Military and Law School Forum

[hoepner]

Hey everyone. I am currently a rising senior with a 3.72 and a 171 who is hoping to get into a T14 law school. I have a large concern however. I am a ROTC cadet and will be commissioning as a 2LT when I graduate next spring. Because of this, I have a military obligation that I can fulfill in two different ways:

1) Go active duty for 4 years and then apply to law school.

2) Go in the Reserves or National Guard for 8 years. This would allow me to go to law school immediately but would mean that I would still be in the Guard when I am applying for a job.

I am leaning towards option 2, but am concerned that employers will look unfavorably on me being in the Army Reserves and thus subject to the possibility of being deployed and away from work for over a year. I know that they cannot legally discriminate, but that does not mean that they don't.

Does anyone have any knowledge on how being a drilling member of the Army Reserve or National Guard impacts me being hired by a law firm?

[TTTGrad]

Having been in the military, go with option 1. In this economy, you are better off riding out the recession without incurring massive student loan debt. In 4 years hopefully the economy will be better and law firms will more than likely throw the Class of 2013-14 under the bus to hire fresher grads. And please, don't rely on the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. If you are deployed, all a law firm can say is they downsized to get rid of you and believe me, they will if you are called to active duty. I don't make the rules and life isn't fair. But if you believe a law firm will save your job while you are playing weekend warrior in the green zone, regardless of our economic state, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.

[Drew82abndiv]

I agree with Option 1. I was an ROTC cadet at Boston College and graduated in 2004. The 4 years goes by very quickly and gives you time to think about whether law school is something that you really want to do. Go infantry, get some deployments under your belt...have some fun and then assess your options when you're a CPT with some maturity and experience.

Drew

[Aggiegrad2011]

I agree with Option 1. I was an ROTC cadet at Boston College and graduated in 2004. The 4 years goes by very quickly and gives you time to think about whether law school is something that you really want to do. Go infantry, get some deployments under your belt...have some fun and then assess your options when you're a CPT with some maturity and experience.

Drew

To heck with infantry. HUMINT all the way!

[Iconoclast]

Add another nod toward option 1.

It will help your application cycle. It will help you perform well in school. And it will help you land a job.

It will help your application cycle because:
1. Active duty military service is one of the few softs that actually make a real difference.
2. You'll have something interesting/important to talk about in your PS.

It will help you perform well in school because:
1. Active service is going to cram perspective down your throat. Things that seem hard now will make you chuckle after 4 years of active duty. Things that get your knickers in a knot now won't even phase you.
2. You'll be more focused/disciplined.

It will help you get a job because:
1. Being a junior officer in the US military is world class leadership training and experience. It is valued by employers.
2. You'll have another large network of people who will give you the benefit of the doubt and give you the edge in a "toss a coin" decision between you and another applicant. Veterans look out for other vets just like alumni look out for people from their school.

You'll get all of these benefits to a much lesser degree if you pick the reserves or the nasty guard - but you'll also have your service obligations hanging over your head and they WILL impact your ability to focus on school and gaining employment. Much better to have it out of the way and have no strings attached while you're in school and job seeking.

[Mike19]

Hey everyone. I am currently a rising senior with a 3.72 and a 171 who is hoping to get into a T14 law school. I have a large concern however. I am a ROTC cadet and will be commissioning as a 2LT when I graduate next spring. Because of this, I have a military obligation that I can fulfill in two different ways:

1) Go active duty for 4 years and then apply to law school.

2) Go in the Reserves or National Guard for 8 years. This would allow me to go to law school immediately but would mean that I would still be in the Guard when I am applying for a job.

I am leaning towards option 2, but am concerned that employers will look unfavorably on me being in the Army Reserves and thus subject to the possibility of being deployed and away from work for over a year. I know that they cannot legally discriminate, but that does not mean that they don't.

Does anyone have any knowledge on how being a drilling member of the Army Reserve or National Guard impacts me being hired by a law firm?

Or try for Ed Delay...

[mas1987]

Having been in the military, go with option 1. In this economy, you are better off riding out the recession without incurring massive student loan debt. In 4 years hopefully the economy will be better and law firms will more than likely throw the Class of 2013-14 under the bus to hire fresher grads. And please, don't rely on the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. If you are deployed, all a law firm can say is they downsized to get rid of you and believe me, they will if you are called to active duty. I don't make the rules and life isn't fair. But if you believe a law firm will save your job while you are playing weekend warrior in the green zone, regardless of our economic state, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.

If he goes to law school starting this fall, he has 3 years before he has to worry about the shitty economy. If you know anything about economics and the business cycle, you should know that even if the economy is not out of the hole yet by then it should be building up and the job market will be growing. That is assuming we aren't out of the economic crisis already and we will double dip, then we'll probably be good again in 2-4 years.

As for incurring massive student loan debt, now is the best time to take on debt as well. You will find loans at far greater cost then in a bull market.

Waiting four years won't hurt you, though, I don't know how law firms look on military experience.

[TTTGrad]

[quote="mas1987
If he goes to law school starting this fall, he has 3 years before he has to worry about the shitty economy. If you know anything about economics and the business cycle, you should know that even if the economy is not out of the hole yet by then it should be building up and the job market will be growing. That is assuming we aren't out of the economic crisis already and we will double dip, then we'll probably be good again in 2-4 years.

As for incurring massive student loan debt, now is the best time to take on debt as well. You will find loans at far greater cost then in a bull market.

Waiting four years won't hurt you, though, I don't know how law firms look on military experience.[/quote]

I bet the kids that enrolled in law school in the fall of 2007 wished they had worried more about the economy and read Barron's or the Economist instead of trying to figure out what tear jerking personal statement would get them into law school. Incurring student loan debt during a recession is an awful idea that would only be supported by a law school industry shill. Student loan debt is non-dischargeable in bankruptcy. Other types of debt are dischargeable so there is a difference as to what types of debt to take on during a recession. As for your business cycle theory, it is complete bollocks. No recession has lasted this long since the great depression (now going on almost 3 years). No one knows when it will end. Getting an MBA is a waste since you will be taught the same failed theories that destroyed our economy. Saying that we will see green shoots in 2-4 years is reckless. We may not see the light of day for a decade (similar to the lost decade of the 1990s in Japan).

The prior poster said it best about choosing option 1. Military service can be a great soft, especially if you see frontline action. Writing about how it was tough to battle heat stroke in the green zone in your personal statement will not get you far. Make sure you are assigned infantry, take names, kick ass and then write about it in hardcore fashion. Hoorah.

[apaint]

I served 8 years in the National Guard but went to Iraq right away before I started college. The combat experience helped me get A LOT of scholarships to college in addition to the GI Bill. It also helped me with getting into grad school. Hoping it will help with law school as well.

Either option you will get financial help with school but if you go Active Army you can qualify for Yellow Ribbon in addition to your GI Bill and school will probably be close to free.

[matt6850]

You are going to deploy either way. Go with the unit that trains more.

[Mike19]

Ok. now to completely derail this thread. Im commissioning next Summer. MI (Humint) or Infantry? lol.