Sacrificing School for Work: Any Suggestions? Forum

[interalia504]

Hey Guys. I just finished 2L and have received my grades. Not horrendous, but my GPA over the course of my 2L year has dropped about .1. During 2L, I worked around 15-20 hours a week while also participating on LR. However, its seems that now I will have to give a decent effort next year in order to receive honors. My question: Is working during school and doing LR worth it even in the event my GPA drops a bit? Should I not work during school next year and instead focus solely on school? The job is paid, FWIW. Thanks.

[dingbat]

A) will you be keeping thè job you have?
B) if no, did you get a job through OCI?

Basically, if you will be hitting the job market after graduation, then a good argument can be made to focus on school
If you already have a job lined up, then it really doesn't matter anymore

[interalia504]

I don't plan on keeping this job. But the money during school year is nice. Tough decision ... or is it?

[dingbat]

If you don't have a job lined up already and you're ginna need to scramble, a case can be made for working less and improving your grades

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Your focus should be on trying to find and enhance your chances of finding a post-graduation legal job. Since biglaw is probably out, I presume that means you'll be wanting to target small to midsize firms. I would assume the work experience during the school year would be a better selling point than a slightly better GPA, but I really don't know much about legal hiring for smaller firms.

[interalia504]

BigLaw is certainly out. Thanks for the input, guys/gals.

[interalia504]

Has anyone felt their experience working was worth a slight drop in GPA? i.e. great reference from Employer, Future Employer impressed with ability to juggle job/school/LR, etc.

[Miller32]

I'm in the exact same situation. Work part-time and LR while juggling school. Grades have dropped as a result. I'm telling myself its worth it and am going to continue down the same path. I don't think small and mid-size firms are as grade conscious. Plus, I'm holding out hope that the firm I'm at will hire me full-time when school is over.

Any chance the firm you're at will take you on?

[evilxs]

Without a doubt: the benefit of experience and networking to me outweighs the detriment of slight grade drop.

Depends on the market you're in I imagine.

[interalia504]

Thanks for the responses, guys. In my mind, if the firm I'm at doesn't hire me, I feel like i'm in a situation where the attorney's will proactively assist me in securing a job. That is one of the benefits of working for a small firm during law school, IMO (the personal relationships that are absent in larger firm gigs). But on the same token, I would also like to receive honors; and now that my grades have dipped a bit, it is going to be close. So we'll see. Although I received an E-Board position, I am at a school where we write our law review notes 2L year, so that is out of the way and hopefully the work load in the LR category will be less 3L year. I'm rambling now.

[interalia504]

[waxecstatic]

If you leave your job you could be burning a bridge, and so if you ever find yourself unemployed and in need of a job you will probably regret having sacrificed working to allocate more hours to studying. I don't think working 15-20 hours is all that bad. A drop in .1? Is that supposed to be drastic? The market sucks and you're better of working.

[shepdawg]

Stay at your job, but focus on school. Are you putting in 80 hours a week in total? If not, you have the opportunity to improve.

[dixiecupdrinking]

I say keep the job, since it sounds legally related. Keep your debt down. Network. Nobody is going to hire you because you have a 3.5 instead of a 3.4. Someone may hire you because you have proven you can juggle commitments, did good work, and made connections.

[faizdasl]

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