Dropped out of a T14 law school, ask me anything Forum

[T14dropout]

You guys can also ask me anything. I'm a 0L and a regular guy

excited about law school???

[T14dropout]

how does it feel to be a failure?

Not too bad actually.

Tried LS, didn't turn out the way I wanted. Now I have other avenues to explore.

[rayiner]

I find it hilarious that people are harshing on the OP and trying to rationalize why they won't be like him. To respond to the various implied comments ITT:

1) Outside Y/S, every school has a grade range where you're pretty much fucked. Harvard had to hire a few dozen of its own grads for C/O 2011--no school is immune. See: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 1&t=181723.

2) No, law school is not a good place to find yourself. Most of the people there know what they want to do.

3) Going in with a more noble purpose than "doing it for the money" does not make you do better in school. Indeed, an intellectual love for the law is probably negatively correlated with grades. The people who really found the policy discussions intellectually interesting tended not to realize that exams were a game.

4) Within the typical narrow spread at a law school, LSAT/GPA doesn't have any impact on your grades. Between a 168 and a 172, it's a total crapshoot where each will finish in the class.

5) While people who perform at the very bottom tend to put in below a minimum level of effort, and people who perform at the very top tend to put in a very strong effort, within the middle 80% of the class, effort is largely uncorrelated with 1L grades.

OP did the smart thing--he realized he didn't want to be a lawyer and he realized his prospects were marginal so he didn't put good money after bad.

[laxbrah420]

You guys can also ask me anything. I'm a 0L and a regular guy

excited about law school???

Yes

[laxbrah420]

how does it feel to be a failure?

I'm not a failure

[T14dropout]

I find it hilarious that people are harshing on the OP and trying to rationalize why they won't be like him. To respond to the various implied comments ITT:

1-5

OP did the smart thing--he realized he didn't want to be a lawyer and he realized his prospects were marginal so he didn't put good money after bad.

Actually, the smart thing would have been dropping out after first semester once I realized LS/law was not a good fit for me. I decided to stick it out and try to get my grades over that magical median cutoff line and ended up throwing away another 25k+

But thanks haha

[Cade McNown]

1) Not UVA
2) I have a plan, just don't want to detail it on TLS
3) I'm not saying anyone should listen to me, it was an AMA.

1. Despite desire for anonymity you've already ruled out half the t14
2. bullshit
3. In AMA threads, the point is that OP actually answers questions asked.

[T14dropout]

1) Not UVA
2) I have a plan, just don't want to detail it on TLS
3) I'm not saying anyone should listen to me, it was an AMA.

1. Despite desire for anonymity you've already ruled out half the t14
2. bullshit
3. In AMA threads, the point is that OP actually answers questions asked.

1. Okay.
2. Okay.
3. Okay.

Where's the problem here?

[Bildungsroman]

do you need to memorize many things(details) to prepare for the cold call or exams? do you think other students enjoy the studying (or law)?

Yes.
Some of them.

And they become professors.

idk, I enjoy studying the law and I have no desire to become a professor. Likewise, I've met some biglawyers who genuinely enjoyed their legal education (and sometimes for the education part). I think TLS invests a little too strongly in the too-cool-for-school mentality that you have to hate law school and think the material you study is worthless.

[Renne Walker]

If you do not want to disclose your school, can you narrow it down to a T-14 cell. Even with less than stout grades it isn’t all that impossible to land somewhere pretty decent, especially in the upper 14. You must have a A-, B+ here and there, right?

If you're bottom 10%, outside Y/S the odds are against you, and outside YSHC, it'll take a miracle.

True. I was just trying to be encouraging (against all odds!). Especially since those in the bottom third could be drawn to this thread’s title. Actually, I do not know where the [too below median] gray line exists in trying to determine OCI success chances.

[Cade McNown]

Where's the problem here?

Why should anyone listen to you?

The problem is that 3 pages provide no answer to ^

[T14dropout]

Where's the problem here?

Why should anyone listen to you?

The problem is that 3 pages provide no answer to ^

It's an "ask me anything."

Not a "I know everything there is to law school, here allow me to share my insights with you."

For obvious reasons, I'm not getting too specific. But I do weigh 175 pounds.

[Mike12188]

Where's the problem here?

Why should anyone listen to you?

The problem is that 3 pages provide no answer to ^

It's an "ask me anything."

Not a "I know everything there is to law school, here allow me to share my insights with you."

