It’s never too late to apply to law school. Law schools appreciate older applicants for their life experience and well-defined career goals. Older law students are often more focused, independent and resourceful.
Many older applicants come to law school with substantial work experience, seeking to build a second career. Others may be approaching life anew after starting families.
In my experience working with law applicants, parents show a range of motivations for wanting to go to law school. Some found new confidence or purpose after having raised children. Others want to serve as better role models for their children, to encourage them to aim high. Others are returning to dreams they had to put on hold.
[Read: Should You Go to Law School? How to Decide.]
Whatever their motivations, law students who are parents have unique concerns to consider when choosing a school.
Plan, Plan, Plan
The unpredictability of parenthood can be hard to reconcile with the law school application timeline.
As hard as it can be for parents to find time, space and quiet to study for the LSAT, it can be more disappointing to have to cancel tests at short notice due to family duties.
Thus, parents should budget several months to both study for and take the LSAT, anticipating the need to reschedule or retake the test multiple times.
[READ:How Law Schools Look at Applicants With Multiple LSAT Scores]
Since the law admissions process is rolling, it’s best to start by early spring to be ready to submit applications by October or early November, when the odds are best.
Once in law school, parents should plan ahead carefully, since many classes are graded solely based on a final exam — particularly in the first year. Cramming for a law school exam like a teenager in college is hardly an option for most parents.
After the first year, parents should consider class and exam schedules when choosing electives.
PALS and OWLS
The idea that everyone in law school is young, competitive and career-driven is outdated. Law school classes have plenty of room for nontraditional students. That said, older students may feel a bit out of place when they are more interested in arranging play dates than attending bar nights.
Fortunately, many law schools have student organizations for PALS, or parents attending law school. Others have groups for older students, often known as OWLS, or older, wiser law students. If you can’t find such groups on a law school’s website, ask admissions officers if anything is available for students who are parents.
[READ:How to Pick the Right Law School]
Of course, parents may also need other resources, such as lactation rooms or child care facilities. Law schools are far more sensitive to these needs than they were a generation ago, and some schools make a range of accommodations for parents as part of their diversity and inclusion initiatives.
For example, some law schools assist parents with note-taking and exam rescheduling to make it easier for them to attend classes.
Flexible School Options
Law school applicants who are parents should think realistically about the course load they can take on. The flexibility of part-time law school options may make law school easier to balance with family demands.
Likewise, the recent rise of low-residency and online law school programs has created even more flexible options for law students unable to attend campus regularly.
While it may not be easy to attend law school as a parent, the hardest challenge may be the shift in mindset needed to pursue a long-term goal despite the hectic daily demands of parenthood.
There is no way to make the process free of fear and anxiety, but it is not necessary to overcome such fears or distractions to become a lawyer. It just takes getting your work done, somehow. The same skills that allow you to study for the LSAT despite the clamor of family life will be those your clients will one day depend on.
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Parents in Law School: What to Know originally appeared on usnews.com
