Evaluate Pros, Cons of Gaining Work Experience Before Law School
Many prospective law school students wonder when exactly is the best time to apply to and attend law school. There are many factors to weigh when considering when to begin your law school studies.
Perhaps, the most challenging and the most important facet of this choice is whether to undertake a couple of years of work experience before enrolling in law school or to leverage the academic momentum you have coming out of college. To help you navigate this thorny academic and professional decision, I have put together some key benefits and potential drawbacks of obtaining this experience before matriculating at law school.
There is no correct answer this question, and it's a highly personal decision.
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-- Pro: You'll get an enhanced perspective on the law. Work experience will likely broaden your outlook in a way that school alone cannot.
Working for a couple of years before law school will strengthen your ability to read legal cases with a greater appreciation for the nuanced problems that diverse individuals face in business and in life. When it comes to understanding the complexities of the "real" world, there is no substitute for full-time work experience.
-- Con: The beginning of your legal career will be delayed. If you delay enrolling in order to gain a few years of working experience, you will be that much older when you graduate from law school. Your first few years practicing can be grueling professionally, and they might be easier to endure at a slightly younger age, when you are less likely to be in a committed relationship or have children.
-- Pro: Working will recharge and reconfirm your interest in the law . Exposure to life and work outside of the academic sphere will give you the chance to take a break from your theoretical work, to recharge academically and to reconfirm your interest in and passion for the law. You will also likely see the law through a multidisciplinary lens as a result of this practical experience.
[Consider the benefits and drawbacks of working during law school.]
-- Con: You'll have to readapt to school. The longer you wait to attend law school, the more acclimated you will likely become to the working world.
This might make it more difficult for you to readjust to the academic demands of full-time or part-time course work. You may find it hard to transition to law school, as well as to once again living by an academic calendar and surviving with limited financial resources.
-- Pro: You may have a slight advantage in hiring for full-time legal positions. Another compelling reason to gain work experience before law school is the slight advantage that more experienced students often have in the hiring process for positions after law school.
You will be able to provide firms with full-time work references and demonstrate a proven ability to succeed professionally, which will likely be quite reassuring to the firms and other legal organizations considering you for postgraduation roles.
-- Con: Lastly, work may not offer you intellectual stimulation. You should consider that many of the jobs that will be available to you without a graduate degree may not be as intellectually challenging as you might like.
[Learn about ways paralegal experience can benefit law school students.]
Your probability of getting admitted to law school is one factor that you should not consider when deciding whether or not to work before matriculating in law school. Many law schools accept approximately 50 percent of their class directly from college and the other 50 percent from among working young professionals.
As a result, with the exception of a few outliers like Northwestern University, which strongly prefers applicants with work experience, your chances of admission will not change significantly based on the work you do before applying.
Evaluating these pros and cons should allow you to make a more informed decision about when to apply to law school. In doing so, recognize that your specific situation, particularly the type of work experience available to you and your ability to transition back to academic life, is unique. Only you can ultimately decide your best path forward.
When are you applying to law school? Let me know in the comments, email me at or contact me via Twitter at @StratusPrep.