For obvious reasons, I'm not getting too specific. But I do weigh 175 pounds.

If you stop answering this fucking idiot he might go away. Also +1000000000 to douches like this in law school.

[T14dropout]

Where's the problem here?

Why should anyone listen to you?

The problem is that 3 pages provide no answer to ^

It's an "ask me anything."

Not a "I know everything there is to law school, here allow me to share my insights with you."

For obvious reasons, I'm not getting too specific. But I do weigh 175 pounds.

If you stop answering this fucking idiot he might go away. Also +1000000000 to douches like this in law school.

also love iron mike

[AZN MegaPoaster]

how does it feel to be a failure?

I'm not a failure

heh, talk to me after exams next fall

Just kidding. Good luck, dude

[delusional]

Where's the problem here?

Why should anyone listen to you?

The problem is that 3 pages provide no answer to ^

Not sure what you're trying to accomplish. If I were facing that situation I would want the input of someone else who was going through the same thing. If I were worried that I might end up in that situation, I would want to know what his experience was like. It doesn't seem all that difficult to explain why people might listen to himbe interested in his point of view, except maybe to uber-TLSers who won't give a dude the time of day, unless they are somehow convinced by a series of anonymous posts that the dude has larger law school genitalia.

[rayiner]

.

[Mike12188]

If you stop answering this fucking idiot he might go away. Also +1000000000 to douches like this in law school.

Berating OP isn't going to change the fact that whatever school you get into will have graduated 1/4 to 1/3 of their classes into crappy jobs or no jobs last year.

I think you quoted the wrong one.

[beachbum]

Where's the problem here?

Why should anyone listen to you?

The problem is that 3 pages provide no answer to ^

Why not listen to him? Dude has a story that's pretty unique to TLS, so I'm not sure why you're getting your panties in a twist over him taking questions about it.

[sunynp]

What made you consider law school in the first place? Was it just that you happened to take the LSAT and do well?

Did you have any work experience before you went to law school?

How much did you know about the employment market before you started school? (did you go in with a plan to drop out if you were below median, or did you figure that out later?)

[rayiner]

I think you quoted the wrong one.

You're right.

[marmot8]

do you think the poor grades will be an issue in the future when applying to non-legal jobs?

[T14dropout]

What made you consider law school in the first place? Was it just that you happened to take the LSAT and do well?

Did you have any work experience before you went to law school?

How much did you know about the employment market before you started school? (did you go in with a plan to drop out if you were below median, or did you figure that out later?)

1) I suppose I could try to blame other people and say I was nudged towards it by my parents, but ultimately it was my decision. It seemed like the type of stuff that I was capable of doing/skilled at and paid well. Once I got into a T14 school, my fate was pretty much sealed

2) Screening for Northwestern, I see. Yes, I had some work experience prior to law school.

3) I was an avid reader of TLS/ATL/etc prior to starting school. So I knew exactly "how to do well" (according to other TLS'ers) but I managed to screw it up somehow. But yeah, I knew about the sorry state of the legal employment market and in my arrogance thought that I could easily make it to median and pull a biglaw job. And the plan going in was to drop out if I was moderately below median - I should have implemented it after first semester though.

[IAFG]

Congratulations and best wishes!

[sunynp]

What made you consider law school in the first place? Was it just that you happened to take the LSAT and do well?

Did you have any work experience before you went to law school?

How much did you know about the employment market before you started school? (did you go in with a plan to drop out if you were below median, or did you figure that out later?)

1) I suppose I could try to blame other people and say I was nudged towards it by my parents, but ultimately it was my decision. It seemed like the type of stuff that I was capable of doing/skilled at and paid well. Once I got into a T14 school, my fate was pretty much sealed

2) Screening for Northwestern, I see. Yes, I had some work experience prior to law school.

3) I was an avid reader of TLS/ATL/etc prior to starting school. So I knew exactly "how to do well" (according to other TLS'ers) but I managed to screw it up somehow. But yeah, I knew about the sorry state of the legal employment market and in my arrogance thought that I could easily make it to median and pull a biglaw job. And the plan going in was to drop out if I was moderately below median - I should have implemented it after first semester though.

No I wasn't screening for Northwestern. I wondered if work experience affected the way you handled law school. I think having outside work experience might have made you more confident in dropping out. Obviously there are other students at T14s who should drop out, but they will continue anyway. Possibly having been successful at another job, or having had any other job, at least gives people an idea of what to do if they drop out.