Gap year and reapply?

Hi, I'm in year 13 and have already applied for law this year. I know this is a little premature but I was wondering if I should take a gap year and reapply next year. I'm not sure that law really interests me: I like the fact that it has job security and I think that it can probably become interesting once you specialise in something, I just don't think that the actual study of law will interest me. The thing is, I'm not passionate enough about any of my other subjects to consider studying something else with less career outcomes, and I don't even know what I would choose if it weren't law (politics? literature?philosophy? international relations? PPE? economics... I can't do economics because I don't have a good enough level of maths but it would have otherwise interested me... sociology?etc.). I'm interested in everything but not passionate about anything.

So there are multiple reasons for which I would do a gap year: there are so many places I would like to visit (I would work while travelling and choose a few places and try to stay there for a couple months each to really get a feel of the place- )and it might also give me time to reflect on what I want to do, if I achieve good grades in my A levels I can reapply and maybe get in somewhere better (I have heard that unies appreciate completed A levels and I think having done the application process I could work on everything that I was disappointed by this time around, for example I have realised the flaws in my personal statement), I could look into the universities more and truly decide where I want to study because I regret the university application decisions I made in this round.

However there are also reasons for which I would not want to do a gap year: I'm scared, by nature I'm not a person who does many things by myself and travelling by myself (also as a woman) I think I would be scared and I just don't know if I'm up for it, also I'm worried I would fall out of my rhythm and not go back to uni (I know people who have done that) and that is not something that I can let myself do because both going to university and having a university degree are extremely important things to me, honestly I'm scared that I might not get the A level grades I need to get into the unies I aspire to get into again (although it is not where I most want to go to, I have an offer from a university which I greatly appreciate having and I don't know if I would get it again and I don't want to loose it) because the thing is while my predicted grades are good, I don't know if I will actually achieve them in the exams and then reapplying would be useless. Oh also, as dumb as it sound, I really would like to start university at the same time as my peers.

Also just a clarification, I have an offer to study law, and while the university and course are not my favourite, it is a good university and if I gave it up, I'm scared I would not get into somewhere as good again next year in which case I will have given up a good career opportunity. The thing is about the university is I don't live in the UK and I've heard that it can be quite concentrated with southern English people (which is fine, but I heard - again these are just stereotypes- that it can be quite hard to integrate) and I would not have the exact same cultural heritage. Also the course interests me much less that the other ones I applied to because the modules seem very concentrated on commercial/business law whereas the other coursed I have applied to (which I don't think I will get accepted to) have more literary/philosophically/politically orientated modules which would provide relief with the continuous study of law.

The other question is, if I do take a gap year, do I reapply for law or for something else? Assuming I achieve the same predicted grades reapplying would just be a fresh start, nothing else. The thing is, while law doesn't interest me so much, it really is a good degree, and if I got into one of the courses which has some more interesting modules I think I could enjoy it. The thing is, I think I have more chances of being admitted to a more prestigeous university for another course, because I have good predicted grades (again, assuming I achieve them) and if I could work my personal statement again by reapplying that would probably be good also, the issue for law is the lnat which frankly, even I practise again this whole year for next year, I think it's just not in my capacities, my brain just doesn't understand how it works, even this year, when I found out about it I immediately took a practise test on the official site, got 22/42, practised for half a year and then when it rolled back around before the official test, took another practise test on the official site and got 22/42 again. But I think I have my chances to get into a really good university if just weren't;t for the lnat and also maybe for a less oversubscribed course than law. Also, if I did apply for law I think I would be more strategic about where I would apply, I would probably apply to Durham this time, not bother with oxbridge because I tried this year and it just disheartened me, and maybe add LSE to the mix. But then again if I decided to apply for something else than law there are quite a few courses that really interest me but I didn't know about until after I applied: like (if I did decide to apply to Oxford) they have philosophy with modern languages and it would really interest me and since it would be Oxford it would still be quite a promising degree I think, or UCL has a course of political sciences paired with Sciences PO which would really interest me as I speak French (and have a francophone background) and that just sounds like a really ideal course, I could probably still apply for PPL at King's or for War studies ... but I don't know if I would have a better chance of getting in for these course than for law because they are still very prestigious. I just don't know if I should try again. I know I haven't been rejected by all the other unies I applied to yet but I can just feel it coming and I would like to start planning if I decide to do a gap year . (although I think that whatever I decide now, it will still depend on the grades I achieve at the end of year because they will give an indication on wether I have similar/better/worse chances of getting into places if I decide to reapply.)

