We don’t have any kids, and I’m not sure how I could do this if we did. My wife travels for work, and that actually helps me stay focused on the law.
I have a couple of very close friends who are lawyers. They have both been getting on me to go to law school for years. Now that I’m here, I think their instincts were right. I really enjoy the law.
That’s what you need to figure out. Whether you are going to enjoy it. And I’m not sure that’s possible without going through the motions. I don’t think there is anything you can read that will even begin to prepare you for law school or give you any idea what you’re about to face. I read everything I could find the year before 1L and very little of it was worthwhile. “Law School Confidential” was pretty good.
Your family and your military experience would be assets in law school… if not for you at least for the others in your class. If you go, you’ll realize how refreshing comments from people who have experienced more than undergrad can be.
Part timers are an interesting crowd. The admission’s bar is a little lower for PT’s at USD. More than a few people take advantage of that and apply to the PT program even though they have no intention of working. That means you will be going up against people who aren’t distracted by a job. 1L classes have a strict curve, in a class of 80 there are at most 8 A’s available. You sound pretty sharp, but you should know what you are facing. After the first year, many of the desired electives are taught in the evening only, so FT’s and PT’s are on the same footing. That’s little consolation if you are trying to get a big firm job because that competition is essentially over after your first year. If you aren’t at least top 20% after 1L, you’re effectively out of the race.
If you decide to go, buy the LEEWS Essay course. PRICELESS! Listen to the course, do the exercises. Practice early… as soon as you finish a topic in each class. Make up your own hypos and write practice answers. This is what matters. You’ll never be graded on your briefing skills… just on the essays. Learn how to apply the law to facts and organize your analysis. It’s the only thing you’ll ever be graded on. I didn’t find this until this year. In 1L I was top third, last semester I aced my exams. I credit LEEWS and early/often exam practice. OK, end of the commercial.
Waiting is a great idea. It sounds like your wife is holding off working until the kids get older? This advice probably won’t help you but I will share it anyway. My wife was concerned about me giving up my job to go to school. We took two years to “practice.” During that time, we lived on her income and banked mine. In the process we learned that we could live on her salary and we saved enough money to pay cash for tuition. While this might not work for you, think of other ways that you can minimize the stress of giving up your income. Full time for free sure sounds like a great start.
Good luck. Thanks for serving. Congratulations on living within your means and saving responsibly!
