Hi!

Here's my problem: I am very likely to be given the possibility to work for one year abroad, in the USA, as a teaching assistant in french.

At the moment, I'm taking a master in laws in France -even though I'm actually doing it with the Erasmus exchange program-. My plan would be to go for Master / PhD in law afterwards.

So, obviously being a french speaking teaching assistant for 1 year wouldnt help on the purely legal side. On the other hand, I thought it could make my profile interesting for I would have benefited from a real and long teaching experience, in the USA where I ve never been -I ve always learned in french universities-. And what's really good for me is that everything is paid -housing, food, some academic courses-, therfore I would live it as a kind of paid "gap year", allowing to increase my teaching skills as well.


But my question is = would such an experience be helpful or badly discriminative for me, when I'll apply to a legal LLM?

Thanks for your help! :)

Btw this "teaching assistant" job aims at teaching french, not law. I'm not sure I was clear enought about it.

I don't see how being a teaching assistant for a year - in any subject - would negatively affect your application. All you're doing is increasing your life experience and I don't think that any programs will look down on that. Sure, ultimately it would be best to do something law-related, but if you're already at the maitrise level and finishing your 4th year after high school (your bac), then you will be at about the same level when most American students complete their first degree. Remember that admission to law school in the US is generally only subsequent to a four-year bachelor's degree. It is precisely at this point that many Americans choose to take a year off of school to go abroad, so I don't see how you'd be setting yourself up for any criticism.


I would venture a guess that admissions committees generally prefer well-rounded applicants who demonstrate a multitude of interests and who, while being academically superior, also do their best to maximize life experiences and demonstrate adaptability and resilience.

I say go for it.