168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades Forum

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wannabefree

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168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by wannabefree » Wed Feb 09, 2011 4:58 am

i'm a B/C student with one D grade. i attend a second tier school where a B is a 3.0.... so yeah, my grades are totally shitty. i'm frustrated because my LSAT scores were significantly higher than the average of those who got in to my school... not to mention i came in on a $24K scholarship which i lost thanks to shitty GPA. LSATs are a shitty indicator of law school success!

i was accepted to 2 top 30 schools and i turned them down for idealistic reasons. my current school is ranked a lot lower than the schools i turned down and i'm ending up taking up as many loan $$$ out as i would have at the higher ranked schools i turned down. i have not told my classmates about my 96percentile LSAT score or my scholarship or my subsequent shitty law school grades (i'm probably in the bottom 15%). initially i didn't want to show off. now i am simply ashamed. non-law school friends keep saying, "at least you're in law school... you'll be fine"... they don't understand.

last year i was at a fork between staying and leaving. i chose to stick with law school... and i feel like it's too late to drop out now as i'm nearly halfway through the second semester of my second year. but i still (mostly) hate it and suck at law school.

i'm still shy. i still procrastinate. i'm still single (not that i expected that to change)! i'm still lazy. i still feel like a child. i'm still late for class a lot... i haven't grown up.

i am baffled by those who find the willpower to focus on schoolwork. some are even eager to study! for me, every case is a struggle to get through. i'm an INFP and i don't know if that affects anything and i should be doing my paper right now that's gonna be late but i wanted to rant and/or get some sympathy/advice so i got back on TLS for the first time since i got into law school.

i miss the hopeful, bright-eyed, eager-beaver idealist i was two years ago. i just wanted a respectable degree i could support myself with and use to "help people."

my 1L year mentor told me she didn't think i was cut for law school and told me to drop out. we never met after that. i kinda felt like "fuck you, i'm gonna show you." but now i feel i've lost the resolve. okay, she didn't actually tell me to drop out she just very very very strongly hinted at it and said explicitly i didn't seem like a law-school type. and when i told her i wanted to do public interest law she told me that wouldn't work unless i was independently wealthy... i don't think she has a clue how little i can live on. i don't care if i'm poor. i just want to be happy. i don't know what will make me happy but dropping out of law school will definitely disappoint my family and that WONT make me happy. plus i don't want to be a quitter... i just... i guess it's kinda silly. i just wish law school was fun.
Last edited by wannabefree on Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:19 am, edited 2 times in total.

Ignatius Reilly

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by Ignatius Reilly » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:01 am

Dude, are you going to like being a lawyer if you absolutly hate reading law?

What was you UG major?

Maybe you need so aderall

wannabefree

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by wannabefree » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:05 am

i was an english writing major. it was a joke of a degree.

i thought law school might be "fun" cause i liked reading "stories" and that maybe i'd get to analyze them in a "fun" way like the LSATs which were actually fun for me.

guess i'm kinda naive.

wannabefree

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by wannabefree » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:07 am

p.s.

i have a shitty grammar skills. what does that say about my BA in english? ha. ...no but seriously, wth do you do with a liberal arts degree?? bad idea. my idealistic tendencies tricked me into thinking i was somehow going to be the next atticus finch.
Last edited by wannabefree on Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

Ignatius Reilly

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by Ignatius Reilly » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:08 am

What would you do if you dropped out? Could you manage the debt?

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wannabefree

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by wannabefree » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:12 am

i'm [edit: almost $50K] in. idk what i'd do... (you are so nice to talk to me. i'm obviously way too ashamed to admit this stuff to my classmates.) what does someone do with a liberal arts degree and half a j.d.? useless. i suppose i could go on... i'm planning on going into public interest if i do get through school so i'm hoping for lrap forgiveness after 10 years.

but if i quit... i used to want to be a piano teacher. i figure i could probably make a bit doing that. i also wanted to go into the peace corp. i could do that a delay a few years... but i hate to disappoint my parents and grandmother... i just dont know. maybe i need to suck it up and shut up and stop whining. are you in law school? do you like it?

Ignatius Reilly

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by Ignatius Reilly » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:28 am

No, I'm not in law school. Applying this year.

