Drop out of 1L, and begin again next year Forum

[Anonymous User]

Is there a procedure to drop out of 1L and then return the next year starting from scratch? I have a solid GPA/LSAT, mid-ranked T-14 with a scholarship covering a third of my tuition.

The short read is that for the last three weeks I have been totally preoccupied. My reading/studying has gone from 8 hours a day to nada, skipping classes, etc. Today I decided to jump back in only to discover that I am remarkably far behind.

Back to the original question. Is there a procedure to drop out of 1L and then return the next year starting from scratch? If so, would restarting 1L have any substantial impact on my employment chances.
Do you know of anyone who has done this, if so, how did it work out?

[conn09]

Depends on your school, but I think you should be able to. A girl in my section did this. She made it up until finals for the fall semester and withdrew for a year, and they let her start over again the next year.

[Anonymous User]

Is there a procedure to drop out of 1L and then return the next year starting from scratch? I have a solid GPA/LSAT, mid-ranked T-14 with a scholarship covering a third of my tuition.

The short read is that for the last three weeks I have been totally preoccupied. My reading/studying has gone from 8 hours a day to nada, skipping classes, etc. Today I decided to jump back in only to discover that I am remarkably far behind.

Back to the original question. Is there a procedure to drop out of 1L and then return the next year starting from scratch? If so, would restarting 1L have any substantial impact on my employment chances.
Do you know of anyone who has done this, if so, how did it work out?

If only I could retake all of my 1L finals as many times until I get A+ for each of them.

If only I could relive my first date with that hot chick in middle school as many times until I score her on the first date.

A great movie on point: The Groundhog Day, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107048/

[farmernate]

not entirely sure, but I remember hearing that if you drop out w/o some sort of family emergency, medical reason, etc, then you would have to wait 5 years before trying law school again.

If it is for personal or health reasons, I would talk w/ the administration and see if you can withdraw this year and come back next year.

[joemoviebuff]

Depends on your school, but I think you should be able to. A girl in my section did this. She made it up until finals for the fall semester and withdrew for a year, and they let her start over again the next year.

They didn't make her pay tuition for that semester?

[c3pO4]

dude you can skip 3 weeks of reading / classes and still recover.... just buckle down and work 24/7. you still have over a month...

[Anonymous User]

BUMP...this thread is, unfortunately, relevant to my interests.

[mrloblaw]

Is there a procedure to drop out of 1L and then return the next year starting from scratch? I have a solid GPA/LSAT, mid-ranked T-14 with a scholarship covering a third of my tuition.

The short read is that for the last three weeks I have been totally preoccupied. My reading/studying has gone from 8 hours a day to nada, skipping classes, etc. Today I decided to jump back in only to discover that I am remarkably far behind.

Back to the original question. Is there a procedure to drop out of 1L and then return the next year starting from scratch? If so, would restarting 1L have any substantial impact on my employment chances.
Do you know of anyone who has done this, if so, how did it work out?

If only I could retake all of my 1L finals as many times until I get A+ for each of them.

If only I could relive my first date with that hot chick in middle school as many times until I score her on the first date.

A great movie on point: The Groundhog Day, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107048/

I'm the only one who noticed that this guy wants to go back and score with middle school chicks?

[Anonymous User]

not entirely sure, but I remember hearing that if you drop out w/o some sort of family emergency, medical reason, etc, then you would have to wait 5 years before trying law school again.

If it is for personal or health reasons, I would talk w/ the administration and see if you can withdraw this year and come back next year.

If there is a 5 year rule, I would have to man-up and wish for the best. Unfortunately, what had me so preoccupied did not involve family or health reasons.

They didn't make her pay tuition for that semester?

I know that in my case they would make me pay the full tuition, given that a stipulation to my scholarship is that it would be rescinded if I transferred. The thing is, I am not transferring. . .unfortunately I see an uphill fight trying to sell that logic.

dude you can skip 3 weeks of reading / classes and still recover.... just buckle down and work 24/7. you still have over a month...

I may have to concur with your advice. If I were attending a pass/fail school, I think I might still be okay. Given that we are graded on some gawd awful curve, what I fear is that my grade will fall well below median. Especially since the students in my sector seem to be genius overachievers.

[luthersloan]

Yeah, that is a little twisted. Of course, he would be middle school aged as well, not sure if that makes it better or worse.

[luthersloan]

not entirely sure, but I remember hearing that if you drop out w/o some sort of family emergency, medical reason, etc, then you would have to wait 5 years before trying law school again.

If it is for personal or health reasons, I would talk w/ the administration and see if you can withdraw this year and come back next year.

If there is a 5 year rule, I would have to man-up and wish for the best. Unfortunately, what had me so preoccupied did not involve family or health reasons.

They didn't make her pay tuition for that semester?

I know that in my case they would make me pay the full tuition, given that a stipulation to my scholarship is that it would be rescinded if I transferred. The thing is, I am not transferring. . .unfortunately I see an uphill fight trying to sell that logic.

dude you can skip 3 weeks of reading / classes and still recover.... just buckle down and work 24/7. you still have over a month...

I may have to concur with your advice. If I were attending a pass/fail school, I think I might still be okay. Given that we are graded on some gawd awful curve, what I fear is that my grade will fall well below median. Especially since the students in my sector seem to be genius overachievers.

Dude, there are no pass/fail law schools that are ABA accredited. It is hard to imagine it being worth 40-70K to have a slightly better chance at ending up above median, I mean drop out, do it all over again, you still have about a 50-50 shot. No way it makes sense from an expected value stand point. I would just suck it up and work 24/7. I did the vast majority of my studying 1L the last 2 weeks before finals, working 12-14 hours a day. If you do that, you should be in as good a position as most.

