Am I Too Old?

Most people equate nontraditionalness (nontraditionality?) with being older. Age is a large part of being a nontraditional student. The first, and most important, issue to resolve with respect to age is whether nontraditional students stick out because they are older. To put it simply, the answer is no. Many law students have strayed from the traditional path of following undergrad directly with law school. (Or, the ubiquitous “year working for such and such a Congressman in D.C.”…which will, after a while, make you sick of younger law student braggarts.) You will doubtless find your class contains a healthy portion of older students. To be honest, law students with significant hair loss or grayness are still the exception (although are no longer unusual), but the student body will contain a large group of students who are mid-twenties to late-thirties, often married, often with small children, and probably on a second career or beginning a career after raising children. A quick call to the admissions office of any school you are considering applying to will reveal the actual figures, but seldom will a nontraditional law student be the black sheep.

There is also a vague wariness between traditional and nontraditional students. Nontrads aren’t stuck with their own—the intense experience of law school bonds students together, and age is not usually a dividing issue. (With one notable exception: when a nontraditional student begins a comment with the words, “In the real world….”)

I think the intensity of law school removes some of the age barriers. Two of my best law school friends are more than 20 years younger than I. I have many more acquaintances who are also much younger. MaggieC

My experience has been that everyone gets along pretty well. I have friends who are older and friends who are younger. Nontrads tend to have other lives. I am married, and while some of the students may want to go out for beers after class, I’d rather go home and see my wife. But that doesn’t keep us from being friends. It all comes down to personality and chemistry. You either get along or you don’t. For the most part, I haven’t found age to be a factor at all. uke

I’m in my 50s and all of my friends at school are way younger than I am, and some of them are younger than my own children. We get along really well. No, I don’t go and party with them after class because I do have a sweet husband at home that I’d rather spend my time with. However, I do meet them for study groups and we try and carpool together. grannylaw

I had one suggestion for younger (and older) law school students—look at things from the other’s perspective. Younger students should understand that for many of us, law school is our “new” job. For many younger students, law school is a continuation of the “college experience” or a return to that environment after a year or two break. Chief

I would just advise that everyone just forget about age and treat each other as equals. I’m surprised at times how much alike I am to everyone that is younger and older than me at school. By the time the semester is half over, everyone is now buddies and classmates, not young and old students. uke

The younger students have all been so nice to me! True, I don’t belong to their study groups, but that’s my choice rather than theirs. They tend to study way late into the evening and on weekends. Me, I read at home and try to keep weekends relatively free. My “lunch buddy” though is younger than my youngest child. We get along great. Most of the younger ones are surprised that I have as many grandkids as I do but they think it’s “cool” that I’m at school. Even the guys honk and wave if we see each other driving down the road. Grannylaw

The other important issue about age and law school is the question, “How old is too old?” Again, a simple answer—anything younger than deathbed is fine. Law requires no unique physical abilities; so as long as the joints, bones, and other parts of your body can sustain sitting in a classroom for fairly lengthy sessions, you’re probably good to go. If anything, experience gained through simply growing up and living for thirty, forty, even sixty or seventy years, is nothing but an asset. (Used correctly, of course. Save the “common sense” arguments and answers for after your admission to practice law, not for the final exams where the professor’s hypothetical verges on the utterly ridiculous and a “common sense” answer will get you a failing grade.)

I’ll be 47 when I start and 50 when I finish. I don’t feel old (most of the time) and don’t feel I am too old to change careers (again) and become a lawyer. consultant

I am 54 and doing just fine. I finished 8th in my class of 95 first semester. I also have the highest average in my Legal Research and Writing section. The mental challenge is the part I enjoy the most. I have been a lifelong learner as I suspect most of you are or you wouldn’t be pursuing this. I was in the library until 11 p.m. last night and that was after getting up for work that day at 5:30 a.m. The “kids” had all gone home by 10:30 p.m., but I was on a roll and didn’t want to quit. MaggieC

At least you know what you want now and are setting out to accomplish your goal. Better to achieve your goals later than never achieve them at all. bluecanary

We’re all getting older and there is no better time than now to do what we want to do with our lives. I’ll be [loud cough to cover the next words] 49 when I graduate and I have no doubt that I will do well in school and back out in the job market afterwards. Chief

I was at the grocery store the other day wearing my law school t-shirt. The cashier and her bagger, both young girls in their early 20s, saw the shirt and started asking me all sorts of questions about law school. We talked and talked and talked, and I didn’t think they’d every let me leave. And then the cashier asked me “So what do you teach?” UF LAW

This is from the preliminary chapter, “So Why Law? Why Now?” on pages 10-13.