<p>Ok, so everyone keeps talking about it being a necessity to take a few years off after undergraduate in order to obtain some work experience (at least for the T20 schools). What kind of work experience can a student with a History BA attain that looks impressive??</p>
<p>a) you don't have to take time off. i was admitted to several top-20 schools straight from undergrad, and the average age of incoming 1Ls at my school is 24. Thus there are quite a lot of us who went straight through. Northwestern, though, is especially notable for taking people with work experience.</p>
<p>b) it doesn't matter what you do. Before coming to law school, people I know had the following jobs: engineer, midwife, rabbi, researcher (immunology and neuroscience), teacher, paralegal, journalist (print and broadcast), advertising sales, domestic violence counselor, grad student in other field, research for an investment brokerage, speechwriter, art historian, clown (for kids' parties), campaign organizer, missionary.</p>
<p>It's nice to know that I can graduate college, become a clown, and go to law school. :-)</p>
<p>This just in, clown work experience is proven to help you get into law school!</p>
<p>To the OP: It depends how good your undergraduate institution was. If you have a History BA from a top school, you should try for a job in a high-pressure or prestige area like a major or innovative NGO, an investment bank, politics, a think-tank, or a consultancy. If not, your options are more limited.</p>
<p>Plenty of students go straight from college to law school. Increasingly, though, the statistics at top law schools (and probably others) show that more and more law students have at least a year or two of full time post-college work experience before entering law school. In fact, you will also find that many law schools now state proudly that __% of their students have work experience. I think that prior work experience is very helpful in the job interview and hiring process (employers may prefer to hire someone who understands what it means to go to work every day and who has proven that he or she can handle the responsibilities and job pressures that come with full time jobs), and since the jobs that law students get coming out of law school are so important (both for those students and for the reputation of that law school), law schools happily report the growing number of students with full time work experience. </p>
<p>Don't overlook what a big role full time work experience can have in law school admissions. First, an applicant with full time work experience will often be perceived as more mature and a bit more grounded in the real world. Of course, the fact that potential employers who interview at law school may be impressed doesn't hurt either. Second, the personal statement topics that may come out of work experience are endless and can be quite interesting and applicable to answering the question of why you want to go to law school. Finally, a recommendation from a colleague or boss who knows you and your abilities well and who has had direct contact with you every day can be a lot stronger and more personal than a recommendation from a professor who knew had you as one of many students in a couple of classes (I know -- not always the case, but often not far from the truth).</p>
<p>Someone with a BA in History can get just about any job imaginable out there. The possibilities are limited only by your grades and your likes and dislikes.</p>
<p>Looking at the OP's previous posts suggests (s)he is a high school student. You have a long way to go! I'd suggest you keep an open mind about law school. While you are in college, it's usually a good idea to do some internships to help figure out what you might like to do--and, sometimes, to line up future employment.</p>
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What kind of work experience can a student with a History BA attain that looks impressive??
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<p>I have a buddy (history major) at Harvard Law who worked for a year in Washington, DC for Kerry's office. I guess that's impressive, depending on who you talked to.</p>
<p>hmm so it sounds like some solid work experience could be a minor hook in law school admissions so to be speak (if not just for the benifit of the applicant)</p>
<p>I have a B.A. in history. My work experience during the year between college and law school consisted of the following: adjunct professor of English in a university; clerk in a law firm; over 100 gigs as a professional musician; standing at attention while dressed in a Russian army uniform in a movie; and an appearance in a mini-series on the Opium Wars in which I was seen killing a man with sword, kissing his wife, kicking his child, and laughing maniacally. (They were casting against type, I might add.)</p>
<p>^ Wow that is so cool!</p>
<p>Given this, would the people on the board suggest taking a year or two off after college to obtain work experience? I'm coming from a top 25 liberal arts college and am sure I could work for some time, though I was hoping to go directly. Aside from all the personal aspects that would of course go into the decision, what advice do people on the board have with regards to taking a year off (out of choice)?</p>
<p>I think it depends on what school you are looking at and what you bring to the table. </p>
<p>I had the opportunity to attend the law school forum in NYC this past saturday and spoke to the admissions deans at Northwestern and Chicago (to name a few).</p>
<p>As you may have read here before, Northwestern is a law school that has a preference toward work experience. Any student coming straight from undergrad with out one year of non-school related work experience, it is mandatory that they interview.</p>
<p>Chicago, he said while they do take students from undergrad, maturity is important. They don't want a student who simply just goes to class, studies and does nothing more. </p>
<p>He stated that working whether it is paid or volunteer along with living on your own does give some students the maturity that hey need. I did ask the next level question because D has internships, a study abroad program, ECs, volunteer and leadership experience under the belt as an undergrad and his response was those are all good things that help demonstrate maturity, </p>
<p>He also said that they admit a small number of students on the condition that they defer one year and work, volunteer etc.</p>