<p>My son was accepted into law school(2) with a full tuition scholarship but he wants to defer attending law school to learn a foreign language abroad. No guaranttee that they will hold the scholarship. We feel he should get law degree first…What does the forum think?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t risk losing the full scholarship. One can always study a foreign language at any time (granted, not full time nor abroad).</p>
<p>why not enroll in a summer immersion class at the local college?</p>
<p>the key question: what law school (or at least range)? if its a full ride at Columbia it is worth saving. if it is a full ride at brooklyn law school that requires top 1/3 of the class, it is not.</p>
<p>Yeah, it really depends on the law school. Also, scholarships, for the most part, are numbers-based (with exceptions detailed below). Though the school won’t guarantee it, you should be able to win it again when you apply again (assuming your numbers are still “valid”).</p>
<p>Some exceptions where I think re-application really risks the full scholarship: Michigan Darrow, Penn Levy, the named scholarships at NYU, Hamilton at Columbia. Don’t know about the other T14s.</p>
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<p>I think your son doesn’t really want to attend law school.</p>
<p>I think I might agree with lskinner on this one. Studying a foreign language doesn’t seem the most solid reason to pass up a full tuition scholarship nor start a year later. But there is only so much you can do as a parent to try to prod your kid to make the “right” decision (whatever it is).</p>
<p>My kid is in a similar situation, she too is thinking about deferring for a year- also has a full tuition scholarship and some T-14 acceptances (no $). From what she is telling me, the scholarship and acceptances will still be on the table for next year if she takes decisive action soon.
Her reason for deferring is that she is a union rep- she’s on the contract negotiating committee and they are in the midst of contract negotiations. As she is interested in employment law, she feels she may get a unique experience by being a player in contract negotiations. She has already done alot of research and made presentations at the negotiating sessions. So her experiences do seem pretty solid.</p>
<p>We have mixed feelings- but it will be her decision. But we did all agree that it would be nuts to give up a full ride in order to defer law school- contract negotiations or not.</p>
<p>and to add a little Cornell pride-(it’s been a bad week up there)–
Go Big Red- they just beat Temple and made it into the 2nd round of NCAA Tournament!!</p>
<p>You don’t say whether you are paying for it. If so, then you have some say. If not, I don’t think you do. In other words, I think it’s fair to tell your son that if deferring results in no $ offers next year, you won’t pay for law school. </p>
<p>My kid and most of said kid’s friends deferred. I don’t think the fact that he doesn’t want to go right now means he doesn’t want to go at all. Lots of students want to enjoy one year of freedom before they are on the career treadmill. Some kids benefit from a gap year between high school and college. I think some kids benefit from one between college and “the real world.” </p>
<p>As to keeping the money…flowerhead is right. If you’re talking about a CCN level school, then, yes, there’s a danger he’ll lose it. But if he got two offers from two different law schools outside the top 14, I suspect he’d still get at least one a year from now.</p>
<p>Bottom line: let him make his own decision.</p>
<p>Jonri- I don’t know if all law schools look kindly upon a request to defer admission.<br>
I’m sure OP may have just given us the quick version behind son’s desire to defer- and there may be more academic/life experience reasons for wanting the deferral which might be looked at favorably by the law school.</p>
<p>My understanding though- is your son does have to commit to the school granting the deferral. There may be some concern that the applicant is just trying to game the system and re-apply a year later in the hope of getting into a higher ranked school.<br>
So your son will have to contact the school to find out what their policy is and whether they will honor the scholarship the following year.</p>
<p>The OP already knows that the LS will NOT guarantee the $ if the student doesn’t matriculate this fall. It says so in the first post. </p>
<p>The question is whether a student should start LS immediately when (s)he really would rather not, “just” to keep the $. </p>
<p>I answered the question that was asked.I didn’t use “defer” to mean sign an acceptance with an agreement to enroll the following year but apply to other LSs during that year. You can’t do that–anymore than kids who get into college can accept a place, defer, take a gap year, and see if they can get into other colleges they might prefer. I used the word “defer” because the OP did. </p>
<p>I just mean take off a year or two before starting LS. If tWO LSs are offering full rides now, I think it’s unlikely he’ll be bereft a year from now. It’s especially unlikely if the OP is talking about LSs below the top 14.</p>
<p>what jonri said ^^^^^</p>
<p>My son has taken a year off from Undergraduate and has been working in a law firm. He feels he’ll be more marketable if he knows ‘arabic’…He wants to live over in a country in Africa, teach english in exchange for his arabic lessons. One of our concerns are saftety issues. The possibility of losing his scholarships (Tier 1 schools). College said there is no guarantee,if he defer with the one school he can not apply to any other schools during the deferral. (side note he has tried spanish,italian,and french and was not successful). We will help him now with extra money but will not if he defers…2 other kids in college…WE might try to sell him on going locally during the summer…</p>
<p>fwiw:</p>
<p>the feds have a ‘free’ immersion program, if I recall, for those students who want to learn Arabic. You might check through the State Dept. Or search on cc, bcos that is where I read about it.</p>
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<p>I doubt it. I personally don’t see a ton of demand for Arabic-speaking lawyers (not nearly as much as Chinese, or even Portuguese), and to the extent that somebody is looking for Arabic language skills, they’re only going to be interested in someone with a native-level fluency, which your son is not going to have after a year.</p>
<p>I know how tough it is to let go. However, this really is his decision. It doesn’t sound to me as if learning Arabic is really what he is aiming for. It sounds as if he just wants to do something “different” overseas before going to law school. My hunch is that he’s trying to make it sound as if learning Arabic will make him a more desirable commodity just to convince you that it isn’t a harebrained scheme. </p>
<p>I’d only interfere if you have solid grounds for thinking his safety would be at risk. I am one of the world’s most overinvolved parents in one sense. But by the time “kids” are your son’s age, they really are adults. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t use $ to try to get him to do what you want, if I were you. It’s fair to tell him that if his deferral results in a less generious package next year the 'rents won’t make up the difference. IMO, it’s NOT fair to say “if you go now when we want you to go, we’ll help with living expenses. If you insist on going to Africa, we won’t.” </p>
<p>Please understand that I am NOT saying that I think your son is right if he really thinks this experience will lead to a better job as an attorney–I’m just saying that it doesn’t matter what this board thinks. It’s his life–he only gets one. I assume that he is 22 or older. Let him make his own decision–or you may really end up damaging your relationship.</p>
<p>There are really two different issues here: one is whether deferring might cost him $ and whether it is worth a gamble. Another is whether going to Africa to teach English and try to learn Arabic is a good idea. It sounds to me as if you’re really more opposed to the Africa idea than law school deferral.</p>
<p>If that’s the case, you’re free–of course–to express your opinion to your son. I just don’t think it’s wise to use $ to impose your will on him.</p>
<p>Just my two cents. D1 went to Africa and studied Arabic before starting law school. It is not likely to make him more employable as a lawyer when he is done.</p>