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99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:05 am
by bartleby
chalk me up as a drop out already. three grades left. i predict LRW: B- Con: ? Prop: ?
another median and slightly above median shit grades released. our median is a B though. best case scenario, I'm in the top 20% (B-, A-, A-). Worst case scenario, I drop below median (B-, B-, B-). Most likely...I'll just be stuck in no man's land at around 30-35%. F this.
i cannot do this for another 2 years. to haul ass to get median grades. going to get an engineering degree. maybe i'll finish up law school later or something but I need some stability or some craft or skill.
this is the part where you guys tell me engineers have it tough too.
20k debt - 95% of it was from my excessive living habits because my scholarship was so front-loaded. in the next two years, i'll be in for 45k in tuition alone. with gas prices, assuming I commute, I'm looking at 80k, no concrete job prospects, and no real skills. i went to career services today, enrolled in summer math classes, and crunched the numbers. it'll be around 20k and 2 years for e.e.
it bruises the ego but whats happened has happened and it was fun while it lasted.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:07 am
by TTTLS
I did not get a CALI award.
I am the 99%.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:08 am
by fatduck
meaningless without your school
but just drop out
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:12 am
by pinkcamellia
bartleby wrote:chalk me up as a drop out already. three grades left. i predict LRW: B- Con: ? Prop: ?
another median and slightly above median shit grades released. our median is a B though. best case scenario, I'm in the top 20% (B-, A-, A-). Worst case scenario, I drop below median (B-, B-, B-). Most likely...I'll just be stuck in no man's land at around 30-35%. F this.
i cannot do this for another 2 years. to haul ass to get median grades. going to get an engineering degree. maybe i'll finish up law school later or something but I need some stability or some craft or skill.
this is the part where you guys tell me engineers have it tough too.
20k debt - 95% of it was from my excessive living habits because my scholarship was so front-loaded. in the next two years, i'll be in for 45k in tuition alone. with gas prices, assuming I commute, I'm looking at 80k, no concrete job prospects, and no real skills. i went to career services today, enrolled in summer math classes, and crunched the numbers. it'll be around 20k and 2 years for e.e.
it bruises the ego but whats happened has happened and it was fun while it lasted.
Hey bud, don't be so hard on yourself. You tried your best this semester, and it may well yet be salvaged. What kind of school are you at? Do you have a summer job? Do you have connections in your desired city? Do you even want to be a lawyer?
Don't make a rash decision you will regret.
If you're serious about dropping out and need someone to talk to, send me a PM. I've done it and lived to tell the tale.
No matter what you decide, it's going to be okay.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:12 am
by bartleby
school is UH. super underrated school by the way. a lot of 1Ls with summers paying market.
i have no idea what an A looks like. but mostly my reasons for dropping out is...
1. i don't think i ever want to practice law. ever.
2. this B barrage is messing with my confidence. i had one super shit grade last semester and i haven't gotten over it.
3. the final exam counting for 100% of your grade is not tailored to my strengths. i just panic with the time crunch. i know life will be stressful in the future, but i'm just not performing well enough in that scenario.
i'm done though and feel pretty good for the first time in 6 months. i basically got a 1 year semi-free sample of law school and can chalk this one up as another failure.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:14 am
by bartleby
yeah not a rash decision. thought about it for awhile. mostly: will i ever live the rest of my life wondering if i should have finished my last two years of law school and gone down that road?
and the answer is no. whereas i probably would have asked that if i decided never to go to law school. do i feel happy about taking classes with 19-20 year olds? the answer is also no. but i have two paper humanities degrees and i don't need a paper jd.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:14 am
by pinkcamellia
bartleby wrote:school is UH. super underrated school by the way. a lot of 1Ls with summers paying market.
i have no idea what an A looks like. but mostly my reasons for dropping out is...
1. i don't think i ever want to practice law. ever.
2. this B barrage is messing with my confidence. i had one super shit grade last semester and i haven't gotten over it.
