Dropping Out Thread Forum

[rpupkin]

Anyone else with me?!

Considering joining you - similar situation.

if this is legit and diligently thought through, power to you -- if this is just a momentary reaction to 1L finals anxiety blown way out of proportion, put the brakes on and take a deep breathe.

Yeah. There's nothing wrong with dropping out after 1L if you realize that a legal career is not what you want. But if you're realizing this in the middle of finals, it's a bad sign. I also think it's worth at least giving your 1L summer job—whatever it is—a try. If it's late July and you're still sure you don't want to be a lawyer, drop out then.

[twenty]

Anyone else with me?!

Considering joining you - similar situation.

if this is legit and diligently thought through, power to you -- if this is just a momentary reaction to 1L finals anxiety blown way out of proportion, put the brakes on and take a deep breathe.

Yeah. There's nothing wrong with dropping out after 1L if you realize that a legal career is not what you want. But if you're realizing this in the middle of finals, it's a bad sign. I also think it's worth at least giving your 1L summer job—whatever it is—a try. If it's late July and you're still sure you don't want to be a lawyer, drop out then.

I really appreciate the input. Maybe it is just a momentary reaction to finals (it seemed stronger during the open memo...), and I'm definitely not going to do anything permanent until after they're over. I've also given this a fair amount of thought over the last couple months, though. Will revisit in a few weeks.

[TheSpanishMain]

FWIW (also a 1L) I've met several people who hated law school and enjoy being lawyers (or at least don't hate it) and a few who enjoyed law school and hated legal practice so much they jumped careers. They've all said not to put too much stock in how much you enjoy law school itself, and that summer jobs give you a much better insight into whether you actually want to be a lawyer.

[Attax]

This isn't a momentary reaction for me. Been on the mind since January. The opportunity came so I'm taking It. If it were finals induced I'd wait it out for certain.

[bound]

This isn't a momentary reaction for me. Been on the mind since January. The opportunity came so I'm taking It. If it were finals induced I'd wait it out for certain.

Not "dropping out" but I took the LSAT, scored well, got into great schools, but after lots of consideration I won't be attending! You're definitely making the best decision if you've weighed out everything! Proud of ya, but sad that the new job isn't in Dallas!

[Attax]

This isn't a momentary reaction for me. Been on the mind since January. The opportunity came so I'm taking It. If it were finals induced I'd wait it out for certain.

Not "dropping out" but I took the LSAT, scored well, got into great schools, but after lots of consideration I won't be attending! You're definitely making the best decision if you've weighed out everything! Proud of ya, but sad that the new job isn't in Dallas!

Congrats to you too on your endeavors! I'm sad I'm not in Dallas but I'll be about 5 minutes from Galveston

[Ravenclaw23]

deleted.

[shouldacouldawoulda]

I posted a dropping out thread around finals last semester. I have a friend who's considering law school, and I told him to check this site out for information. It got me thinking about the position I was in contemplating dropping out, and I appreciated hearing from people who had (and hadn't) and their various reasons. So I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

I was slightly above median after first semester 1L, but I had known since about October that law wasn't right for me. I went into it for money and because I didn't know what else to do. I quickly realized, after doing research and talking to practicing lawyers, that my rank at a top 50-60 law school wasn't going to secure me the type of income I had hoped for.

So I took a leap of faith, dropped out, and searched for a job. It took 3 months (this time period was tough on my relationships), but I finally landed a job in e-commerce making 62k - more than the median starting salary at my law school. Yeah, telling people I dropped out sucked sometimes. Mainly because a lot of people still think the legal profession is a sure-fire path to prestige and wealth. But personally, I am so much happier. I realized that law school had put me into a depression, something I'd never experienced up until that point in my life. Now, I'm doing something that interests me, and I don't have crippling debt or a poor work/life balance lingering over me.

For anyone reading this thread with the same thoughts, take some time to seriously contemplate why you're in law school. I had never quit anything in my life. And it made it so hard to come to the decision. But I realized I would be better off learning from a mistake (attending law school) while it was still minor, rather than being stubborn and finishing just to say I did when I knew it wasn't right for me.