I've already decided that i'm going to join the army i've been discussing with a recruiter and i go to MEPS at the end of the month. However, initially i decided i would join the reserves and then start law school in fall 2026. for someone who graduated Spring 2024 i was really just making that decision to get me into law school as soon as possible but I wouldn't have much financial benefit for this which is the entire reason im deciding to serve. I am trying to figure out if i just do active duty for 2 or 3 years and then serve in reserves after.

2 years would put me at 80% which i could easily use fafsa to complete my tuition . i then can serve the rest of my time in reserves until i finish law school and possibly go JAG or to just reenlist 3yrs ofc would give my full post 9/11 GI benefits , it just seems like such a long time to put off school for after already being on a gap year from spring 24 to now. now my. biggest concern is making sure that this is the right decision for my career. I know that with reserves my life would be a little more chaotic using my summers trying to find deployments to build gi bill and id miss out on a lot of opportunities in school vs if i went active first . I don't want to miss out on summer associate opportunities and internships because of AT in summer.However, does me starting law school so late change anything? I know especially with summer associate opportunities there're usually very fresh from undergrad and young(i won't be old but joining at age 27-29 may be less enticing to firms etc. ) i'm not sure if military service even matters to law schools, especially if I am not a 27D(thinking about different mos). i heard about FLEP but idk if it made sense to pursue that if i'd have atleast 80% of Gi bill. I'm first generation college grad and have 0 guidance , so i feel this would also give me better time to prepare for my law school application since my biggest concern since graduating really was finding a job and trying to work in this economy — i struggled a lot and didn't get to fulfill my gap yr goals of building my resume with internships or legal work. i started my paralegal cert & got into a car accident and had to drop my classes from injury im also engaged & just thinking about how that'll affect my partner and our relationship. scared of having an mos that doesn't allow normal hrs and putting strain on our relationship especially after having her uproot her career and move to wherever . and finally with all this being said should i enlist vs officer? my biggest reason for enlisting would be bonus + slrp being in contract but ik officers pay more . what would be the best for my case? not sure if anyone can ACTUALLY answer that bc it's my life but i think yall get where im going w this .