Need A Lot of Help Forum

DaRascal · Post by **DaRascal** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:28 am

I need some real help here. Two years ago, when I had a great GPA, I wanted to get into a T14 badly. Now my feelings about that are ambivalent after a year and a half in the real world. I've had to struggle to make my $400 monthly student loan payments and finding a real job was tough and took me over a year and I fear that taking out loans for law school would make the next 8-10+ years of my life like this. I also play this card game that sometimes makes you lose large amounts of money if you're not careful so I need to be able to do something in life that will make it feasible to sustain that lifestyle.
Based on mylsn, my GPA is not good enough to get me scholarship money at a T14 that would do serious damage (I'm talking like covering 75%+ of the cost of attendance), so I feel like I'm retaking the LSAT for a fourth time to improve my admissions chances from slim to good, but, not to really change what will be guaranteed 6-figure debt without even factoring in my undergrad loans ($35k).

People on here have always said "Don't ED! Don't ED! Don't ED!" but, I'm about to submit my ED app to that one school with the shady employment prospects in the middle of the T14 because I feel like I need to play the odds in terms of admission chances and can't fathom going to a T1 or T2 for free and then selling insurance three years later because I can't get a legal job, but, of course I have to apply to those I can get into for free with my #'s now, just in case I fall asleep on the lsat in a few weeks.

The big problem is that I don't even think I'm going to like law school or being a lawyer, but, the only other career choice I see for myself is teaching (which I'm actually doing in a smaller capacity in my current job and I like it a lot), but, I don't see how I can sustain my card game lifestyle or travel the world on a teacher's salary.

What do I do? There's gotta be plenty of people like me who are going through this mid-20's crisis!

whitespider · Post by **whitespider** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:32 am

You already have debt, you don't have stellar numbers and you don't think you'd like being a lawyer?

RUN AWAY

DaRascal · Post by **DaRascal** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:37 am

Where should I run to?

Also, my friends and people who know me have described me as being optimistic and determined but also very immature and I have to agree with them when they say I go through unpredictable mood swings and that I get easily addicted to new things that I find enjoyable. There was someone on this forum a few months ago who said that he likes to bounce from job to job every few months because he likes a change of pace and to break free from it all and I can absolutely relate to him. I'll try to find his post a little later and edit it into here (not that it's a big deal).

whitespider · Post by **whitespider** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:39 am

Quite frankly anywhere that doesn't put you hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

DaRascal · Post by **DaRascal** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:52 am

whitespider wrote:Quite frankly anywhere that doesn't put you hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

Someone on here referred me to JD Underground and "Veil of Tears" thread a year ago and I read a bunch of the things written on both of them. How credible are those stories? Do you think they're sensationalized to an extent? If they're completely legitimate, I'm really really worried about all this.

6lehderjets · Post by **6lehderjets** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 2:07 am

DaRascal wrote:The big problem is that I don't even think I'm going to like law school or being a lawyer, but, the only other career choice I see for myself is teaching (which I'm actually doing in a smaller capacity in my current job and I like it a lot), but, I don't see how I can sustain my card game lifestyle or travel the world on a teacher's salary.

You shouldn't go to law school because you don't think you would like it.

Your perspective about how law school and post-grad employment outcomes is misinformed. T-14 grads are not the only ones getting big law. There are T-14 grads who did not get big law. Would you rather go to law school for free and sell insurance? Or would you rather go to a T-14, sell insurance, and have 200K of additional debt?

You basically want a high paying job to sustain your lifestyle. Go get a AA degree in something like radiology, or go to a state school for cheap and pick up a computer science/programming degree.

DaRascal · Post by **DaRascal** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 2:16 am

What's radiology (I mean, of course I've heard the word a million times, I just don't know what it entails)? I'm embarrassed to ask, but, I really don't know haha.

A. Nony Mouse · Post by **A. Nony Mouse** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 2:21 am

Why do you think anyone is going to tell you anything different than what they've already told you in the multiple threads you've made on this topic, which have turned into trollfests where you reject what everyone has to say?

And yes, JD Underground and the Vale of Tears are real.

DaRascal · Post by **DaRascal** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 2:26 am

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Why do you think anyone is going to tell you anything different than what they've already told you in the multiple threads you've made on this topic, which have turned into trollfests where you reject what everyone has to say?

