Top Law Schools

Here's the deal: T2, mostly Bs and Cs 1st semester, GPA around a 2.6, somewhat below median which is close to 2.9ish. Don't really like law school all that much and really thought I would enjoy things a lot more before I entered.
Also went somewhere far away from home, is there any hope of transferring to a school roughly the same or slightly below in the rankings with my grades? Basically just a lateral transfer to somewhere that my LSAT would have got me into in the first place.
If not I will most likely drop out after 1L year although I may do so anyway due to ambivalent feelings now about law in general. As a note, I felt this way toward law as early as last October but I studied, worked as hard as everyone else. That said, I feel must finish this semester since at least that will mean a full year complete, so down the road it would be easier to re-apply to a part time program or something if i somehow change my mind.
Yes, i'll have 50K of debt after a year but thats manageable and I feel 150K may not be.

BoSox0407 wrote:Here's the deal: T2, mostly Bs and Cs 1st semester, GPA around a 2.6, somewhat below median which is close to 2.9ish. Don't really like law school all that much and really thought I would enjoy things a lot more before I entered.
Also went somewhere far away from home, is there any hope of transferring to a school roughly the same or slightly below in the rankings with my grades? Basically just a lateral transfer to somewhere that my LSAT would have got me into in the first place.
If not I will most likely drop out after 1L year although I may do so anyway due to ambivalent feelings now about law in general. As a note, I felt this way toward law as early as last October but I studied, worked as hard as everyone else. That said, I feel must finish this semester since at least that will mean a full year complete, so down the road it would be easier to re-apply to a part time program or something if i somehow change my mind.
Yes, i'll have 50K of debt after a year but thats manageable and I feel 150K may not be.

I don't particularly like giving any sort of advice on these questions because it is so personal and so big a decision. But you mention multiple times that you don't like law school or the study of law. Now that doesn't necessarily mean you would dislike the practice of law. But given that you didn't really look into what law school entails, it makes me question whether you looked into what being a lawyer is actually like. Bringing your GPA up is going to be very difficult. You could do very well this semester, and still fall below median. You also make it sound like you are taking out a hefty amount of debt in a market you don't even want to be in. Like I said, I hate giving advice on these matters, but you have given nothing but reasons for wanting to drop out. You sound like that is what your heart is telling you to do, but you just want confirmation that you aren't being hasty. So I will be honest with you and say go with your gut on this one, if you feel like dropping out at this point would be the smart decision.

I agree with what dakatz said and I think you should drop out since you are paying sticker.

The voting so far is basically confirming what I suspected. My problem is only having a liberal arts degree, but I suppose not spending 150K is a smart call.

BoSox0407 wrote:The voting so far is basically confirming what I suspected. My problem is only having a liberal arts degree, but I suppose not spending 150K is a smart call.

A liberal arts degree certainly puts you in a hole in a sense, but wouldn't 150K spent on something you don't want only make that hole infinitely deeper?

dakatz wrote:

BoSox0407 wrote:The voting so far is basically confirming what I suspected. My problem is only having a liberal arts degree, but I suppose not spending 150K is a smart call.

A liberal arts degree certainly puts you in a hole in a sense, but wouldn't 150K spent on something you don't want only make that hole infinitely deeper?

This. You can work yourself out of the "setback" that is a liberal arts degree. It's going to be mighty difficult to work yourself out of the definite setback that 150k in debt would be.

i just read the first line and voted. unless u have family that guarantees a job post law school, there is no point in staying.

I did not vote because I feel this is a YOU decision. If you only went to law school because you didn't know what else to do, you should definitely do some soul searching. It's one thing if you had a 4.0/175 and went to Stanford because you didn't know what else to do. But, since you attend a T2 you have to REALLY want to be a lawyer to make this whole investment worth your time. Good luck.

I just voted drop out without reading. If you have to ask, just drop out. That's my new motto.

What do you guys think about the transfer part?

BoSox0407 wrote:What do you guys think about the transfer part?

I don't think it's worth it unless you can transfer to a cheap cheap state school.

Even then, you don't seem to like it and I don't think tacking on extra debt for the small chance that you will enjoy practicing law.

