you move out of the county. </p>

<p>I took two years off between undergrad and law school. I went to grad school for 1 year in London and worked the other year. I recently graduated a T10 law school and will starting working for a firm this fall. As a general note, some people will say that getting a masters is useless. I tend to disagree entirely. It all depends on the program (and strength of the school) and why you are doing it. </p>

<p>To be honest, it doesn’t matter too much what you do as long as you do something. In short, all of your options are good options. The peace corps will give you an edge… South Korea might be good. To make it truly valuable, you need to have a longterm goal attached to it (e.g., you want to work for a large international law firm so that you can work on cross-border transactions… or international arbitration). Working as a local law enforcement agent would be interesting… And if you choose to be a foster parent, that is an interesting story if you’re interested in child advocacy. </p>

<p>The benefits of waiting a couple of years to go to law school are that 1. you generally have a more concrete idea of what you want to do (although that can change) and 2. you know what it’s like work and to have a crappy job OR suffer through getting a masters… Never underestimate the value of #2 because that’s what keeps you level headed in the long run when most of your classmates go crazy. </p>

<p>Good luck. If you have any questions, of course, just PM</p>