<p>So I'm on my way to graduating in 3 years with a degree in political science... I know there have been threads about graduating in 3 years before, but I wanted to know are there any current law students here who completed undergrad in 3 years and then went to law school without a gap year?</p>
<p>I have a 3.6 gpa which should become a 3.75+ by the end... and as far as the LSAT, I'll take prep classes over the summer to take it in October.</p>
<p>So yeah... any thoughts on the 3 year plan? If I have a good gpa/lsat and stuff, is it a big deal if I don't do the 4th year?</p>
<p>the conventional wisdom seems to be that if your LSAT and GPA are good, your age doesn't matter much for law school admissions. the major problems are </p>
<p>a) you'll be applying with only 4 semesters of grades--not much of a chance to show an upward trend (the 3.75 you might have at graduation doesn't matter; law schools only care about your GPA at the time you apply)</p>
<p>b) many employers are leery about hiring young people and those who've never worked full-time. It's not an insurmountable obstacle, but it is an obstacle.</p>
<p>I went straight through (graduated in 4 yrs though) and while I liked law school and have made good friends, I think I also would've enjoyed taking a year off. Is there anything (Americorps, working abroad, moving to a random part of the country and doing some crazy job?) you'd like to try? The choice doesn't have to be college versus law school--that year might be a great time to try something adventurous without the debt load you'll likely have after law school.</p>
<p>I think it would be a great idea to take a year off and get a job in the real world, provided that you can find one in this rough market. If you end up really enjoying where you work, you may decide not to go back to law school. On the flip side, it could motivate you even more to fill out applications, essays, etc. because you hate whatever job you decide to enter.</p>
<p>I'm also planning on graduating in three years, but I took summer classes so I'm graduating with a close to normal number of semesters.</p>
<p>Do law schools automatically dislike three year graduates applying without a gap year, or is it more because of the problems they tend to have (too few semesters, less rigorous undergraduate program, not enough time to undo freshman gpa mistakes, unimpressive ECs, chose law their second year and didn't have enough time to perfect their apps and study the LSAT)?</p>
<p>Also, for three-year undergrads applying to law schools, should they wait until after December grades rather than applying as early as possible?</p>