Serving in Army Reserves during law school?? Impact on admissions? Forum

[ilovemang0s]

Hey all,

I'm applying to law school and am also considering joining the Army Reserves as an officer. I have 2 questions.

Has anyone had experience serving in the Army Reserves while also attending law school?

Is that easy to balance the workload of reserves while also grinding on law school? I know for reserves/nat'l guard, the obligation is just "1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year." I hear sometimes there's more work outside of that. How easy it to balance both?

In terms of branching, I'm hoping to choose a more "chillish" branch or reserve unit, but I'm not sure if that's possible, or how to strategize for that. I'm leaning toward Reserves as you choose your branch and unit BEFORE hand. I'm currently thinking of branching MI or one of the Logistics.

Here's one example of a CLS student serving in the National Guard while in law school. So it seems like it can be done? Though I'm hoping to know the pros and cons. https://www.law.columbia.edu/news/2020/ ... rus-crisis

2. Also, from an Admissions perspective, would being an Officer in the Army reserves be a boost? How much of a boost? -- Especially if I'm joining like now .. about a year before law school. Obviously, I'm not joining the military SOLEY to "improve law school admissions." I genuinely am interested in serving in the military due to personal and family reasons, and am also a former Division III athlete. Though if there is a boost in admissions, that can also be a factor that I consider as well.

I think HLS and YLS have an admissions goal/quota of 5% veterans/servicemen every year. It's been pretty consistent that every year, YLS has about 10 military ppl and HLS has about 20.

Let's say that I am a splitter at these schools. With GPA slightly <25 but LSAT around median. Given how competitive HLS and YLS are, do you think an army reserves officer would be a boost to get me over the edge? I also have weak softs in terms of other work experience (typical legal secretary, office assistant, etc).

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[KPUSN07]

I do the USNR - it's not easy - but I was fortunate to have a Unit that was able to work with me. I still did the one weekend a month - sometimes traveling to Norfolk, sometimes remaining at my home NOSC (Navy Ops Center). The two weeks a year could be tricky, especially with legal summer employment necessary for future legal employment outcomes post graduation - but I don't think it's something that will be an impediment to law firms - just be honest with them ahead of time during OCIs / interviews.

[CatHat94]

I have the same question. I think it could be considered a boost, since there are few military people accepted to law school. However, I'm also concerned that admissions staff may consider how this will interfere with a student's classes.....so maybe it could be a negative. idk. I guess it depends on the admissions staff. I would assume it is more of a positive than a negative though.