<p>So D informed me she has her plans and decisions in place - she found a joint law school/masters degree program at the University of Chicago that she’s so crazy about that she wants to just hop on the first plane and show up for class. It’s four years, and from what she described, she would do one year in the masters, then one year in the law school, then the next two years split between both. Then, after those four years, she intends to take her newly minted law and masters degrees and apply to the FBI Academy, and begin a career in public service. It’s all enroute to her ultimate destination of investigating art crimes. </p>
<p>She will need both the GRE and the LSAT, and the application deadline is December. </p>
<p>I have some questions: I’m guessing that this is somewhat like undergrad, in that she should not pin her hopes all on one school - should she be encouraged to try to find a number of “safety schools” in this as well? </p>
<p>Second, is it possible to do both the GRE and LSAT before December, and end up with acceptable scores? She tells me it is - says the GRE is offered once a month, the LSAT quarterly, and she thinks she can sit for both AND have time to do some review coursework. Is this realistic? She says it’s not an option to sit for either after the application deadline - scores have to be available to the admissions committees on or before the application deadline. </p>
<p>Also, I’ve heard the LSAT is very difficult, and that the score is critical. Is it logical that she can sit for both of these things while simultaneously taking a full courseload/final semester of undergrad?</p>
<p>Third, I’m guessing money is probably going to mean invading assets, since I doubt that law school gives a lot of merit money, or even any. But a career start in the public sector isn’t going to pay enough to offset any borrowing she might need to do. Does anyone here know how law school financial aid is determined? I understand the grad school part of it (or at least I think I do.)</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.</p>
<p>It’s been a while since I took it, but the LSAT isn’t difficult in that it isn’t rocket science. Take a look at a prep book. But the score IS critical! Along with undergrad GPA.</p>
<p>Funding law/masters programs are often done by loans. Coming out of school with 4 years of expensive law/grad school loans and then working for the FBI (starting salary equals low?–that will be a big burden.</p>
<p>Let me suggest an alternative approach. Graduate college; move to Washington and become become a DC police officer earning a salary; apply to the night law schools at Georgetown, Howard; American, Catholic, or GW; take four years to get a degree; have no debt; apply to the FBI. Street experience as a real cop plus law degree equals much better chance of getting into the FBI.</p>
<p>I have found that - contrary to common wisdom - there is merit $$ to be had for Law School. But, as per usual, not at the most selective programs. A friend’s S was accepted to several top programs (no merit $$, of course) but then accepted to USF (if I remember correctly) with some nice merit $.</p>
<p>So, she has her Plan A. tsdad has suggested an interesting Plan B. Within that plan, there may be some merit $$ schools? (maybe not if the night programs operate differently). Plan C might be to apply to some schools where the merit $$ could come through.</p>
<p>I would certainly say that if she is sure she wants a law degree, she shouldn’t apply to only one program.</p>
<p>Keep her eye on her end goal - there’s more than one way to get there.</p>
<p>Only problem with choosing DC is that their police force has a horrible reputation. Are there other big city forces near good law schools that would fit the plan? NYC comes to mind. Plenty of nearby NJ forces, too. Some cities may not require you to be a resident before you sit for the civil service exam. This would give her a head start.</p>
<p>If the Metro Police are not of interest try one of the Federal police forces like the Park Police, or the uniform division of the Secret Service, or the Capitol Hill Police. Or consider Montgomery MD police or forces in Arlington, Alexandria, or Fairfax County. If you’re in Virginia then take a look at George Mason U. law school. Too ideologically conservative for my taste but I assume that stuff can be ignored.</p>
<p>I’m wondering what the purpose of the master’s degree is on top of the law degree. Is there any indication that this would be of any value to the FBI? It appears to add another year to the process plus another year of expenses.</p>
<p>If the FBI is her ultimate goal, I would start looking at what their hiring patterns are. Do they recruit at certain favorite schools? Besides law and accounting, are they looking for other areas of specialities (such that the Master’s degree in that area could help)? Does a previous background in law enforcement help (or, conversely, hurt if they view “flat-foots” as too plebian for their tastes)? Does a degree earned at night school count as much as a full-time degree?</p>
<p>Don’t discount working for a federal agency. Although the running perception is that pay is “low”, it is often offset by perks that aren’t seen in industry, such as the agency paying off one’s school loans, or paying for grad school altogether, etc.</p>
