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Restarting @ age 30...do I have hope?

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I assume you are going to be eligible for CH33 veteran benefits. Use them for your education. Don't piss away that benefit. It is a good one.
 
Your Marine Corps time will be a HUGE benefit to you in the future.

While your MOS may (or may not) translate into a civilian job, most employers like hiring ex-military. They know how to take orders...and understand the need for discipline and order in the workplace. Understanding your place in the chain of command is important...

Whether you go to law school, or find a different field, I suspect you'll do just fine.
Do yourself a HUGE favor...spend some time researching, testing, and evaluating yourself and the field BEFORE you make a decision.
It will pay off in the long run.
 
You may have answered this, I didn't read the whole thread.
Why are you getting out?
Will the Marines send you to law school?
How about another branch?
 
oldsmoboat said:
Why are you getting out?
Will the Marines send you to law school?
How about another branch?
Click to expand...

The military was always a stepping stone in my life. I'm getting out because I've gotten the "excitement" that I wanted out of it as well as the benefits. The only thing that awaits me in the military is a greater and greater administrative role and a smaller operating role. Plus, I don't want to leave my family anymore.

The Marines will not send me to law school while I'm active duty. I can get out and use the GI Bill for it, though.

Right now, pretty much every branch of the military is focusing on deploying their people more, getting rid of those that "hide" behind non-deploying jobs. I want to buckle down and focus on school for the next few years to make sure that it gets done, and gets done right. None of the branches of the military will offer that to me during this time of war.
 
You are definitely not too late. My mom didn't start law school until she was 35, and ended up having a very successful career as a lawyer and judge. That said, this is the worst time to go to law school in decades. I would recommend taking a Strong Interest Inventory or some other occupational interest test to help you identify a career path that will suit your strengths.
 
I didn't start law school until 30. I have always been employed as an attorney and am about to hang my own shingle.
 
Don Vito Corleone said:
You are definitely not too late. My mom didn't start law school until she was 35, and ended up having a very successful career as a lawyer and judge. That said, this is the worst time to go to law school in decades. I would recommend taking a Strong Interest Inventory or some other occupational interest test to help you identify a career path that will suit your strengths.
Click to expand...

I'd have to agree. There are more people coming out of law school than there are positions for new lawyers. Make sure you're completely set on being a lawyer before you commit. Also, look to see if there are other positions you're interested in that have more operations. That being said though, you're actually in a very good position. I don't think 35 is too late to get started in a career and, as others have said, a guy with military on his resume is almost always given a leg up when it comes to the hiring process.
 
If you'e going into law, I hopes it's to a tier 1 school. Theres endless new york times exposes on the low tier law schools that sucker people into paying huge tuitions with no guarantee of a job at the other end
 
Why law? Have you consider other options such as finance industry? Look into starting out as a financial consultant. You'll be in the perfect age range, the pay is not bad 😉, and you don't have the stigma of being a lawyer...

Oh hush atot lawyers.
 
A good friend of mine went back to school and got his degree in Engineering when he was close to 40 years old. Landed a job in under 6 weeks.
 
Not a lawyer, never been to law school but I worked in a big corporate legal department for a few years and got to observe.

Your age will not work against you. Law students tend to be older than other grad students, and they usually come with some life experiences.

It IS a very tough time to be a new lawyer though. We had lawyers working as legal assistants because they couldn't get other work. :/
 
How long have you been in the military? Seriously consider working for the Federal Government as a civilian, all your military time will transfer over and you will be able to retire in just a few years and then go out and start again this time with experience.
 
Haven't read the thread but.... a lot of people haven't even really started by 30. So I'm pretty sure you have hope.
 
DainBramaged said:
I'm a Pashto linguist, MOS 2676. I'm almost finished with my deployment, but I was at a small patrol base near Lashkar Gah. I would go with the grunts on their foot-mounted patrols whenever they felt like there was an above-average chance of taking contact from the Taliban or when they were going to meet someone (village elder, mullah, etc) and wanted someone they could trust (vs. a local national interpreter) to do the translating.
Click to expand...

You could easily land a job with the CIA, DIA, or NSA and have your years of service carry over towards retirement\pay.

Or you could go to work for any number of contractors and sleep on a mattress stuffed with money every night.

As long as we're focused on trying to fix Afghanistan, there's $$$ to be made for people that speak the language.

I didn't know you were in the Lashkar Gah area. Ever been by the Helmand Police Training Center?
 
And for what it's worth, the job market for lawyers is garbage. I know others have already said it, but it needs to be emphasized.
 
Nebor said:
You could easily land a job with the CIA, DIA, or NSA and have your years of service carry over towards retirement\pay.

Or you could go to work for any number of contractors and sleep on a mattress stuffed with money every night.

As long as we're focused on trying to fix Afghanistan, there's $$$ to be made for people that speak the language.

I didn't know you were in the Lashkar Gah area. Ever been by the Helmand Police Training Center?
Click to expand...

I was actually thinking the same thing. Might want to look into some government jobs.
 
You are going to be 5 years older with or without the education. The military experience, language background, and having been oversees will only help.
 
DainBramaged said:
This is my situation for those that don't know.
My first priority after getting out is to finish a Bachelors. I have always dreamed of going to law school.

What are my chances of making a successful career this late? What are my chances of getting into a law school? With a family now, will I be able to succeed in this goal?
Click to expand...

If you want to talk to someone who went to Law school at 27 (with a family), let me know. It ain't easy, but it is doable. That said, there are also a million reasons you might want to consider NOT going to law school. Seriously.
 
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