[MrAnon]

Welcome to adult life. Guess what? Events happen and you get preoccupied. Did entire classes of law students drop out of schools in NYC when 9/11 happened? Nope. It was probably pretty stressful semester I would imagine. Things happen, people get sick and die, girlfriends dump boyfriends the week before finals. Life goes on.

[c3pO4]

Yea my crapple crapped out 1 week before finals and I had to spend a full day of that week a) going to the apple store and b) buying a netbook which I wrote all my finals on. Thank goodness for dropbox. Also, I skipped a bunch of classes and reading 1L year just b/c I was lazy and it still worked out. Just get with the program now that you can!

[Anonymous User]

Dude, there are no pass/fail law schools that are ABA accredited. It is hard to imagine it being worth 40-70K to have a slightly better chance at ending up above median, I mean drop out, do it all over again, you still have about a 50-50 shot. No way it makes sense from an expected value stand point. I would just suck it up and work 24/7. I did the vast majority of my studying 1L the last 2 weeks before finals, working 12-14 hours a day. If you do that, you should be in as good a position as most.

I read Yale was pass/fail, so I figured some other schools were also on a pass/fail system. Mine is the dreaded curve (which I honestly do not understand to this day). What I know about the curve is that it makes everyone very nervous. As far as 12 hour days, I was pretty much into that rhythm before I became distracted. I guess suck-it-up will turn out to be the plan. Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

this must've been some hot chick/dude to completely capture your attention for such an extended period of time.

[flcath]

dude you can skip 3 weeks of reading / classes and still recover.... just buckle down and work 24/7. you still have over a month...

This is so obviously TCR it's absurd. Is this thread serious?

You're considering some bizarre drop-out-and-start-over policy (which I'm sure will be cost-effective, and employers will love) to make up for missing three weeks of class?

Dude, it'll be fine... like, seriously, it'll be 100% cool. The majority of your 1L class will miss the equivalent of like 9 weeks of class from perusing ATL/ESPN/online shopping/Facebook/Gchat during class.

[Anonymous User]

There's still hope for your grades. This past winter semester, my niece and my dad died 1 month apart, among other distractions. I was able to keep up with reading during that time, but just barely. I didn't get serious about prepping for finals until about 3 weeks before finals started. I worked my butt off and got very high grades. I think your inherent potential and abilities will be more determinative of your grades than a three-week hiatus.

[sebastian0622]

World of Warcraft addiction?

[Anonymous User]

World of Warcraft raid times are mandatory. Perfectly understandable reason for skipping. When you are interviewing for that V 100 SA, mention your item level and raid record. I am sure that will help you stand out from the noobs.

[ninereal]

Let's do some simple math here:

Assume a pretty standard two hours of reading per class session, and four classes. I had three doctrinal classes plus LRW my first semester, but we'll say four just in case. Also assume two class sessions per week.

2 hours per class times 4 classes times 2 sessions per week = 16 hours of reading a week, times three weeks = 48 hours.

So, it's either put in 12-16-hour days over the next few weekends, or drop out. Your call. I should mention, though, that if you can't handle those hours or being moderately (not hopelessly) behind on something, the law may not be the right field for you.

[sunynp]

Did you burn out from working too hard ? If so, when you get back into your schedule- make sure you schedule down time and breaks. 24/7 studying won't work for you if you burn out. Figure out how to study smarter- focus on past exams from your professors, try to build off old outlines. All that matters in the end is your grade- not how many slavish hours you put in to preparing.

[Renne Walker]

Let's do some simple math here:

Assume a pretty standard two hours of reading per class session, and four classes. I had three doctrinal classes plus LRW my first semester, but we'll say four just in case. Also assume two class sessions per week.

2 hours per class times 4 classes times 2 sessions per week = 16 hours of reading a week, times three weeks = 48 hours.

If there is a “normal” amount of reading, what is it? Classes aside, I easily read five to six hours a day, probably 8 on Saturday and 8 on Sunday. Of course, I attend no parties, in no clubs, etc. (save that for next year). What is normal?

PS - I would have to say if I missed a week, I would be freakin’ out. . . much less three weeks!

[Anonymous User]

Let's do some simple math here:

Assume a pretty standard two hours of reading per class session, and four classes. I had three doctrinal classes plus LRW my first semester, but we'll say four just in case. Also assume two class sessions per week.

2 hours per class times 4 classes times 2 sessions per week = 16 hours of reading a week, times three weeks = 48 hours.

If there is a “normal” amount of reading, what is it? Classes aside, I easily read five to six hours a day, probably 8 on Saturday and 8 on Sunday. Of course, I attend no parties, in no clubs, etc. (save that for next year). What is normal?

PS - I would have to say if I missed a week, I would be freakin’ out. . . much less three weeks!

Your mileage may vary, but I think two hours a session is pretty standard at my lower T14. Maybe you read unusually slowly or just work a lot harder at it than most of us.

[03121202698008]

Every school has different rules. You'd need to talk to your dean of students or equivalent.

[Holly Golightly]

I agree with everyone else who says suck it up and buckle down now. Dropping out and starting all over again bc you feel like you're a little behind just seems like the most ridiculous thing ever. If you feel lost once you've caught up on reading, buy some supplements and talk to classmates/TAs. 1L year I completely stopped going to a few of my classes and it worked out fine. (Not that I recommend that. I'm just sayin'.)