Reply 1

Stiffy Byng

I suggest that you do not study law.

Taking a degree in a subject which does not interest you in the hope of getting a job is a bad idea.

It is very difficult to obtain a job in the legal profession, even for those who like the subject. The days when people could drift into law firms because they couldn't think of anything else to do have long gone. You won't get into the legal profession unless you are very committed to doing so. Doing a job that you are not interested in is a route to unhappiness.

Study a subject which interests you. Do not worry about career prospects. A rigorous degree from a good university will set you up to pursue many types of career. Many or most graduates work in fields which have little or no direct connection to the subject they studied at university.

I think that gap years are usually a good idea. Try to find someone to travel with.

University is supposed to be about fun, friendships, and personal growth as well as study. Study a subject that you will enjoy.

Reply 2

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Stiffy Byng

I suggest that you do not study law.
Taking a degree in a subject which does not interest you in the hope of getting a job is a bad idea.
It is very difficult to obtain a job in the legal profession, even for those who like the subject. The days when people could drift into law firms because they couldn't think of anything else to do have long gone. You won't get into the legal profession unless you are very committed to doing so. Doing a job that you are not interested in is a route to unhappiness.
Study a subject which interests you. Do not worry about career prospects. A rigorous degree from a good university will set you up to pursue many types of career. Many or most graduates work in fields which have little or no direct connection to the subject they studied at university.
I think that gap years are usually a good idea. Try to find someone to travel with.
University is supposed to be about fun, friendships, and personal growth as well as study. Study a subject that you will enjoy.

I would agree with most of the above.

I particularly find it annoying that people think that by just having a degree would guarantee them a certain type of job or drastically improve their job prospects.

I would disagree if the specific degree is required for the specific profession by law or regulations e.g. medicine, veterinary science, dentistry, all areas of nursing, paramedic science, architecture, etc. (especially if it's very very difficult to find a postgrad degree to switch into the respective field should the undergrad be unsuitable).

Reply 3

username7394154

Hey, I appreciate both your answers and will probably take them into account when I decide (but I will probably decide later on, probably after I get A level results back) wether or not I take a gap year and wether I apply for law or another course. Although I will admit that one of the reasons I chose to apply for law was because I personally (probably a biased view) consider it as a prestigious degree (especially if obtained from a prestigious university) but I would like to clarify that that is not the only and also not the most important factor in the decision that I ended up making when I first applied. I think studying law opens the door to do law if I want to be a lawyer (which I am seriously considering but not dedicated to) and also teaches me a specific set of skills applicable in many other degrees. Although I am aware that I can do a conversion course after doing another course that is not law, and that other courses offer, a different but equal set of skills, I am particularly attracted by the set of skills I would gain in studying law. Although I think the content of another course might interest me more than learning the law, as I have heard that it is a lot of memorisation, I think that I am more interested in the skills you learn in studying law. I also know that the first two years are often considered boring (according to people I know who have studied law) but that the third year and also the legal profession once you specialise can be incredibly interesting. Also I have a French background which might explain my bias in thinking that the degree you get drastically influences your job prospects because the stereotypes ( I do not know if it is the same in the UK) are very present. For example in France, it is often considered that studying literature or philosophy have one main outcome, becoming a teacher; even my philosophy teacher told me that when I was considering studying philosophy.