jbagelboy wrote:I dispute even the nominal premise that there is anything to be gained by this vast expense of time, money and energy.Micdiddy wrote:I don't really think just any law degree is automatically valuable or a great education. Literally anyone can get into some law school in this country. Possibly the education at worst schools has more-than-zero benefit, but likely far far less than the education one would have received spending 3 years doing something else and not wasting all their savings. Just my opinion though.moonel123 wrote:Heavens a law degree is a great education and that is never wasted imo. Valuable in any field one goes into as well afterwards. It also says something about ones character that sets them apart from having completed it as well because it is hard and does suck. Personally speaking from experience in hiring and firing various types of employees there is a difference in many people I have noticed that have attained this discipline versus people that just have a Bachelors or nothing at all. There are always exceptions though. Even if times get tough and you end up working at a fast food restaurant your likely going to end up in management and keep going up. Just my opinion though. Everyone's financial situation is different. I had friends who got into higher tier schools but went to a lower one because it was basically free. Depending on how young you are and how well you can delay gratification in sticking to a budget you would be surprised how quick you can knock that debt down at least to manageable payments and when you are in your thirties it's gone or negligible.
Most TTTT law degrees are non-zero, negative value to a CV, especially if your undergraduate degree is from an accredited, ranked university. It will actually hurt OP on the job market to have to broadcast poor performance at such an 'institution.' I'm not saying this to be rude or elitist. For recruiters and interviewers in the legal profession who know the school, the academic record would prejudice against her since the industry has largely accepted these schools to be scams just one or two rungs above mail-order. For other industries OP would most likely be targeting such as retail and food service, where the name could preserve some anonymity, OP would be treated as overqualified and a flight risk.
As for intellectual value of this JD, first it does not appear OP has derived significant academic benefit from her foundational curriculum this far; her saving grades have been legal writing, which means contracts, torts, property ect were misunderstood or unappreciated (although the higher legal writing mark suggests positively that Op could excel in a different setting via decent command of the english language). Second, in a program like this the credited approach if she stayed would be to fill the schedule with bar courses to save money on post-bar prep and allow her to sit for the bar ASAP - most legal jobs from non-T1 schools are obtained after passing the bar in the target market. The wrinkle of course is that as stated Op has not displayed a particular academic predilection for this type of class or material, and it is unlikely she would draw much intellectual satisfaction from 2 more years of similar rather tedious effort; lastly, it's unlikely her professors will be Legal academic superstars like Guido calabresi and henry paul monaghan.
Personal satisfaction or fulfillment as added value? This is much more of a personal question, but from what I've seen so far, again, at best neutral. Law school will always be jaded in OP's memory by the crushing experience of this semester; its unlikely under those circumstances that a strong community or friendship/relationship network developed that would be pursuable over the next two years.
And as for the final point made about perseverance and all that jazz, yes the feeling of accomplishment with "finishing" something is real and not entirely abstract, but that really only applies to those accomplishments that are generally widely regarded as worth achieving. As all the responses indicate, this would generally not fall into that category.
I mean no disrespect. I think OP could have a brilliant career outside law, and I do not mean to pass judgment on their capabilities in another profession or their intelligence based on asinine law school exams and shitty circumstances.
Ouch. This is a bit harsh. So far at my 1L internship I realized the real world stuff is a lot different than law school. You actually have to know how to write whereas in law school you can get away with writing like a 5th grader. OP I believe in you!
