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Just graduated with a bachelor's in engineering and have been considering joining the Air Force in some capacity (but am open to all branches).Most of my focus for the past year has been on becoming an officer and eventually working in the defense industry (e.g., Lockheed or Northrop).

This entire time, a big part of me has wanted to go to law school. I basically ruled this out because my undergraduate degree was so heavily engineer-oriented, and my GPA (3.72) is excellent for an engineer but not exactly what I'd expect of a competitive law student. I have had a longstanding interest in patent law, though, because my dad was once a patent attorney. I'm also very interested in local and international politics and spend a lot of time reading about policy. Both have somewhat given me a bit of exposure to the legal world, which is why I'm now getting more and more serious about the JAG Corps.

I know very little about what the JAG Corps does on the whole. My background doesn't indicate that I've even been working towards a law degree. Many people start college knowing that they want to study law or be in the military; I was not one of them. Is the JAG Corps (and law school) worth pursuing, or are my chances already too slim?

kvveldo wrote:Just graduated with a bachelor's in engineering and have been considering joining the Air Force in some capacity (but am open to all branches).Most of my focus for the past year has been on becoming an officer and eventually working in the defense industry (e.g., Lockheed or Northrop).

This entire time, a big part of me has wanted to go to law school. I basically ruled this out because my undergraduate degree was so heavily engineer-oriented, and my GPA (3.72) is excellent for an engineer but not exactly what I'd expect of a competitive law student. I have had a longstanding interest in patent law, though, because my dad was once a patent attorney. I'm also very interested in local and international politics and spend a lot of time reading about policy. Both have somewhat given me a bit of exposure to the legal world, which is why I'm now getting more and more serious about the JAG Corps.

I know very little about what the JAG Corps does on the whole. My background doesn't indicate that I've even been working towards a law degree. Many people start college knowing that they want to study law or be in the military; I was not one of them. Is the JAG Corps (and law school) worth pursuing, or are my chances already too slim?

Without knowing more, there is nothing that would prohibit you from joining JAG. If you look around on this forum, you will see that 3.72 coupled with a good LSAT score can make you competitive for a lot of schools. Once you are in law school, that is where you would (potentially) start hitting roadblocks (finishing dead last in your class for example). If you make it through law school and get good grades (obviously heavily dependent on where you go, for example you can suck a lot more at a T14 than you can at American Somoa) you should be in good shape.

Now, there are a whole host of reasons JAG and military life become unrealistic options for people. Background is one. Prior drug use will get you dinged (although they are pretty willing to waive weed). Arrests can become a sticking point. Another reason is weight/physical appearance. If you are overweight (you can look up what that means) you are a no go from the military perspective. You can always lose the weight if that is an issue. Tattoos can make you a non-select (generally on the hands or above the collar). You can look all this up to determine if you fit the bill and, if not, can you fix it. Lastly, the military looks for leadership a lot more than some other legal jobs. I'd work on getting leadership experience that (a) can go on your resume and (b) allow you to talk shop about leadership styles/issues during the interview process.

Ultimately, all this is way premature. If this is something you want, look up what you have to do and go for it if you think you can get it done.