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I'm a 1L at a mid/high-range T1 school and received grades that likely put me in the bottom 5% of the class. I feel like I understand the material well, but have poor exam taking technique. I am on a large scholarship and my family is helping with living expenses, so debt isn't a major concern. I made decent money before coming to law school, and can probably go back to that job, but I think that the credential still might prove valuable even with really low grades. Is it worth it for me to gut out the next 2 and a half years here?

*wanted to post anonymously, and think this is the only forum where I can. If this shouldn't be here, please move or delete thread. Thanks.

Well, since your expenses are largely covered, I'm assuming your main concern is employment. Seems like the right forum to me.

How much do you think you can improve your exam-taking technique this semester? Obviously you did something wrong, but are you talking to your professors, trying to find out what you did wrong, and what to do right next time? The way averaging works, you'll end up at median after one year even if you ace all your tests this semester, but with your background and circumstances you might focus more on the long term, the three-year run. You could raise your GPA substantially by the time you graduate, enough that it's not egregiously low. In that case, if your degree is helpful to you where you worked before, then it's probably still worth it to stay.

If you're gonna lose your scholarship, though, bail.

the scholarship only requires good academic standing, which I am not in jeopardy of losing

vanwinkle wrote:Well, since your expenses are largely covered, I'm assuming your main concern is employment. Seems like the right forum to me.

How much do you think you can improve your exam-taking technique this semester? Obviously you did something wrong, but are you talking to your professors, trying to find out what you did wrong, and what to do right next time? The way averaging works, you'll end up at median after one year even if you ace all your tests this semester, but with your background and circumstances you might focus more on the long term, the three-year run. You could raise your GPA substantially by the time you graduate, enough that it's not egregiously low. In that case, if your degree is helpful to you where you worked before, then it's probably still worth it to stay.

If you're gonna lose your scholarship, though, bail.

Agreed on all points.

I'd tough it out for another semester, at least. Give it a full year. If you end up below median again this year, it may be time to bounce.

I didn't read your post, but yes. Law school is awful. Save yourself.

Anonymous User wrote:I'm a 1L at a mid/high-range T1 school and received grades that likely put me in the bottom 5% of the class. I feel like I understand the material well, but have poor exam taking technique. I am on a large scholarship and my family is helping with living expenses, so debt isn't a major concern. I made decent money before coming to law school, and can probably go back to that job, but I think that the credential still might prove valuable even with really low grades. Is it worth it for me to gut out the next 2 and a half years here?

*wanted to post anonymously, and think this is the only forum where I can. If this shouldn't be here, please move or delete thread. Thanks.

After three years of law school, it might be hard for you to go back to your previous job, if that job is not law-related. Employers might question your decision to spend three years in degrees that aren't necessary or helpful in that industry.
Unlike a Ph.D. in EE or math or physics, a J.D. degree is quite limiting, in my opinion; so limiting that it is almost useless outside the legal industry.

thesealocust wrote:I didn't read your post, but yes. Law school is awful. Save yourself.

Who let you out of the Phantom Zone?

vanwinkle wrote:

thesealocust wrote:I didn't read your post, but yes. Law school is awful. Save yourself.

Who let you out of the Phantom Zone?

I've been casting about since sometime over break, especially when it comes to recommending people drop out of law school

thesealocust wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:

thesealocust wrote:I didn't read your post, but yes. Law school is awful. Save yourself.

Who let you out of the Phantom Zone?

I've been casting about since sometime over break, especially when it comes to recommending people drop out of law school

Just don't become the next MTal, plz.

vanwinkle wrote:

thesealocust wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:

thesealocust wrote:I didn't read your post, but yes. Law school is awful. Save yourself.

Who let you out of the Phantom Zone?

I've been casting about since sometime over break, especially when it comes to recommending people drop out of law school

Just don't become the next MTal, plz.

