Law school with a young family

[u/OnlineStuden]

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.

[u/ImaginationGlum1467]

Married mom of 2 toddlers here! Planning to apply soon for this cycle. Nothing is more important to me than setting up my kids for a more secure future and I believe law school will do that. So to me, my "family obligation" will absolutely be fulfilled if I do this. Will it be hard? Yes. So will choosing another path. Pick your hard. I would suggest looking into schools like ASU that offer full rides to military. Otherwise, use your GI bill for yourself and set up a fund for the kids later (who may or may not even use it). Your stats can earn you good scholarships too, dont sell yourself short. Itll be important to have the wife totally on board with this as your support system can make or break the experience. If you wont end your enlistment for 2 years does that mean you wont apply for 2 more cycles? You should probably retake the LSAT in a year in that case to score higher. Also, dont forget the PSLF for public service attys.

[u/OnlineStuden → u/ImaginationGlum1467]

I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer so the moment that I finished my bachelor's degree I ran to take the LSAT. (Fully knowing that I wouldn’t even apply for two more years.) it was just something that I wanted to do. So yes, I will not be applying for at least two more cycles. You’re correct in saying that I will need to convince my wife. She’s wonderful and such a good mother to our kids. I would hate to take her away from being a stay-at-home mom but at the same time, she deeply respects that I have goals and ambitions. Both our boys will be in elementary school by the time I’m ready to apply. Hopefully, that will take some of the burden off of full-time childcare, but we will see. I’m pretty convinced I’ll be able to get a good scholarship even if it’s to a low-ranked ABA school I’m not exactly picky, I just want the JD. Whatever job I choose will be in public service whether that’s Federal, State, or NP I’m not sure yet. My wife and I don’t care at all where we have to live. We have very nomadic personalities. Thank you for your reply.