Gap Year Scaries

Law school applicants often create a timeline before they know how long it will take to build their best application.

But there’s no prize for starting law school too soon. In fact, rushing into applications can have consequences that follow you for decades. 

Law school isn’t the finish line. It’s the beginning of your legal career.

Stop Inventing Deadlines

It’s easy to decide when you’re going to law school before you know how long it will take to earn your best LSAT score.

LSAT study is unpredictable. Some students can earn a high score within a few months. Others take years. 

You don’t know how long it will take you. Start studying and let go of any arbitrary deadlines. 

Give yourself as much time as you need to get your best score. Apply when you have the strongest application you can reasonably build. Your LSAT score is the foundation. 

Don’t Let One Deadline Create the Next

An artificial deadline can create a cascade of bad decisions.

An applicant might register for the LSAT before they’re ready because they want to apply this cycle. 

Their score isn’t great. But it seems okay, so they apply. 

They get mediocre offers. But they want to go, their family encourages them to “just start,” so they accept a poor offer. 

Three years later, they graduate from a weaker law school than they could have attended with six figures in debt.

The mistake happened at the beginning. The timeline started driving the decisions.

A Gap Year Isn’t a Setback

Waiting another year can feel like falling behind. It isn’t.

A gap year gives you more time to improve your LSAT score, earn money, gain professional experience, and learn about the career you’re preparing to enter.

Josh and Nathan point out that an applicant with little professional experience can look very different a year or two later. Legal experience, a clearer understanding of the profession, and a higher LSAT score invariably strengthens an application.

That’s not lost time. That’s progress.

Your Best LSAT Score Is Worth Waiting For

A few LSAT points can change your law school options and scholarship opportunities.

Don’t sacrifice those points to satisfy a self-imposed timeline.

Take the official test only when you’re happy with your practice test scores. Assume you’ll need at least two attempts, and keep going until you’ve used all five or earned a score you’re happy with. 

If that takes longer than expected, let it. 

Law Schools Aren’t Waiting with a Stopwatch

Applicants sometimes worry that law schools will look suspiciously at time between college and law school.

They don’t. In fact, many law school applicants don't apply straight out of college: in the 2024–25 cycle, nearly 30% were 27 or older.

Many top schools have increasingly come to prefer students with significant work experience. It shows that you understand professional life, suggests you’ve explored the career you’re pursuing, and are making an informed decision to attend law school.

There’s no need to apologize for taking time to get this step right. It will very likely help you. 

This Is the Start of Your Legal Career

Getting into law school isn’t the goal.

The goal is to become a lawyer. The choices you make before law school can affect where you attend, how much you pay, how prepared you are when you arrive, and the opportunities you have after.

That makes patience an advantage.

Improve your LSAT. Build experience. Apply when you’re ready.

This is the start of your legal career. Treat it accordingly. 

 

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