Graduation = Worst Day of my life. Forum

[lymenheimer]

Aaaaaaand I just figured out the edit function. I'm good at this.

There's a delete function too

[emkay625]

Graduated from UVA today, and I can unambiguously say it was the worst decision of my life. I had a 4.05/167 and if I had just been patient and retaken the LSAT I could have had H/S/CLS --> If I would have done something unicorny maybe even Yale would have been in play. Now, I just have a boatload of debt and a miserable biglaw job ahead of me. I am depressed and have started taking medication.

If I could go back, I would have done four years in the marines, and kept retaking the LSAT 'til I got the score I wanted. I would've eventually gotten my 173, and HYS would'a been basically free with G.I. Bill

I say this as a tale of cautionary tale to you 0L's out there: really plan things out as much as you can before going law school. This is a profession that disproportionately rewards those who get off to the best start (e.g. Yale/law review/ prior w/e).

As for me, I may as well be posting in the Vale, cuz my personal happiness is about 2/10.

How much debt did you graduate with?

This is gonna get me screamed at -- 60k. Look, I know there are people in MUCH worse scenarios. But please try to understand that I am not comparing myself to other people (either better or worse), I'm comparing myself to what I objectively know I could have been. Plus, this is not a "hindsight 20/20" moment, b/c deferring law school for the military was something I was actively considering, but going straight to law school just seemed like the path of least resistance.

And to get done with the whole HYS vs. UVA debate: sure, UVA is fine -- but if I had gotten a better LSAT score I'd be debt free (e.g. two less years of biglaw).


The point of this thread is don't go to law school until you've put up all your chips: clearly, I should have retaken the LSAT, and while I ended up "well" I still feel gyped.

I don't understand how you'll still have debt in 5 years if you only owe 60K? That seems very easy to pay off during 5 years of working big law.

[Eternalsunshine]

Aaaaaaand I just figured out the edit function. I'm good at this.

There's a delete function too

Haha, noted.

[Hahalollawl]

Lets set this straight: it's not a debt thing, it's a prestige thing. UVA has the least prestige out of the T-14 which is something that people coming in need to know.

Is this referring to lay prestige? And if so, does UVA really have significantly less lay prestige than schools like UChicago, NYU, and Michigan? Don't lay people base their judgment on the US News national university rankings, in which case UVA would be above NYU and Mich? (at least in the most recent ranking). Also, UChicago seems like a school that academics would know about but lay people wouldn't. Maybe it's different depending on the region, but maybe if more UVA grads go west people there will become more familiar with the school?

[First Offense]

I mean - graduation was rainy. That did suck, but worst day ever is a little crazy.

[TFALAWL]

I was sort of sad about graduation too but not really at all for this reason; I was sad to be leaving school for possibly the last time, knowing that what's coming next will be far less intellectually rewarding and more stressful and time consuming. I sympathize with the "lost opportunities" sensation but you have it entirely misdirected towards these microdistinctions in signaling value: no one really cares about the difference between your current position and the supposedly better one you've depicted for us in the ways you seem to, whereas if you went to a law school assigned a slightly different number in a third rate commercial magazine, you'd have the same life anxieties about entering a profession you won't enjoy but with triple the student loan debt. There's no added fulfillment where you are looking, but I grant that we both may have found more happiness avoiding law altogether.

That being said, you need to start feeling better about yourself and drop the grass is greener routine. It rarely ever is. Being in the military would be physically and psychologically devastating in ways we can't readily imagine. More debt would make you more depressed. You're better off right now than most of your peers. Take a few deep breaths, have a few beers, et recompenses-toi : tu le merite pour avoir deja venu si loin (et pour avoir reussi dans le cour de Weller!) Felicitations

Thanks Bagel Boy -- T'as eu combiens dans ce cours? J'ai eu 12 lolol

[luckboxr]

I think most people in this thread are going way too easy on the OP; he's obviously off his rocker. Almost anyone would be ecstatic to be getting a job that pays $100k+. In my opinion, he's a spoiled brat who is too smart for his own good.

