| Topic Name: |
Part-Time Education |
| Message Name: |
Other thoughts |
| Date Posted: |
02/17/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
Spynavy:
Thank you for the excellent response. A bit on my background, I've wanted to go to law school for many years, but with an incredible opportunity at CIA, I've began to consider the part-time JD option. With that said, I would love to hear your thoughts on a myriad of things, but I'll keep my reply short.
Re: work-related tuition payments
I figured that DI would be quite hesitant to pay for most of the classes one would normally take in law school. As such, I am prepared to pay for as much myself (through paycheck, savings and commercial loans). And if they do have tuition assistance based on service committments, I would be very hesitant.
Re: workload
This is my primary concern. I have received a number of acceptances to DC law schools for this fall, but am still waiting on my clearance (in adjudication for appx 6 months). If clearance does not come through by fall, I'll start school. Otherwise, if work beckons before, I'll most likely defer.
I know the time committment is intense - but as someone bound to go to law school anyway, I feel that it makes the most economical sense to get it out of the way now.
Do you find that most employees at the Analyst level have difficulty putting in the effort that law school demands? Or is something that is most certainly feasible? |
| Message: |
lawstudent --
Few more things I forgot to mention.
(1) Most law schools have restrictions on starting school, stopping for a while, and then coming back. At my school, if you took a break longer than 2 years, if you came back you had to start all over (this is if you left of your own volition ... they made exceptions for recalled military reservists and other official government business). So I would be cautious about starting school before CIA if you're thinking worst case, you'll start, take a couple of semesters off, then start again.
(2) Unlike a lot of grad programs, most law schools in DC also have restrictions on the amount of time you can take to finish the degree, usually by mandating a minimum credit load (about 7-8 credits) per semester. So if you were thinking of taking a light load but more time to finish your degreee, it's not really feasible to stretch law school experience out by more than an extra semester or so.
(3) Again, unlike a lot of grad programs, law school credits do not transfer into other grad programs. So you cna't start law school, take a few courses, and then try to move into a master's program if you decide you want to do something else.
Bottom Line: Given all of these restrictions, once you start law school you pretty much have to finish it, or all your efforts up to that point will be wasted.
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