Do you really want to do PI? I dont know how hard it is to get PI.

As a piano teacher I'm guessing you would make around 36K (15 students $20 a lesson), but if you are a really good musician or have more students, you could make more. But it doesnt sound like you are very interested. Plus, Idk, how hard it woule be to get students.

You should figure out how long it will take, and how much a month to pay off 60k. http://www.youcandealwithit.com/borrowe ... ator.shtml

I wouldn't worry about diappointing your parents/granparents....if you dont want to do something you shouldnt do it to please others.

wannabefree

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by wannabefree » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:34 am

17 years of piano lessons. almost was a music major. but... got bored and quit. i feel bad for wasting my parents money. i wanted to become a journalist but had people convince me travelling the world to write stories was pretty much not gonna happen so i got an english degree and came straight to law school. i didn't know a single lawyer. i probably read 3 cases before law school. i had no idea what law school would be like. and i'm only interested in working for a nonprofit or the public defenders. i just don't want to add to the stereotype/stigma that PI types are "bad" lawyers... so i realize i need to shape up even if i "only want a PI job."


why do you want to go to law school? and thanks for the calculator... i'm playing with it.
Last edited by wannabefree on Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

HBK

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by HBK » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:43 am

wannabefree wrote:17 years of piano lessons. almost was a music major. but... got bored and quit. i feel bad for wasting my parents money. i wanted to become a journalist but had people convince me travelling the world to write stories was pretty much not gonna happen so i got an english degree and came straight to law school. i didn't know a single lawyer. i probably read 3 cases before law school. i had no idea what law school would be like.


why do you want to go to law school? and thanks for the calculator... i'm playing with it.
You shouldn't have gone to law school. It seems like you have never had any idea what you wanted to do when you grow up.

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wannabefree

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by wannabefree » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:48 am

HBK wrote:You shouldn't have gone to law school. It seems like you have never had any idea what you wanted to do when you grow up.

ikr? i was duly warned too.
are you in law school? do you like it?!

Kobe_Teeth

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by Kobe_Teeth » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:55 am

teach high school english.

HBK

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by HBK » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:58 am

wannabefree wrote:
HBK wrote:You shouldn't have gone to law school. It seems like you have never had any idea what you wanted to do when you grow up.

ikr? i was duly warned too.
are you in law school? do you like it?!
Yes, I am in law school.

When I got out of undergrad, all I wanted to do was make money. So I worked for a couple years. Meanwhile, my friends who didn't know what they wanted to do went to law school. They did this fairly aimlessly because it was something to do and they wouldn't have to get a job for 3 more years. I think this is really common, especially amongst people who's parents are still footing the bill. A lot of people whose parents don't pay, I think don't appreciate the value of the loans they're taking out. Rather, it's "free money" they can live on until they finish law school, realize that they hate law and cannot make $160K/yr.

I was out of school and had a career before deciding I wanted to go to law school.

wannabefree

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by wannabefree » Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:13 am

HBK wrote:...my friends who didn't know what they wanted to do went to law school. They did this fairly aimlessly because it was something to do and they wouldn't have to get a job for 3 more years... people whose parents don't pay, I think don't appreciate the value of the loans they're taking out. Rather, it's "free money" they can live on until they finish law school, realize that they hate law and cannot make $160K/yr.
titcr. and i'm afraid this is going to be me. what made you want to go to law school after having a career & making money for 4 years? i wish i took time off.

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KMaine

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by KMaine » Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:45 am

Kobe_Teeth wrote:teach high school english.
No.

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cinephile

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by cinephile » Wed Feb 09, 2011 7:29 am

Several things:

The first being it's harder to support yourself by giving music lessons than you might think. I went to a college with a well-known conservatory and most of my friends from college are musicians. Quite a few of them also have a masters in their instrument. They simply cannot make it by teaching alone. All of them have another job in either food service or retail. Maybe you can eventually build up enough students to survive, or you develop a reputation and you'll get more students by word of mouth, but it'll take awhile.

The second being, PI jobs are just a competitive as biglaw jobs. So even though you want "just PI," plenty of high performing students do as well and it'll be very difficult to find a post.

