advice for grades/debt at GW Forum

anonymcoffee · Post by **anonymcoffee** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:42 pm

so far my life has a been a big fail...lsat fail, T14 fail, and now grades fail. I'm at GW, and paying sticker. I just got back my grades and they are A-, B, B, B+, and shitrw B+, so my gpa is around a 3.28 (with different credits among classes). Anyway ...what do I do? Is it worth staying and paying all this debt, can I possibly get a job with a crappy resume with no legal background? I don't even know how these grades can be fixed next semester to give me a better gpa or what my school curves to. Either way ... so far I've hated everything in law school, and if I ever enjoy a class, it ends up being a crappy grade. Two of my really close friends dropped out this semester ...I guess I'm just feeling out of it and need some advice as to whether there is any future from these grades. (No, I won't spend time here saying why I went to law school ...at this point I only care about my debt and if I can get any jobs with this gpa).

bk1 · Post by **bk1** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:44 pm

Do you still want to be a lawyer?

anonymcoffee · Post by **anonymcoffee** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:48 pm

my question is ...can I even BE a good lawyer based on these? do I even have the chance to prove that I will be a lawyer or will I be stuck in a government job or some crappy little town firm?

traehekat · Post by **traehekat** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:55 pm

anonymcoffee wrote:my question is ...can I even BE a good lawyer based on these? do I even have the chance to prove that I will be a lawyer or will I be stuck in a government job or some crappy little town firm?

so those who choose to work for the govt or a smaller firm do not qualify as "lawyers" to you? =/

keg411 · Post by **keg411** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:11 pm

anonymcoffee wrote:my question is ...can I even BE a good lawyer based on these? do I even have the chance to prove that I will be a lawyer or will I be stuck in a government job or some crappy little town firm?

Based on this answer... drop out. You sound BigLawl or Bust. You busted. No one should ever go to law school expecting to be at the top of the class or expecting to get a Big Firm job. You should always have a contingency plan. And you should always WANT to practice law, even if it's at a "crappy" (

) gov't job or small firm job (BTW, don't knock gov't jobs... they usually come with a far better QOL than BigLawl).

Encyclopedia Brown · Post by **Encyclopedia Brown** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:39 pm

GW curves to either a 3.2 or 3.25, can't remember which. Either way, you're a little above median, if that helps at all. ~~BTW, what's wrong with working for the government (besides taking a while longer to pay off loans)?~~

Edit: Keg beat me to the punch.

98234872348 · Post by **98234872348** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:42 pm

keg411 wrote:You busted.

QFexcellent

northwood · Post by **northwood** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:43 pm

law school is a grinder. Not a lot of people enjoy law school. Yes, they might enjoy their peers, but not the actual school part.
IF you really dont want to be a lawyer, and were in it for the money, or idea of big law or bust, then yes, drop out. IF you wouldnt mind working at a small firm, or government work, then stay.

What are your backup plans if you do leave law school? What do you really want to do? If you know what you want, and it has nothing to do with law school, then leave and dont look back. If you dont know what you want- maybe take a leave of absence, think things through and go from there.

anonymcoffee · Post by **anonymcoffee** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:23 pm

well I don't think maybe I am educated enough about the job market... no, I'm not BigLaw or bust but I keep reading and hearing about people with 30k salaries that hate their lives and feel they are not actually contributing (for some reason I imagine those jobs where you sit a small cubicle for 9 hours and don't do anything that has any meaning). I also mentioned the debt because I want to get a decent paying job too, but I'm not sure that will happen with a GW degree and these grades. I don't want to end up hating what I do because I didn't have the grades to get a "good" job. As for the question about being a good lawyer, I think that is legitimate. I am a 1L first semester, and I am asking if grades are an indicator of how you will perform as a lawyer.

TigerBeer · Post by **TigerBeer** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:27 pm

anonymcoffee wrote:(for some reason I imagine those jobs where you sit a small cubicle for 9 hours and don't do anything that has any meaning)

maybe the reason is because 99% of office jobs are like that

dakatz · Post by **dakatz** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:33 pm

anonymcoffee wrote:well I don't think maybe I am educated enough about the job market... no, I'm not BigLaw or bust but I keep reading and hearing about people with 30k salaries that hate their lives and feel they are not actually contributing (for some reason I imagine those jobs where you sit a small cubicle for 9 hours and don't do anything that has any meaning). I also mentioned the debt because I want to get a decent paying job too, but I'm not sure that will happen with a GW degree and these grades. I don't want to end up hating what I do because I didn't have the grades to get a "good" job. As for the question about being a good lawyer, I think that is legitimate. I am a 1L first semester, and I am asking if grades are an indicator of how you will perform as a lawyer.

I very much doubt that grades are an indicator of how you will perform as a lawyer. There are a ton of people who simply don't gel with the school environment (I'm not saying you are one of them), yet go out into the working world and can be very successful. I know 2 people who are very social, very hard-working, yet did poorly in school. They networked their butts off, got themselves jobs eventually, and are doing very well for themselves. Don't assume that there is much connection between the school environment and the work environment. Practicing lawyers tell me that much of the law school material is essentially worthless in real practice, outside of LRW, which is your bread and butter as a lawyer.

traehekat · Post by **traehekat** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 12:33 am

Step 1. Find out what lawyers who don't work for a big firm actually do, and how much money they actually make.
Step 2. Decide if you would like to do that for the kind of money you would be paid.
Step 3. Drop out/stay in school based on previous answer and your debt load.

keg411 · Post by **keg411** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 10:15 am

TigerBeer wrote:
anonymcoffee wrote:(for some reason I imagine those jobs where you sit a small cubicle for 9 hours and don't do anything that has any meaning)
maybe the reason is because 99% of office jobs are like that

Also, LOL at thinking what BigLawl lawyers (especially young associates) don't sit at a cubicle for 9 hours and do meaningless work. I'd say a lot of small law/gov't jobs give you more hands-on experience than BigLawl.

Aqualibrium · Post by **Aqualibrium** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 10:20 am

You're slightly above median, and deep enough into the semester that you probably can't get your money back. There is no reason to ask this question right now. You need to start looking for summer jobs, and trying to pull your grades up. If the grades fall and/or you don't like your summer work experience and/or you decide you don't want to be a lawyer, you can start to develop a back up plan and drop out before the start of next fall.

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