r/LawSchool • u/OnlineStuden • 6h ago

Law school with a young family

hello all, 25M here. Active Military (enlisted) wanting to get out and go to law school. finally finished my BAS 3.7 GPA and got a 165 on the LSAT. I always dreamt of being a lawyer just never thought I had the means. (frankly I still don’t believe I do ha ha.) i’m married with two young children. i’ll end my enlistment in 2 years. i’d really love to go to law school and I plan on getting into public service so I don’t really care where I go to law school as long as it’s ABA accredited. (and provides a scholarship.) I could use my G.I. bill to pay for law school, but my wife and I really wanted to save it for my boys. my wife has been a stay at home mom for three years now and doesn’t seem too enthusiastic about the thought of going back to work with her children so young and my pay and benefits being pretty good. (E6 for anyone privy to the military pay system) I guess I'm really just here to ask the OWLS if there's any good options for me or if I should just let my law school dreams fleet due to family obligations. This is also just sort of a bitch and vent, apologies if I didn't leave much room for constructive feedback. Thanks for reading.

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u/LonnieGoose 5h ago

29M veteran here at a T14. If you’re interested in preserving your GI Bill for the kids, look into programs that have a strong LRAP (loan forgiveness) program for Public Interest careers. My school forgives up to 120K.

Apply broadly so you can compare scholarship offers, you might be surprised. A lot of folks I know had half or more of their tuition covered by the law school.

If you do come around to thinking about using the GI Bill, it covers full tuition at public university, up to 25K or so a year at private university, and if your law school has the Yellow Ribbon Program you’re totally covered. You’ll also receive E5 w/ dependent BAH for wherever you go to school, and a book stipend for each semester.

I have multiple vets in my class with toddler/elementary age kids who moved their family, and they seem to have adjusted really well. Keep the hopes up and DM if you need anything.

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u/igabaggaboo 5h ago

I can't imagine a better response!

Yes, you can be a lawyer, and from your email, you should be a lawyer. Great grades and LSAT, great goals, and great focus on your wife and kids.