Navy JAG Questions Forum

[kweehunt]

If anyone can offer some advice I would really appreciate it.

I don't really know what I should do after Undergrad. I have about 2 semesters left with a 3.77 GPA (Government Major) and will be taking the LSAT in February. My dream job is to be a JAG Lawyer in the Navy but I'm a little nervous that my LSAT scores (pretesting in the 155 to 162 range) will be too low to get into a school with good JAG prospects. If I'm not able to get into a Law School that will eventually lead me to a JAG position, I would rather still go into the Navy as a Supply Corps or Intelligence Officer and then enroll in law school later. I suppose my question is, are there Law Schools within the 3.77 GPA and 155 to 162 LSAT range that would still allow me to go into the Navy JAG Program? Are some schools outside of the top 30 better than others for Navy JAG?

Thanks

[ringo]

JAG is competitive, so temper your expectations. If being in the Navy is more important to you than being a lawyer, go to OCS (where 100% of graduates get jobs).

That said, JAG looks beyond school name and grades for a commitment to service so if you can demonstrate that, it is possible to overcome being at a mediocre school. Entering law school wanting JAG will count for something when they compare your app to the kid at a T14 who obviously got shut-out of OCI and is using the military as a backup. Take this anecdote for what it's worth... a close friend of mine was below median at a law school you could probably get into, and she just received her commission into Navy JAG.

[kweehunt]

Thank you very much for your help.

[kweehunt]

If you don't mind me asking, did your friend serve in the military before JAG?

[ringo]

No, she had no prior service or connection to the military. PM me if you want to talk more about it.

[Deutschebag]

Have you seen this thread?:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =3&t=31543

tons of JAG info in there, and several active JAG Officers that regularly check and provide information.

[Drew82abndiv]

I recommend prior service (so go do something else in the military). I spent time in the Army and then applied to law school. I had a 160 LSAT and 3.2 uGPA from BC. I went to UConn Law and got accepted to Navy JAG. I am now a 1st tour LT with the Navy JAG Corps. Just remember that the acceptance rate for Navy JAG is about 3-5% so make sure you manage your expectations and you should consider going Navy and then FLEPing it.

[ringo]

^ How hard is this to do? My understanding was that getting selected for FLEP could be even more difficult than getting JAG, just because they take so few people for FLEP.

I'm certainly not disagreeing with getting prior service to increase your chance of getting JAG after paying for law school yourself, just questioning whether FLEP is any more of a realistic goal than JAG is. Would be happy to hear that I'm wrong, especially since I would recommend to OP based on his first post that he do OCS instead of law school.

Edited to add an unrelated question: Are you really in Afghanistan on your first tour for Navy JAG?