"Penn Law students are taking time off after college graduation at a higher rate than in previous years, following a national trend toward delaying law school to join the workforce temporarily.
At Penn Law, this phenomenon exists in the pools of both applicants and admitted students.
Of the current first-year students at Penn Law, 75 percent have spent one or more years out of school before enrolling in law school." …
https://www.thedp.com/article/2018/11/penn-law-school-admissions-graduate-school-work-experience
As a K-JDer (who graduated law school a long, long time ago), I have often felt that I would have benefited from working a year of two before starting law school. I know that by the time I graduated from law school, I was completely burned out as far as school goes - never wanted to see the inside of a classroom or have to take a final exam again.
I know that taking time off is recommended, but everyone I know that takes time off from school never seems to go back, and I’m paranoid that I’ll be one of them and forever be ridden with regret.
However, without a doubt if I even for a second assume that my application would be stronger if I took time off and got work experience, I won’t hesitate. But I’m more than likely going to go straight through if my GPA/LSAT score is high enough and I get accepted into a T14 law school.