BoSox0407 wrote:What do you guys think about the transfer part?

You mention being ambivalent about the study of law in general; moving someplace else is not going to change it. You didn't post "how can I be closer to my family" but "should I drop out." I think you know you don't want to do this, it's just difficult to come to terms with the fact that you've invested money in something that's not going to pan out. Transferring would only be reaffirming your investment someplace new.

what I meant was could i even get accepted for a lateral transfer type of thing to a state school or something closer to home? Meaning a school i got into/or would have last year?

BoSox0407 wrote:what I meant was could i even get accepted for a lateral transfer type of thing to a state school or something closer to home? Meaning a school i got into/or would have last year?

Unfortunately, VERY few schools will want to even consider a student with a 2.6 GPA. Your LSAT score, undergrad GPA, etc. all go out the window once you have actual law school grades to show for yourself. There is a reason why a school like Harvard is willing to accept people they may very well have rejected in the past. And the opposite side of that coin is that schools will now reject students they may have accepted in the past based on LSAT/undergrad GPA.

Even a lateral transfer for personal reasons wouldn't work? Not that I'm thinking too seriously as to this option quite yet. It may make more sense just to work and years down the road do some part time program to finish the final 2 years if possible.

BoSox0407 wrote:Even a lateral transfer for personal reasons wouldn't work? Not that I'm thinking too seriously as to this option quite yet. It may make more sense just to work and years down the road do some part time program to finish the final 2 years if possible.

Let me give you what hopefully will be a comparable example to prove my point. I went to a pretty good undergrad, typically around a top 50 school. I did terribly my first year. I had about a 2.5 GPA. I send in a transfer app to my local state school which almost anyone in my home state can get into, and its where almost all my friends went to school. I had a great SAT score and a great high school GPA. They flat out rejected me because my 2.5 GPA was the only figure they cared about. I should also add that this school offered me a full scholarship when I first applied before undergrad. But none of that mattered. They didn't care about anything prior, because that GPA was my only indication of how I performed in the college environment. So as crappy as it may seem, every school you apply to will solely rely on that GPA as an indicator of how you will perform there. You might have very personal reasons for transferring, as I did during undergrad (even though I stuck in out and got a 3.8 or higher every semester afterward). But you have to look at it from the school's perspective. That isn't to say you shouldn't at least try, if you feel like a transfer would be best for you. But its just my opinion that it may not turn out as well as you like.

so you stuck around at your current school? How did you do after that 1st semester?

BoSox0407 wrote:so you stuck around at your current school? How did you do after that 1st semester?

He's referring to his undergrad.

BoSox0407 wrote:so you stuck around at your current school? How did you do after that 1st semester?

That was undergrad. Was just trying to make the point about how hard it is to transfer with a poor GPA. I applied to an inferior school that offered me a full scholarship originally, yet they rejected me on my transfer app since I did so poorly during freshman year.

Yeah, most likely I should be dropping out for good. This vote is nearly 10:1 lol. Seriously, how fucked would i be if i stuck around for all 3 years?

Drop out now, in fact try and drop out this semester and see if your school will at least give a partial refund.

Nah, it complicates things so much more if for some reason i wanted to go back. Better to have all 1L courses completed in my opinion. Now I can see why people who assume they'll work hard and finish in the top 10% are so foolish, you just never know how you'll do on these 4 hour exams. I wish i could type faster/get thoughts out quicker. Personally i never was one of those gunners but you just never know, alot of exam taking is just natural ability in my opinion, no one is dumb or anything in law school.

BoSox0407 wrote:Nah, it complicates things so much more if for some reason i wanted to go back. Better to have all 1L courses completed in my opinion. Now I can see why people who assume they'll work hard and finish in the top 10% are so foolish, you just never know how you'll do on these 4 hour exams. I wish i could type faster/get thoughts out quicker. Personally i never was one of those gunners but you just never know, alot of exam taking is just natural ability in my opinion, no one is dumb or anything in law school.

You sir have obviously never met a Cooley grad. I have, it ain't pretty.

lol, my school is a decent regional T2, not quite cooley.

t2, 2.6, don't even enjoy LS... I would drop out without hesitation. Forget the 50K, cut your losses