Law School, then JAG! Forum

[molive]

Hey all,

I will be attending the University of Central Florida next year. Assuming my mind stays set on going to law school afterwards and becoming a Judge Advocate General for awhile, I have a bunch of questions!

First of all, if I want to become a JAG, when should I inform the military? Will the military help me pay for law school?

Where will I most likely be deployed? What is the average pay (as well as stipends and things like that)

My main reason for wanting to become a JAG is for the adventure that it looks like it will be, but I do want to make a decent living, especially since I will most likely be married and such..

I may have questions that I forgot to ask so if you have ANY input on the subject please feel free to let me know. I am new to the forum and to basically everything involving this subject so any information is welcome. Thanks!!

[andythefir]

I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that this thread http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =3&t=31543 is the only thorough help available anywhere (I've found). Lots of people who were successful gave detailed descriptions of the process, their credentials, and their impressions at every point of the process.

The bad news is that the JAG is impossibly difficult to get into, for any branch (except for the Marines, but very, very few law students can handle Marine OCS). I myself had my heart set on it from day 1. I graduated top of my class from a top 25 school, did everything I could have done. The JAG turned me down more than 10 times. There may be some tips I never got that would have helped, so don't take any tips from me. But I gave it my all and they turned me down over and over and over. Even if I had been picked, some random medical problem could have DQd me. A close friend got DQd from a clumsy note on a doctor's chart from when he was 8. Someone on this website got a brutally difficult to get Air Force spot, but then lost it because he had a very normal medical issue.

The best advice I can give is that do not, under any circumstances, count on the JAG. Good luck.

[twenty]

I will be attending the University of Central Florida next year.

Are you going for free? If so, do you have any stipulations on your full ride scholarship? If either of these are true, you need to withdraw and possibly retake the LSAT to apply to other schools/get a full ride at UCF.

First of all, if I want to become a JAG, when should I inform the military? Will the military help me pay for law school?

Like Andy mentioned, you should probably gun for Marine PLC. It will be hard, but it's pretty much the only legal job in the country that you start applying for as a 0L.

Where will I most likely be deployed?

Anywhere in the world. Even if you aren't "deployed" you may be sent places for several weeks/months at a time for TDY.

What is the average pay (as well as stipends and things like that)

You can find this information out on the DoD payscale page, but starting salary for an O-2 is roughly 50k/year + free housing + other perks.

My main reason for wanting to become a JAG is for the adventure that it looks like it will be, but I do want to make a decent living, especially since I will most likely be married and such..

The military lifestyle can be a huge strain on a marriage. Deployments can be almost a year in length, and that's a long time not seeing your spouse.

If I were you, I'd skip law school for the time being and would go for OCS. Army's selection rate is about 30%, Air Force hovers between 30-40%, Navy is lower than 20%. All of these are better rates than their respective JAG DC rates, at 6%, 7%, and 3% respectively.

[molive]

Hmm

Indeed it seems very hard to be accepted, bummer :/
Well really, I want to be a lawyer, so I'm not counting on becoming a JAG too much, its more like my preferred career to begin after law school.
About attending OCS, like I said I don't see myself doing any military involvement other than as a JAG.
I will not be attending UCF on scholarships, my parents (fortunately) are going to put me through school.

So I guess I'll attend law school, do well (hopefully) and apply for corporate law positions as well as JAG positions.

Thanks a bunch!

[A. Nony Mouse]

I will be attending the University of Central Florida next year.

Are you going for free? If so, do you have any stipulations on your full ride scholarship? If either of these are true, you need to withdraw and possibly retake the LSAT to apply to other schools/get a full ride at UCF.

Am pretty sure this is someone starting undergrad - they talked about if they still want to go to law school after UCF.

[TheSpanishMain]

If I were you, I'd skip law school for the time being and would go for OCS. Army's selection rate is about 30%, Air Force hovers between 30-40%, Navy is lower than 20%. All of these are better rates than their respective JAG DC rates, at 6%, 7%, and 3% respectively.

I agree with the bulk of this, but the selection rates you post for JAG are a little disingenuous. The direct commission rates are absurdly low, but direct commission is also not the most common way people become JAGs. The Navy, for example, has an 11% selection rate for JAG accessions through the Student Program. Still low, of course.

[twenty]

I missed the "afterwards." In that case, OP, keep your GPA up and focus on that for the next three years.

[Young Marino]

UCF doesn't have a law school. It's Barry or FL A&M for the Orlando market. Good luck at either one

[adpc]

UCF doesn't have a law school. It's Barry or FL A&M for the Orlando market. Good luck at either one

Sweet necro and reading comp skills, Dan.