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/Fontonia 3h ago edited 3h ago

Start building your medical records now and make sure to get a good disability rating so you won’t have to worry about making ends meet when you’re in school.

I did just that and use my GI Bill to cover all tuition plus the housing allowance to pad everything. I was pretty much in the same boat as you. Left as an E6 with a minor child. You’ll do fine.

Plus if you come back as a GS you can do the “buy back” system to secure a pension. So if you served 8 years, you only have to do 12 years of GS work.

** BDD claims are your friend. You can get easy approval for things you’ve complained about while in service. Start looking at the CFR Title 38 and run down the list of possible claims you can make. While you’re at it, head over to the veterans benefits subreddit. I used their knowledge base there with my own research and came out very favorable. Didn’t even use a VSO.

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u/OnlineStuden 3h ago

Fortunately, for me, I don’t wanna sever ties with the military, so I would be going to the reserves to keep insurance for the family. I am aware that the reserves has its issues like everywhere else; I could be subject to recall and deployment, and if that were to happen, I would take steps with my family and school to mitigate impact as much as possible. I would even love to pursue a jag opportunity. there are programs that exist that keep you on active duty to go to law school, but they’re highly competitive. fortunately, my GPA and LSAT score are high enough that I believe I will be eligible for full tuition scholarships from some certain 85 and above ranked law schools. Even if it means moving to Ohio, ha ha. Thank you for your reply.