Is law school possible at 62?

[haus]

JadyJ & Duncanjp,

I am looking at the possibility of pursuing a part time JD program. One of the schools that I am considering is George Mason University, but I have been surprised to hear that that they have moved from a four night a week 1L PT program to a 5 night a week program.

From the outside looking in 5 nights a week on top of a full time + job seems to leave very little time for the amount of studying that I would suspect would be required to understand the material that is being covered.

Do either of you have any thoughts on the relative advantage/disadvantage of a three night versus five night a week schedule?

[Roomdo]

That's how I feel. I want to know the information. My paralegal class was highly concentrated and the attorney who taught was a real piece of work- but I loved every minute. I spent more time than I had to studying because I would go off on something I came accross and research it and at the end of the class I really liked the instructor because the work was real and so was she. Just as you both said- my every thought was about the law-
Going to law school is for me not any other reason- I sure wish I had started this a little earlier. I may have lost my window. Just within the last day or so I can see that my interests may not have a chance against the "needs" of the other members of the family. I am part of the sandwich generation. 

[Duncanjp]

Do either of you have any thoughts on the relative advantage/disadvantage of a three night versus five night a week schedule?

Five nights a week? Ouch. I don't know about that, Haus. Not if you're working full-time. My classes run from 6:30 to 9:15 at night. Three nights a week is manageable - barely - but I depend on the other four nights, plus all day Saturday and all day Sunday, just to keep up with the reading and briefing for the three main courses (Contracts, Crim Law and Torts). We've got Legal Writing a couple of Saturday mornings each month as well, which cuts into my time for Contracts. I'll be candid: there is so much to do, so much information to process, that I have experienced odd periods of physical fatigue - like I'm about to come down with a bad flu. It's from the constant brain activity between work and school. I slogged my way through four years in the US Marines back in the day, and frankly, that experience was only occasionally this demanding. To say it's "challenging" is an understatement. I love it, personally, but I don't know how on Earth a person would work 40 hours and attend law school five nights a week. Even 25 years ago, I think I would have found that prospect untenable. If you didn't have to work, however, it would be a different story.

[haus]

Duncanjp,

First off, thanks for your response. I do not have the schedule in front of me, but I believe that they are currently running M-F 6 - 8. Personally I would much rather stretch M-Th for another 30 minutes so that I could avoid the commute on Friday. But my opinion likely does not matter.

Second, SepmerFi, I was in 1/3 back in the early 90's. Four years was enough for me, but they were an interesting four years. Currently I am working on a Masters of Liberal Arts (ALM) from Harvard University Extension School (Information Technology), This term I am taking two development courses and by the time I finish my programing assignments I am dead on beat.

[Hamilton]

If I could add my 2 cents.  I did a weekend program 9 - 5 Sat and Sunday, 4 classes.  Each class a 3 hour block.  One way or another you need to put the time in.  If commuting was not an issue and it jived well with work schedule, I almost think 5 nights a week would be manageable.  You could put in an hour or 2 after class, and catch up on the big stuff on the weekends.  Perhaps the best way is to minimize the number of classes - instead of a 3 year track, go for 4.

Regardless, it is not easy, taxing mentally and physically, and will drive you to the breaking point balancing everything.  Not sure there is a way to minimize it - it is what it is.

From the outside looking in 5 nights a week on top of a full time + job seems to leave very little time for the amount of studying that I would suspect would be required to understand the material that is being covered.

[LadyJ]

Five nights per week would be very difficult with a full-time job.  That sounds more like full-time.  At my school for the first two years it was mandatory to attend class four nights per week for the part-time class, which damn near killed me.  I gained 40 pounds, was put on blood pressure medicine and my stress level was crazy.  I worked during the day, attended classes M-Thur from about 6:00 till 9:15 pm and did my studying on Friday evenings, and all day Sat-Sun.  No social life, nothing but work and study for two years straight.  I also had to attend class year round, so while the full-time students were on summer break, I was attending classes four nights per week. 

After the first year classes were done, I could schedule my classes any way I wanted to and it started to get easier.  Some semesters I attended class 3 nights per week and some semesters I only went two nights per week.  You may want to consider another part-time program.  I wouldn't recommend a program that requires you to attend classes 5 nights per week.

[Duncanjp]

Semper fi, Haus! Force troops, 2nd FSSG, Camp LeJeune, NC. A great, life-changing experience. I spent a year aboard ship and crossed the Atlantic six times (3 over, 3 back). That was fantastic. I served honorably, but at the end of my four years, I thanked 'em for the ride and got the hell out.

Hamilton, you make a good point. You have to put the time in, regardless of what the schedule looks like. I've learned to say No in 17 languages, just to make certain everybody gets the picture. I had to quit my band. I've stopped writing and recording my modest rock songs. I don't go visit anybody anymore. I'm not available to play gigs or to do any of the things I love to do in life except study law. If your commute between work and school is short - shorter than mine - perhaps five nights a week would be doable. But I can't help thinking the grind would take a toll, as LadyJ's experience illustrates. Even in my undergraduate days, taking a full course load at UC Davis, I didn't have school five days a week. Maybe four at the most, and I only worked part-time. Today, I look forward to going straight home after work on Thursday nights. Monday and Thursday my wife and I can have dinner together before I disappear into the den to study. But having that little break in the action is a bigger relief in reality than it might appear on paper. I don't get home on school nights until after 10 p.m., and on those nights I eat dinner standing over the kitchen sink. Having a couple of days during the work week where I don't have to be in class all evening serves as a very welcome pressure release valve.

[LadyJ]

Update:  I pass the July 2010 bar exam!!!  Woot Woot!!!   

[Roomdo]

Congratulations!

[LadyJ]

Thank you!!! In my excitement I used poor grammar!  Make that I "passed" the bar exam.  :-)