| Topic Name: |
Part-Time Education |
| Message Name: |
Reply |
| Date Posted: |
02/17/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
I can only speak from personal experience, but I was an analyst throughout law school and I made it through, despite some "minor" annoyances like 9/11, the war in Iraq, and semi-annual overseas deployments. That being said, making it through is pretty much all I had time to do, as I had no time to participate in extracurricular activities like moot court or law review, which are very desirable for law firms. I also could not participate in summer employment or internships, which is how a lot of law students line up their first job after graduation.
So I guess the real question is why you're going to law school. If your primary interest is just earning your JD, then I would say go for it. But if you're trying to at least preserve the option of eventually working for a law firm, I would be hesitant in trying to balance intel work and school. Most of my friends in the evening program who got "good" law jobs upon graduation did it by (1) working as a clerk/paralegal during school and then just becoming a lawyer with the same firm, or (2) working b.s. day jobs, sometimes for less than 40 hours per week, with law school as their primary focus. Obviously, in the DI (1) is really not an option and I think following path (2) is a disservice to both the Agency and your own personal development as an analyst. |
| Message: |
Spynavy:
Thank you for your additional reply. You've provided excellent perspective on all these issues.
I would prefer to defer a year and begin my position in the mean time. I know that evening school leaves little time for things like law review or moot court, but I've run into a few people who do have those credentials. I think at most schools the option is there (say, to participate in write-on for a journal), but the committment has to come from the student first. I guess I won't know more about these issues of time committment until I actually start working.
I would like to keep open the option of working for a firm or for a government agency after school. I would most likely take my 3L summer to work either a) in OGC at CIA or b) work a summer at a law firm. Law and foreign affairs are my two strongest passions and I would like to fuse them together (somehow) with this experience. I realize that my post-CIA legal employability is in question, but I suppose that there must be a way to gain the appropriate experience. I do realize that once beginning the JD program, it will have to completed in 4 years. As such, I would prefer to defer for one year instead of beginning the program while still waiting for the clearance.
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