IDK I think MTal could use a little more SeaLoucust. Why don't you just merge their accounts?

IAFG wrote:IDK I think MTal could use a little more SeaLoucust. Why don't you just merge their accounts?

+1

IDK if OP sucks so much at law school, he should just stop working at it. Law school would be fun if you don't give even two shits about it. Three year vacactions with awkward chicks you can fuck.

Desert Fox wrote:IDK if OP sucks so much at law school, he should just stop working at it. Law school would be fun if you don't give even two shits about it. Three year vacactions with awkward chicks you can fuck.

Is this why you haven't dropped out yet?

vanwinkle wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:IDK if OP sucks so much at law school, he should just stop working at it. Law school would be fun if you don't give even two shits about it. Three year vacactions with awkward chicks you can fuck.

Is this why you haven't dropped out yet?

Why would an SA-secure 2L drop out?

IAFG wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:IDK if OP sucks so much at law school, he should just stop working at it. Law school would be fun if you don't give even two shits about it. Three year vacactions with awkward chicks you can fuck.

Is this why you haven't dropped out yet?

Why would an SA-secure 2L drop out?

Why so serious?

vanwinkle wrote: Why so serious?

my comment's due but I don't wanna

I suppose sticking around some law schools just to have fun for two years would make sense, but my school is really boring. Also I'm in my mid 20s, so I don't really feel like idling around.

IAFG wrote:

vanwinkle wrote:Why so serious?

my comment's due but I don't wanna

I have a paper due tomorrow that I guess I should start writing, or something.

vanwinkle wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:IDK if OP sucks so much at law school, he should just stop working at it. Law school would be fun if you don't give even two shits about it. Three year vacactions with awkward chicks you can fuck.

Is this why you haven't dropped out yet?

I hedged and started up with an awkward TLSer, who probably isn't gong to lawl school.

Why would you go to law school in the first place if you want to drop out after one bad semester despite having everything paid for??

At this point your grades are never going to be good. From now on just try to not fail while focusing the majority of your efforts on networking and job searching. You should be aiming to line up an internship with a smaller firm in a practice area you like, and then impress them with your work product. You can still be a lawyer, you just aren't going to get there through the standard OCI route.

I went to law school with the intention of not doing the traditional OCI route. My concern is that since law is such a credential-driven field, won't grades as poor as mine hurt me even if I look through a job through networking and personal connections? I don't believe that my grades reflect my understanding of the material and my potential to be a good lawyer and produce quality work, but should I be concerned that employers will not agree?

Since you've never been a lawyer, I'm not sure what makes you think that practice will be easier than exam-taking. You probably thought you'd be good at law school exams before you became a law student too. You should at least consider the possibility that, however well you may understand the material, you aren't any good at communicating that understanding, acting on it, or applying what you supposedly understand of the law to facts. In which case you shouldn't be a lawyer.

traydeuce wrote:Since you've never been a lawyer, I'm not sure what makes you think that practice will be easier than exam-taking. You probably thought you'd be good at law school exams before you became a law student too. You should at least consider the possibility that, however well you may understand the material, you aren't any good at communicating that understanding, acting on it, or applying what you supposedly understand of the law to facts. In which case you shouldn't be a lawyer.

Practice may or may not be easier than exam taking, but it is completely different. It tests an entirely different set of skills than a law school exam, which mostly measures the ability to do shallow analysis quickly.

I like practice a lot better. I also like law school classes that focus primarily on legal research.
I think I am more of a grinder - conscientious but not very efficient.

traydeuce wrote:Since you've never been a lawyer, I'm not sure what makes you think that practice will be easier than exam-taking. You probably thought you'd be good at law school exams before you became a law student too. You should at least consider the possibility that, however well you may understand the material, you aren't any good at communicating that understanding, acting on it, or applying what you supposedly understand of the law to facts. In which case you shouldn't be a lawyer.

How many years have you spent practicing? Did you even do an SA?