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Law School Workload Compared to Professional Military Education

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2018 2:45 pm
by pipedream
The high workload in law school is covered extensively, but I'm curious how it stacks up compared to PME (particularly ALS and NCOA, as those are the two I've taken), obvious length differences excluded.

I was taking two undergrad courses during both of those and managed to do pretty well. I've also gone through a couple hell semesters that included two courses and two internships simultaneously while deployed (which entails a minimum of a 72-hour work week on its own), so I'm not too worried if JD programs are more rigorous. I'd actually welcome it-- call me weird, but I really enjoy challenges when they're something I'm particularly interested/invested in lol

Re: Law School Workload Compared to Professional Military Education

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2018 5:16 pm
by Wipfelder
pipedream wrote:The high workload in law school is covered extensively, but I'm curious how it stacks up compared to PME (particularly ALS and NCOA, as those are the two I've taken), obvious length differences excluded.

I was taking two undergrad courses during both of those and managed to do pretty well. I've also gone through a couple hell semesters that included two courses and two internships simultaneously while deployed (which entails a minimum of a 72-hour work week on its own), so I'm not too worried if JD programs are more rigorous. I'd actually welcome it-- call me weird, but I really enjoy challenges when they're something I'm particularly interested/invested in lol
Completely different worlds. 1L is much more rigorous academically than anything in the army or undergrad, perhaps less time consuming, definitely less structured, but much, much more competitive. Its just about incomparable to any army school.

The closest analogy I can think of is to the APFT, but where there is a curve, and you take the top 250 most-fit soldiers, and make them take a test in 4 months.....only the top 50 will get promoted, the other 200 will be dishonorably discharged. Everyone is going to work hard, but there is only so much you can do, on the outside, you'd just see 250 people sleeping alot and working out six hours a day. Some will win due to talent, some to hard work, but most will fail.

On the flip side, law school is predictable, low-stress, and no one cares if you half-ass it. You just probably won't accomplish your goals.

Re: Law School Workload Compared to Professional Military Education

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2018 6:55 pm
by pipedream
Ah, thanks for the input. "Which is more time consuming?" is what I should've asked.

As far as the curve goes, that's something I'm fairly excited for in law school. I imagine most, if not all law students could say that academic material always came a little more naturally to them than their peers growing up; being in an atmosphere where that's just par for the course is the part of the challenge I find exciting. (I tried finding a way to word that statement that didn't paint me as a snob, but I still don't think I was successful lol)

Re: Law School Workload Compared to Professional Military Education

Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2018 12:49 pm
by Wipfelder
pipedream wrote:Ah, thanks for the input. "Which is more time consuming?" is what I should've asked.

As far as the curve goes, that's something I'm fairly excited for in law school. I imagine most, if not all law students could say that academic material always came a little more naturally to them than their peers growing up; being in an atmosphere where that's just par for the course is the part of the challenge I find exciting. (I tried finding a way to word that statement that didn't paint me as a snob, but I still don't think I was successful lol)
It'll be fun if your going to a top law school because you have a safety net. If not, it gets a little stressful. It'll be wierd cause everyone will be super smart and hardworking, but most won't be "intelligent" in a way your used to seeing. It's quite the experience.....I was an infantryman for about a decade before going to law school. Still struggling with the transition....

Re: Law School Workload Compared to Professional Military Education

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 12:19 pm
by LSlyfe
pipedream wrote:Ah, thanks for the input. "Which is more time consuming?" is what I should've asked.

As far as the curve goes, that's something I'm fairly excited for in law school. I imagine most, if not all law students could say that academic material always came a little more naturally to them than their peers growing up; being in an atmosphere where that's just par for the course is the part of the challenge I find exciting. (I tried finding a way to word that statement that didn't paint me as a snob, but I still don't think I was successful lol)
Personal opinion Law school is definitely more time consuming. PME is a very structured type of time consuming you know your schedule and you stick to it whereas law school is you having to figure out how you learn, the pace that best suites you, attend classes and still balance ordinary life. It’s a different type of time-consumption that is difficult to predict and can easily get out of control. However I have found that the other veterans are able to take a slightly more relaxed/controlled approach to the work and are less prone to hysterics when it’s time to really work hard. Not having significant debt and knowing you’re guaranteed a good job no matter what grades you get (we’re at T-10 school) certainly goes a long way to reliving the stress.

Re: Law School Workload Compared to Professional Military Education

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 6:20 pm
by Nagster5
The military tells you where to be, what to do, and how to do it. For PME there's tests, standards, homework, etc. The vast majority of law school classes are one test. They won't really care if you don't go to class, they wont give you feedback (often even if you ask for it), there's no homework, quizzes, or anything to let you know where you stand.

Law school is as hard as you make it. It's incredibly hard to fail out, but it's also very hard to be at the top of your class. Law school can be easy, but not if you are trying to do well. You can do the reading and go to class and take notes, but you don't know where you are in the class. So you keep reading, keep studying. You can understand everything the prof said, but if you can't make your answer sound better than the answer half the class gives, you're going to end up below median.

So if you're doing FLEP and just need a JD, it will be really easy. If you want to land biglaw and are going to a school where you have to land top 10% to have a hot, it's going to be very, very hard.

Re: Law School Workload Compared to Professional Military Education

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:19 am
by Npret
Before you get too excited about the forced curve, remember that it’s based for the most part solely on me final and the grading is in the professors discretion.
Also your grades absolutely determine the beginning of your career so there is a different kind of pressure.

Re: Law School Workload Compared to Professional Military Education

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:13 pm
by Npret
I hate I can’t go back and fix typos.

Law school grades are based on one exam is what I meant to say.