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Bayou Sailor

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My DS is considering applying for the USMMA, but his long term goal is to be a JAG in the Coast Guard. He is applying for the USCGA and considering the USMMA, but the available majors do not seem to prepare one for law school. Has anyone had experience with this? Thanks.
 
Every major prepares one for law school.

When my son was in high school, he wanted to go to law school too. We went to BBW for wings in Ithaca and saw a guy with a newly minted Cornell Law School hoodie. So we struck up a conversation.

He said his grades weren’t great. He double majored in math and philosophy. Half of the top ten law schools in the country accepted him.

I have been told by a respected lawyer that stem majors are the best to prepare one for law school.
 
A1Janitor said:
I have been told by a respected lawyer that stem majors are the best to prepare one for law school.
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Yes and No... you have to be able to read and write to do well in law school , and succeed as an attorney. That said, a solid STEM background is important to be able to understand some of the subject matter you work with.

There are plenty of attorneys who went to college, got a nice liberal arts degree, couldn't find a job and went to law school, and work in areas of the law where STEM or even basic math skills aren't necessary. On the other hand, I've had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of clients where my STEM heavy, USNA Political Science Degree and Navy experience was extremely helpful. For example, I spent many years doing site aquisition and zoning for cellphone towers, and I was able to use knowledge of radio wave propagation to explain to people why their desire to have a tower at the bottom of the valley , out of sight, just wasn't the answer.

Undergrad degree really isn't all that important when it comes to law school acceptance...solid grades (they recognize that a Service Academy may be different than State U, life experience, and LSAT scores are much more important than the undergrad degree,.
 
As far as I know, the only legal discipline that requires an accredited science or engineering degree in addition to a law degree is patent law. In order to be a Patent Attorney, you must have both degrees and past the patent bar exam. However, you can become a Patent Agent with just the bachelor's degree and by passing the exam.

Of course, the most desirable and successful patent attorneys have graduate degrees in the specific scientific/engineering area in which they practice.
 
He did crush the LSATs and was a D1 athlete which was a contributing factor to his low gpa. He said they were impressed with dual majors in math and philosophy.

The lawyer that suggested it was a physics undergrad major, so he was liked biased.

I argued with him that an English major that can comprehend issues and judges decisions and can communicate well seems like the right major to me.
 
Without counting my fellow classmates, I would say we graduated about a 50/50 split between deck and engine, so about 145 of each. Again guessing I would say that of that 145 deck, around 50 ended up practicing law, some even very well respected in Maritime Law. Of the engineers, perhaps less than 10 entered law. The same amount of engineers by the way, later went on to medicine. In my case I was deemed to have one shortcoming in going on to study for a MSME; that was differential equations.

The short summery is I feel KP will prepare you for most anything, the grad just needs to seek out and fulfill the desire.
 
I can speak to this question from my experience as a lawyer and also from the perspective of a parent of a plebe at USMMA.

As a lawyer, I can say that in law school, one will have classmates from nearly every academic background imaginable. Your college major is not nearly as important in applying to law schools as is your overall GPA and your LSAT score. If you have a high GPA and a high LSAT score, your chances of getting into a good law school is good. If one is lower, the other needs to be higher.

As a parent of a current USMMA plebe I can say two things. First, one of the most influential individuals in introducing my son to the idea of USMMA was another attorney I worked with who is a USMMA alumnae. He obviously had a USMMA degree but succeeded in law school and then became a very accomplished attorney. Second, I have always taught my sons the importance of critical thinking. That being said, I have no doubts that whatever your major, if you have critical thinking skills, you will be able to survive/thrive in law school. Law school rewards critical thinking. And critical thinking is equally applicable to STEM degrees as it is to Liberal Arts degrees. The key is being able to think. And I trust USMMA to encourage and build upon the critical thinking skills I have instilled in my son so that, when the time comes, if he chooses to follow in my path, he will be well prepared. But if he chooses another path, he'll be just as prepared.
 
I have been a trial lawyer for over 40 years and am the mom of two USMMA graduates. Taking a non-traditional major will assist you when you apply to law school. My undergraduate degree was in wildlife-fisheries resources, and I was accepted to every law school I applied to, most of which would now be referred to as tier one schools. I had a good but not great LSAT score, but I think standing out from all the pre-law and poli-sci majors is what got me in. I went on to become a career deputy district attorney where my math and science background set me up much better than my humanities peers in understanding everything from traffic collision reconstruction in dui cases to autopsies and crime scene investigations in homicide cases. Critical thinking, especially the ability to think on your feet, time management, and writing skills are essential to being an effective lawyer, all of which you will learn at any service academy. Good luck to your DS.
 
Plenty of JD alumni so I would say the majors at KP prepare one just fine for law school.
 
Thank you all for the responses. Very helpful. One more question, how long after graduation can someone expect to be able to attend graduate school. I looked at the service obligations and am a bit confused about the different options. Does the guard or reserves fulfill the obligation or must the graduate work as a merchant mariner for 6 years? Thanks.
 
Your service obligation is five years sailing on your license (plus an additional year keeping your MMC license active) with a concurrent 8 years reserve obligation. You may be able to get a waiver for shore side employment so you could do grad school part time, but I would not count on it. The good news is that you will earn enough money during your five years to cash flow any graduate education you want.
 
Bayou Sailor said:
Thank you all for the responses. Very helpful. One more question, how long after graduation can someone expect to be able to attend graduate school. I looked at the service obligations and am a bit confused about the different options. Does the guard or reserves fulfill the obligation or must the graduate work as a merchant mariner for 6 years? Thanks.
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Assuming a graduate does not go active-duty military: after the MARAD commitment is met, which is 5 years. There is a way to request a waiver before those 5 years, but I've honestly never heard of anyone requesting one. Here is the link: https://omb.report/icr/201712-2133-001/doc/79168201

Also - a typical Merchant Marine job does not exist. Various schedules and "off" periods often time allows graduates to simultaneously fulfill their commitment and attend graduate school at the same time.

Graduates have two options to fulfill their obligation. They can:

1. Work in the merchant marine for five years (either sailing or, if authorized, ashore) and serve in the reserves for eight years,
2. Or go on active duty in any of the uniformed services for five years. This includes NOAA.

Scenarios:

- sail in the merchant marine for 5 years, go to grad school beginning year 6 while also serving in the reserves
- be approved to work ashore in the maritime industry for 5 years, go to grad school beginning year 6 while also serving in the reserves
- sail in the merchant marine for 6 months a year and attend grad school the other 6 months while also serving in the reserves
- Serve for 5 years in the Marine Corps and then get out and go to grad school for free with the GI Bill
- Serve on active duty in the Navy and attend the Naval Postgraduate School while on active duty

You get the idea - lots of options.
 
Remember the list of uniformed services includes the National Guard, The Air National Guard, NOAA, and The Public Health Service. For many years I had no idea what a KP grad would do in the PHS. I recently met a retired O-6 in the PHS (30 years) who told me about many projects and the research he did in fields which I didn't know the PHS had purview. It is clear to me that MID/N should look into ALL the options they are offered.
 
Many classmates went to grad school and some to law school. I've met KP grads in all kinds of professions.
If you want to do full time grad school right away, I believe you can apply to defer the obligation.
 
Very difficult to defer, and KP will fight you unless you are getting an advanced degree directly related to the maritime industry. My DD had to fight the KP administration every step of the way when she was going through the Fulbright Scholar process for grad school. You have to be approved by the superintendent in order for MARAD to postpone your service obligation.
 
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