"My observation is that work experience oftenexposes recent grads to many new careerpossibilities that they prefer to legal careers,"says Pforzheimer House pre-law tutor Kayla Bakshi,who worked in consulting at McKinsey & Co. beforecoming to Harvard for a joint J.D. and M.B.A.program. For those students who have a vagueinterest in the law, deferring law school orwaiting to apply gives them time to get anon-the-job idea of whether or not they really wantto be lawyers. The time just after collegegraduation "is also a great time to find out moreabout the legal profession and see if it is reallywhat you want to do," Lansky says.
"Some find that they are more interested in thelaw after working as a paralegal or at a legalclinic, while others find they are not reallyinterested in the law at all."
In addition, students may just need a break. "Afresh college graduate generally has no idea whatshe wants to do with her life," says Michael N.Rader, a second-year law student at Harvard LawSchool. "This is normal and a good thing. Let hersow her oats for a while before moving on with`the rest of her life.'"
Rader advocates taking time off as a vehiclefor self-discovery. After graduating from BrownUniversity, he worked in consulting for a year andthen went to Israel, where he studied ancientAramaic rabbinic texts for a year before startingat HLS. He chose to study in Israel because hewanted to understand his Jewish heritage, he says.
Practically, some students use their time offto beef up their resumes, allowing them to getinto a better law school. Lansky advises studentsto take this path if they're not happy with theircollege record.
"If your application is not as strong as youwould like it to be, take some time to work andstrengthen your application before you apply," shesays. "You will have a better shot of getting intobetter schools. Plus, it will give law schools achance to consider any honors or distinctions youmay have received at the end of your senior year."
"Your law school application is strengthened byyour experience after college," says Nowrojee, whoestimates that about half of her 40 pre-lawadvisees are either deferring law school orwaiting two to three years after college beforeapplying.
The psychological reasons for putting offprofessional school can be complicated, the tutorssay. Sometimes students feel pressured to go toprofessional school when they would rather pursueanother career.
"A lot of seniors are nervous about the idea ofgraduating without a concrete plan for theirfuture, in part because they have always had aplan," Lansky says. "If they can get past theirworries, they will discover that there is a hugeworld out there waiting for them to discover.There is more to life than investment banking,consulting, law school, medical school and variousgraduate schools."
Bakshi cautions against choosing professionalschool as a default option.
"Many people go to law school with the ideathat it is a `good degree to have" no matter whatfield they chose,'" she says. "This is true;however, three years and a six-figure price tagrepresent a substantial cost associated with thatvalue."
Even for those students who know they want acareer in a profession such as law or medicine,however, the timing of professional school isstill a question requiring some thought. For Tye,who estimates she will be almost 30 years oldbefore she is a practicing physician, her year offafter college will help, rather than hinder, hercareer.
"I would say my professional life starts aftermy residency," she says. "That's after medicalschool.