I just found it through college credit I have from summer classes I can graduate from my college in 3 years. I checked and I can still complete all my gen eds and also a major in PoliSci and a concentration in Human Rights in 3 years. But I can’t do a minor in Philosophy like I had planned. Is it worth it to grauduate early??? I’d go straight to law school either way.
What do you WANT to do? Will graduating a year early mean significant-to-you financial savings? Were you looking forward to studying more philosophy?
I personally believe you only have a shot at the real “college experience” once in your life. I advise young people to make the most of it, and in your case that would be four years, with a minor you’re interested in, and possibly a very intellectually/personally rewarding senior year.
But not all young people are alike. If you’re anxious to move on, maybe graduating in 3 years makes sense. You’ve given us too few details to really advise.
I’ll tell you one thing: you’d be smart to take a year off between undergrad and law school. Law school is a grind, a year “in the real world” would do you a world of good. So maybe graduate in 3 years, work/play/relax for a year and then do law school?
Well, you won’t know if you will go to law school right away for a while - right now, any law school outside the top 14 (20 tops) is NOT worth the investment due to an oversupply of lawyers and restructuration in the way law firms work.
And if you graduate, thinking you’ll go to law school, but don’t get into one, you’re stuck (and if you graduate, you can’t be eligible for financial aid anymore.)
Do you have a class in statistics? Perhaps something related to data science? Those are very useful skills to have.
Are you on scholarship? What are your costs?
I’m not on scholarship, and I am eager to start learning law. But I don’t want to miss out on too much of the “college experience.” I also would like to do a dual law degree in the Us and England. I eventually want to be an international human rights lawyer. I am really driven and I am 100% going to do law. I am one of those people who know exactly what they want to do. I do have a soft spot for Philosophy, but I don’t want a career in it. Would graduating from undergrad early look better or worse to law schools?
Law schools likely will not care about early graduation - it may in fact have a slight detriment given your young age relative to your LS peers. Many law schools are trying to deviate away from typical KJD applicants. Some law schools are beginning to emphasize work experience as a crucial part of the application. There’s really no compelling reason to begin law school right after undergrad - you don’t actually know what law school study is like, so to sacrifice potentially meaningful experiences so you can pursue your study seems questionable. I’m sure there aren’t any lawyers who somehow wish they could’ve started law school earlier - but for those who took time off in between UG and LS to travel, volunteer, and so on - they likely wish they had MORE time to do that. Law school will always be there for you, but you’re only young and obligation-free once.
International human rights law is a very, very niche field. Are you fluent/proficient in a second language? Does that language happen to be French, Arabic, Spanish, German, or Mandarin/Cantonese? Any career that involves foreign relations tends to demand (or at least anticipate) proficiency in another language - particularly a language that is spoken by large swaths of people in the developing world (ME/NA, Sub-Saharan Africa, South/Central America, Southeast Asia, and so on.)
Also, keep in mind that over saturation is a very real thing in the legal market. Many JDs, despite being very intelligent and ambitious, simply are not finding jobs. They are either relegated to jobs they had no interest in doing (doc review, etc.) or they can’t find a JD-required job at all. While you may think that you are “100% going to do law” that may not come to fruition. This is not a value judgment on you - many unemployed JDs are very intelligent and motivated but sometimes that’s not enough. In a field where there’s more lawyers than JD positions, such is the nature of the beast.
Law is an incredibly pedigree driven field and you really have to hustle in if you aren’t graduating from the tippy top law schools in the country (even students from t-14 schools like GULC are struggling.) I’m not trying to be apocalyptic or anything - it is just that law school is a huge investment of time, energy, and, most important, money and for many students after the recession, that investment doesn’t pan out in their favor.
@preamble1776 Your response is really helpful, thanks! I am currently taking Spanish but I may switch to French (possibly want to work with Sub-Saharan Africa). Either way I plan on becoming fluent. I understand law is a pretty full field, but I have other career options I would be willing to explore if necessary (teaching, etc). I guess what I really meant is I’m going to 100% try and do law. Maybe I can graduate in three years and take a year or two to work/intern/volunteer for a non-profit or some kind of humanitarian work in a different country so I could become fluent in the language (be it Spanish, French, etc.) Would that be a good way to spend time between undergrad and law school and also be strong on an application to law school?
How about you go for a semester abroad in a French speaking African country?
Two years is too short to become fluent but with a semester abroad you would potentially reach a workable level.
As mentioned above, Law schools will not be impressed wirh one less year devoted to learning, especially if you don’t plan to work before you apply, and you shouldn’t attend a Law school that isn’t at the top of the rankings. (as much as it doesn’t matter for college, it does for law school).
The issue with your plan is that, if you graduated early, that’s it. You’re no longer eligible for financial aid and your GPA is fixed. If you don’t get into a top law school, you’re stuck.
Graduating a year early is smart and definitely worth it. That’s ONE extra year of your life that you have to yourself. That’s ONE extra year of your life you can spend making money and saving for retirement.
This seems like a small insignificant period of time but it does add up to the overall of your life.
I graduated high school early and don’t regret it.
@MYOS1634 Yeah I was considering doing a study abroad like that, either for semester or in the summer. That’s true about the GPA, I do plan to go to a top law school. @LostHobo143 That’s what I was thinking about graduating early, that I’d have one less year before I complete my schooling and start my career.
I disagree with LostHobo; plus there’s a big difference between high school and college. Leaving college one year early isn’t going to make a big financial difference over the course of your life. But staying in college that one year could give you opportunities you can only get while in college. (A minor, study abroad, etc.) You have ambitious plans for the future, and I don’t think that getting LESS education and FEWER options is the way to achieve them. For good law schools, for competitive jobs in areas such as human rights or diplomacy or foreign relations, the more impressive your resume and accomplishments the better.
Since you have time, go for a full semester, and choose a country where you can inscrease your fluency while workin on human rights issues. I’m not saying to go to République Démocratique du Congo, but Côte d’Ivoire, Sénégal…
@katliamom @MYOS1634 Thank you both for your advice it definitely helps!
80% of last year’s intake at Harvard Law School had been out of college for at least 1 year; 63% for 2 or more years.
If you are serious about some form of international law/similar, a year spent living and working in a second language- to get to full fluency (including written and colloquial) would be really worthwhile. You could do a study abroad year (as your 4th year of college), or find a way to work abroad (study abroad is likely to be easier to organize as an undergraduate).