[kalvano]

I think most people in this thread are going way too easy on the OP; he's obviously off his rocker. Almost anyone would be ecstatic to be getting a job that pays $100k+. In my opinion, he's a spoiled brat who is too smart for his own good.

I've been meaning to post this. Everything from the OP is entitled, whiny, and ridiculously spoiled and bratty.

[luckenmeister]

I think most people in this thread are going way too easy on the OP; he's obviously off his rocker. Almost anyone would be ecstatic to be getting a job that pays $100k+. In my opinion, he's a spoiled brat who is too dumb for his own good.

I've been meaning to post this. Everything from the OP is entitled, whiny, and ridiculously spoiled and bratty.

Srs OP, what's with your post grad boner for HYSCol.? Your current position solidly trumps any marginal advantage that these schools would have. Do some research, your T-14 degree isn't gonna hold you from anything, but your infantile whining and "woe is me" attitude certainly will. I hope you're a k-jd who skipped several years in grade school, because you need to man/woman up.

I feel that there is this pervasive ideology that enslaves posters into making absolute correlations between ranking and outcomes. These people somehow sense that no matter who you are or how well you do at another school, you would undoubtedly be in a better position if you had went to HYS instead. I think this is a load of crap, especially when accounting for financial considerations.

[lavarman84]

OP, you seem like an "achiever" so I don't think your situation is the issue. I think your issue now is disappointment that you didn't achieve more at LS. You seem like the type who thought you'd be top of the class and get unicorn jobs coming out. You were in an objectively great situation in LS. Stop worrying about how prestigious other people see your law degree as. You've set yourself up for a good life. But you need to figure out what makes you happy and become happy. And keep working on the mental health issues. I wish you the best of luck with them. Depression is rough.

You have a good life. There's no going back and changing things. You don't get do-overs. Enjoy what you have. Enjoy who you are. Be happy. And find a job where you can be happy if biglaw isn't that place.(it typically isn't)

[NYC2012]

.

[wons]

I also like how OP is talking about how terrible Biglaw is . . . before ever working in Biglaw. One must admire his/her precognition.

[Clearly]

That debt could be gone in 18 months and a ten year repayment would be like a fucking cable bill. Bitching about this is a slap in the face to every person who has more on the line. The notion that THIS is overwhelming but being in the military would be fine is so absurd I'm assuming you're a troll, but if not, I'm sincerely sorry that your life has been so good that THIS situation is torture for you.

[xspider]

OP is a crybaby and literally would have not been happy with anything most likely. Making 160k with 60k debt and saying I'd rather go play catch with bullets in foreign land is disgusting. (Yes, I over exaggerated when referring to the military comment but you get the point)

[whysoseriousbiglaw]

Lets set this straight: it's not a debt thing, it's a prestige thing. UVA has the least prestige out of the T-14 which is something that people coming in need to know.

Is this referring to lay prestige? And if so, does UVA really have significantly less lay prestige than schools like UChicago, NYU, and Michigan? Don't lay people base their judgment on the US News national university rankings, in which case UVA would be above NYU and Mich? (at least in the most recent ranking). Also, UChicago seems like a school that academics would know about but lay people wouldn't. Maybe it's different depending on the region, but maybe if more UVA grads go west people there will become more familiar with the school?

From a West Coast POV, yes UVA has less lay prestige than those.

UChicago is known among academics (not sure about lay tbh). NYU is known because of NYC. Michigan is known because of its top ranked engineering/comp sci and med programs and football.

UVA is not known and is confused with Virginia Tech if you tell people University of Virginia.

That said, even though OP is whiny, I will say that biglaw is a terrible, life-altering experience, so I completely understand why OP would be miserable to contemplate doing biglaw in the first place.

Law school was awesome, but biglaw is awful....avoid if possible. If you are going into biglaw, it is all downhill from graduation.