<p>Those perks are few and far between these days. it is a very rare Federal agency that will pay you to get a new career. They will pay for individual job-related courses, but most of them will not be at universities. The Feds tend to be good at job training as opposed to career development. The only exception is at the lowest levels where they will help people move from clerical into professional positions including paying for some college.</p>
<p>Actually, I think the pay of lower level and mid-level Federal employees is quite good. It lags at the top levels. There are add-ons if you work in an expensive part of the country like NYC or DC or SF.</p>
<p>I guess I don’t understand that if she is really interested in art crimes-why neither languages or art would be considered as a major
as for gvt recruitment- Ds friend that minored in Russian and majored in physics astrnomy has been recruited fairly agressively by the CIA- but she has said no thanks ( her latest gig in Azerbaijan probably isn’t going to help them get off her back)</p>
<p>“A GW or Georgetown degree earned at night is no different than one earned during the day.”</p>
<p>Technically that may be true, but that does not necessarily mean that they are perceived to be the same from an employer’s perspective. I know from my own experience that night courses aren’t always of the same caliber as day courses. I once took a grad course in queuing theory at Columbia at night. It was a standard grad course that could be used for credit for a Masters or PhD degree, yet it was the easiest “A” that I have ever earned. I would hope that Columbia’s day time course are a bit more rigorous and graded a bit tougher than this course was.</p>
<p>Loan forgiveness is a relatively new thing for the Federal Government. Advise she check the individual agencies that hire attorneys (Besides Justice other agencies such as the State Department have lawyers). There is such an imbalance in attacting new govt. employees that this perk may exist for awhile, as older feds retire and new ones take their place. Getting young people interested in govt. is being called the “War for Talent” (waged against NGO’s and industry).</p>
<p>Actually every agency has attorneys–sometimes too many. Most of them are in the General Counsel’s Office, but in the Office for Civil Rights, Dept. of Education, they are located in the actual agency and work on policy in HQ and with investigators on cases in the field offices.</p>
<p>I think the FBI requires that you have two years of continuous work experience after you get a college degree before they will take you into the academy – which of course must be applied for, not a slam-dunk to get into.</p>
<p>Actually, as long as you take the exam in the US the exam is offered anytime. It is a computer-based exam now (at least for the US). You may only take it once in a calender month (not to exceed 5 times per year). This only applies for the general exam, subject exams may be taken as often as they are offered. Also, be aware that many graduate schools will only look at the best sitting, not the best combined score (just like the SAT).</p>
<p>tsdad, as a civilian DoD employee with 21 years service so far, much of it in Personnel, I’d have to disagree with you somewhat on education funding. I know many, many people who have had, and continue to have, their graduate degrees paid for 100% by DoD (granted they have been degrees in fields related to that in which employed, but hey!). Further, most scientists and engineers I know here have had their PhDs funded in full by DoD. Also, there often exists some requirement for the employee to commit to so many years of federal service (2-3 years, depending on the job) once the degree has been earned. Civil Service, contrary to popular belief, is not a horrible career choice. I personally can’t complain, it’s been good to me and it pays my bills. Oh, and in keeping with this thread most federal agencies have special provisions and perks for those seeking employment as lawyers.</p>
<p>You and I must be talking about two different Federal governments. I spent half my career in DOJ, and we had to beat attorney applicants off with a stick. There was no need to give them any special breaks or perks. The same was true in OCR where we had more attorney applicants than we knew what to do with. Frankly it was my impression that highly qualified attorneys were a dime a dozen, and many of them would have been thrilled to get a government job. I also saw no difference in the quality of their performace based on where they went to law school. As long as they were members of the bar, could write and analyze, and most importantly had the experience we wanted it didn’t make any difference to us where they went to law school. All these people were smart.</p>
<p>tsdad, I’ll bet DOJ does indeed have an abundance of attorney applicants, LOL! I’m thinking that other federal agencies without a large attorney base (like my military installation, we have maybe (civilian attorneys) 4 in our Law Center), probably are the only ones offering perks. I think it’s harder to retain them in DoD where the work probably is not as dynamic or interesting as it might be in DOJ, for example.</p>
most federal agencies have special provisions and perks for those seeking employment as lawyers.</p>