Also, yes, you should have dropped out after the first year when you would have had minimal losses. Or you probably should have gone to a different school because it doesn't seem like you're happy where you are now. But, since you're 2/3 of the way through, you might as well finish it up and get your JD. I wouldn't count on being able to find a job in the legal field, but perhaps you could take the civil service exam or the foreign service exam and find a job with the government. At least then having a JD would put you in a higher pay scale.

wannabefree

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by wannabefree » Wed Feb 09, 2011 8:35 am

@cinephile: thanks for commenting!
cinephile wrote: PI jobs are just a competitive as biglaw jobs. So even though you want "just PI," plenty of high performing students do as well and it'll be very difficult to find a post.
is this for the high-profile PI jobs like working at the DOJ or for the ACLU, or is it *any* PI job?

also, thanks for the government-service suggestion. i have wondered sometimes if i wouldn't have been happier getting a masters in public policy or something like that... but i'm still young. hopefully there is time to rectify my mistakes!


@Kmaine: why no?

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rman1201

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by rman1201 » Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:56 am

This thread frightens me because I could pretty easily fall into the same predicament. Similar LSAT (although I'm strongly considering T25 as opposed to T2 w/ scholarships), and I've always been a bit of the smart lazy type that can't concentrate. My UG consisted of 10-15 mins of reading before an exam and getting pretty much all As. Idealistic too...
Do you have any specific advise as to what your biggest mistakes were once you got into law school?
Good luck man.

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rose711

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by rose711 » Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:58 am

First of all you need to stop feeling ashamed of not doing well in law school. You are living in a small world where success is measured by grades and class rank, but you need to look beyond that. There are a lot of people in your situation - more than you think. You can not define your self-worth by the grades you get in school - good or bad. It is just a much too limited measure.

Second, you need to ask for help and advice from deans, professors, anyone who can talk to you and give you good sound advice. If you can't find anyone, try to find a good professional career advisor who is familiar with law. I really don't know if it is worth it to spend another year doing something you hate. I can't answer that question.

Third, stop looking back at what you should have done. The past is over so let it go. Every single adult alive can look back and see things they should have done, usually those things were out of their control. You just hate law school -which is the primary reason you did badly -and you can't force yourself to start loving it.

Fourth, you should see if your school has some kind of counseling program. You need help working through all these issues and it sounds like you don't want to tell your family and friends. I think that you should just tell them what happened and you will realize that it isn't a big deal or end of the world. ( I mean it isn't a big deal as for whether they will still care about you. I understand this is a big deal in your life.) You need to get your psychological and emotional state in order so you can move forward in a good way.

Fifth, try to remember that we are living ITE. This is not your fault.

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by theanswer » Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:12 pm

you probably have ADD, and should see a doctor. If you can score in the 96th percentile on your LSAT, and as you say your LSAT put you in the upper quarter of your incoming class, there is frankly no reason why you should not be able to out perform them.

The LSAT is, first and foremost, a test of natural intelligence.

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by Adjudicator » Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:22 pm

theanswer wrote:you probably have ADD, and should see a doctor. If you can score in the 96th percentile on your LSAT, and as you say your LSAT put you in the upper quarter of your incoming class, there is frankly no reason why you should not be able to out perform them.

The LSAT is, first and foremost, a test of natural intelligence.
Uh oh, now you've done it. Thread derail imminent.

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Adjudicator

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by Adjudicator » Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:26 pm

OP, there's always English teaching in Asia. Japan and Korea pay the most, I hear. Many of the programs give you a room and some food, so if you're really miserly you can potentially put away 30k/year.
Last edited by Adjudicator on Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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rman1201

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by rman1201 » Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:26 pm

Adjudicator wrote:
Uh oh, now you've done it. Thread derail imminent.
Image

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MTal

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by MTal » Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:35 pm

Drop out NOW. You will only incur more misery and debt by staying.

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cinephile

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by cinephile » Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:44 pm

Adjudicator wrote:OP, there's always English teaching in Asia. Japan and Korea pay the most, I hear. Many of the programs give you a room and some food, so if you're really miserly you can potentially put away 30k/year.
Great idea. Teaching English in foreign country really helped me "grow up," which is something you seemed concerned about.

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Re: 168 LSAT... SHITTY 1L & 2L grades

Post by tsutsik » Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:46 pm

Will a year (or two) towards a JD qualify you to work as a paralegal?

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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