[dwil770]

Folks, this thread is why the TLS groupthink is BS and why you go to the highest ranked law school you get in. Think that lower t14 will get you a big law job? Help you graduate debt free? Well guess what, money comes and goes but prestige is forever. If you don't go to the highest ranked school possible, you might end up clinically depressed, biglaw secure or not. Don't say you haven't been warned, 0Ls.

[whysoseriousbiglaw]

Folks, this thread is why the TLS groupthink is BS and why you go to the highest ranked law school you get in. Think that lower t14 will get you a big law job? Help you graduate debt free? Well guess what, money comes and goes but prestige is forever. If you don't go to the highest ranked school possible, you might end up clinically depressed, biglaw secure or not. Don't say you haven't been warned, 0Ls.

This is terrible advice. Have you worked biglaw yet? Good luck paying off 300k debt in biglaw without wanting to kill yourself every day....

Money is tangible, prestige is not. You're the one who has to work a shit biglaw job to pay off your debt, not Joe Schmo who doesn't really care where you went to law school. It's your life, not anyone else's. Nobody really cares about you or your law school. HTH.

You only have one youth, one life, and limited time before you die. Working biglaw for years to get to net worth zero sounds like a very stupid and terrible way to waste your youth.

[stego]

You're right. It's going to get you yelled at.

You just claimed that your life would have been better if you'd served in active combat than if you'd taken on an extremely minor amount of debt (in law school terms) and landed a job that will let you pay that debt off in an unbelievably short period of time. And incidentally, a clerkship/gov't job is entirely possible for you in the future, as many people leap from biglaw to both of those job types.

This is the opposite of what TLS threads generally warn about. You got into a great school with a low COA. You landed a good job that still puts you on track to achieve your ultimate career goals. This is probably the exact same outcome you would have had at HYS, but with a whole lot less debt.

OP never said anything about combat. I know serving in the Marines is not easy and requires big sacrifices and possibly risking one's life, but I'm actually curious what percentage of current Marines not only serve a deployment in a war zone but also experience live combat.

[stego]

Lets set this straight: it's not a debt thing, it's a prestige thing. UVA has the least prestige out of the T-14 which is something that people coming in need to know.

Pretty sure you're thinking of GeorgeTTTTown.

[nealric]

I suppose this is a troll, but I think there's a personality type that no matter how good things are, it's not enough.

If OP went to Harvard and clerked, OP would be upset about getting shut out for SCOTUS feeder judges. If OP went to Yale and clerked for a feeder judge, OP would be upset that the SCOTUS clerkship didn't happen. If OP was a former SCOTUS clerk they might be upset that they aren't being considered solicitor general. If OP was the President of the United States, they might be upset they aren't getting added to Mount Rushmore.

I guess for some it's an attitude that gets things done, but it's not psychologically healthy.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I really do think the OP's perception that everything is terrible and awful is a result of his depression, and not a cause of it.

[First Offense]

Lets set this straight: it's not a debt thing, it's a prestige thing. UVA has the least prestige out of the T-14 which is something that people coming in need to know.

Pretty sure you're thinking of GeorgeTTTTown.

People who don't know about law schools assume GULC is more prestigious because of UG.

Not that it matters. OP is an idiot.

[Glasseyes]

Lets set this straight: it's not a debt thing, it's a prestige thing. UVA has the least prestige out of the T-14 which is something that people coming in need to know.

Pretty sure you're thinking of GeorgeTTTTown.

People who don't know about law schools assume GULC is more prestigious because of UG.

Not that it matters. OP is an idiot.

As a future graduate of the most prestigious Law Center, I am grateful such people exist.

OP should have gone to GULC and graduated with like 10k debt and MOUNTAINS of vainglorious lay prestige.

[Pomeranian]

GeorgeTTTown Law CenTTTer

[Paul Campos]

Nobody else cares where anybody else went to law school.

HTH