And yes, JD Underground and the Vale of Tears are real.

Hmmm yeah. I have some growing up to do I suppose, because, I really can't remember exactly what everyone else told me. The only thing I remember is TheSpanishMain telling me to become an electrician or something because he said it paid well.

Ok, I'm all ears though. I promise I'm going to listen to to everyone who's trying to help me from now on! Anyone care to once again quickly show me the way? I really don't want to ruin my life.

Emma. · Post by **Emma.** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 2:54 am

--LinkRemoved--

MistakenGenius · Post by **MistakenGenius** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:02 am

Post removed.

Mack.Hambleton · Post by **Mack.Hambleton** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:07 am

DaRascal · Post by **DaRascal** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:19 am

What would be the upside of going to law school for me? (Assuming I acquire a taste for law and would be willing to grind)

I don't see myself going to a trade school, but, I do seriously see myself considering becoming a teacher if I choose not to go to law school. What's the downside of this? (As you can tell, I was so set on going to law school these past few years that I never really considered alternate career paths haha)

cron1834 · Post by **cron1834** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:42 am

Rascal bro, don't be a teacher. I've supported you in the past, but don't do that. Please.

/former teacher

MistakenGenius · Post by **MistakenGenius** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:45 am

Post removed.

DaRascal · Post by **DaRascal** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 4:03 am

I remember reading something about law being a results-driven profession with no real long-term stability or guarantees. That's pretty scary if it's true.

What about IBR/LRAP? Couldn't that make it a good decision for me? The school I was planning to ED to this cycle has a really good one.

TheSpanishMain · Post by **TheSpanishMain** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 8:00 am

I did indeed suggest you get into the trades, because it sounded like what you were looking for is not a legal career but a stable job that provides you with a decent living. Qualified plumbers, electricians, etc make more money than a lot of young lawyers, and have more job security and much more livable hours. But, I know, it's 2014 and it's more prestigious to drown in student loan debt while you use your sociology degree to serve coffee than it is to work with your hands and make decent money. /rant.

Anyway, forget about LRAP/IBR and EDing and all that because you don't want to be a lawyer. What else matters? It's clear you're not temperamentally suited to sit in an office all day doing research, so why are you considering taking on a lot of debt and losing three years to get into a career you wouldn't like and, given your track record, would be trying to escape within a year or two?

Going into education is an infinitely better idea for you.

sundontshine · Post by **sundontshine** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 8:06 am

Going to law school because you (1) have undergrad loans you already can barely pay off, (2) don't want to be a lawyer, and (3) have a gambling problem might be the perfect trifecta of worst reasons possible.

brazleton · Post by **brazleton** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 9:45 am

McAvoy · Post by **McAvoy** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 10:17 am

sundontshine wrote:Going to law school because you (1) have undergrad loans you already can barely pay off, (2) don't want to be a lawyer, and (3) have a gambling problem might be the perfect trifecta of worst reasons possible.

03152016 · Post by **03152016** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:16 pm

amazing you can still get people to respond my man

Mal Reynolds · Post by **Mal Reynolds** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:21 pm

Go away.

A. Nony Mouse · Post by **A. Nony Mouse** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:25 pm

Brut wrote:amazing you can still get people to respond my man

Yeah, I think we've reached the point where everyone should just ignore him - he just wants attention.

KMart · Post by **KMart** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:27 pm

Teaching gives solid summer vacations to travel and isn't the worst salary. It may not be as high as a lawyer's, but when taken into account the debt you'll be paying off for law school student loans it is likely a better lifestyle choice. You won't be making more money, but you'll be happier doing what you love and enjoy. Not to sound overly cliché, but isn't doing something that makes you happy better than working grueling hours because you couldn't figure out what else to do?

DaRascal · Post by **DaRascal** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:35 pm

TheSpanishMain wrote: Anyway, you don't want to be a lawyer. What else matters?

I'm just not sure what it'll be like. I submitted my ED app this morning and I'm primed to sit again in a few weeks so we'll see.

What would I do if I wanted to become a teacher though? Would I simply just take the English GRE in October and apply to schools where my numbers are competitive? I had a ton of B's in my major because the school I went to had heavy grade deflation. I don't know anything about the admissions process for MA programs or the scholarship money available.