3. the final exam counting for 100% of your grade is not tailored to my strengths. i just panic with the time crunch. i know life will be stressful in the future, but i'm just not performing well enough in that scenario.
i'm done though and feel pretty good for the first time in 6 months. i basically got a 1 year semi-free sample of law school and can chalk this one up as another failure.
#1 is all you need to say. Law's just not for you. But it doesn't mean you're a failure. Promise.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:14 am
by fatduck
failing at law school isn't that big a deal, man. sounds like you did it pretty cheaply, too. life is full of failure - if it isn't, you're doing something wrong.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:15 am
by birdlaw117
What are you doing this summer? You might as well stick out whatever you have lined up for the summer to see if it is something you want to pursue as a career. Or it could just give you more insight into what a legal career might be like.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:19 am
by queenlizzie13
pinkcamellia wrote:bartleby wrote:school is UH. super underrated school by the way. a lot of 1Ls with summers paying market.
i have no idea what an A looks like. but mostly my reasons for dropping out is...
1. i don't think i ever want to practice law. ever.
2. this B barrage is messing with my confidence. i had one super shit grade last semester and i haven't gotten over it.
3. the final exam counting for 100% of your grade is not tailored to my strengths. i just panic with the time crunch. i know life will be stressful in the future, but i'm just not performing well enough in that scenario.
i'm done though and feel pretty good for the first time in 6 months. i basically got a 1 year semi-free sample of law school and can chalk this one up as another failure.
#1 is all you need to say. Law's just not for you. But it doesn't mean you're a failure. Promise.
I agree. Dropping out does not mean you are a failure. Most lawyers I meet tell me to drop out all the time, including friends. If you hate it, you will have made a good decision because if you don't like practicing, it just goes downhill from there.
After all, almost every job gets old after awhile. Better to learn you don't like it now then wake up at 50 years old one day and wonder what you've done with your life.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:22 am
by bartleby
TLS SUPPORT GROUPPP. nah thanks, i appreciate it. i'm ra-ing. it is super chill and i'm gonna stick it out but take physics I and II at a community college so i can satisfy some electrical engineering prereqs - already have chem 1 and chem 2 and cal 1 and cal 2. i'm just looking forward to no more fact patterns.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 6:31 am
by LSATNightmares
I think law school is humbling for everyone. My GPA has been in steady decline since high school, even though I put in more hours. I wouldn't assume you are only going to get an A- at best. These things can surprise you sometimes. Also, engineering is even more humbling, and sometimes engineering grads struggle to find jobs, too. I would switch if it's engineering that you honestly and truly want to do, even if you got good grades.
Btw, some of your UH students have gone on to do great things even though they don't practice law. I was college friends with a girl who is now a Hawaii state representative (she graduated from UH a few years ago). I don't think that counts as practicing law. If you love policy or advocacy, stick at it.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 6:45 am
by ilovesf
All of my friends who majored in engineering in college got jobs right out of school. As far as I can tell, it's one of the few markets that's doing pretty well. If you hate law, don't study it. Do something you enjoy instead.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 9:47 am
by Map Cat
pinkcamellia wrote:bartleby wrote:school is UH. super underrated school by the way. a lot of 1Ls with summers paying market.
i have no idea what an A looks like. but mostly my reasons for dropping out is...
1. i don't think i ever want to practice law. ever.
2. this B barrage is messing with my confidence. i had one super shit grade last semester and i haven't gotten over it.
3. the final exam counting for 100% of your grade is not tailored to my strengths. i just panic with the time crunch. i know life will be stressful in the future, but i'm just not performing well enough in that scenario.
i'm done though and feel pretty good for the first time in 6 months. i basically got a 1 year semi-free sample of law school and can chalk this one up as another failure.
#1 is all you need to say. Law's just not for you. But it doesn't mean you're a failure. Promise.
+1
Different strokes.
P.S. OP, engineering is okay right now. I live in a huge engineering area and while the jobs pay well, they aren't terribly stable right now (budget cuts, lack of contracts). In my experience, the market for GIS is even better and can get you to comparable places in terms of a career and salary. I know 25 people that graduated with GIS degrees in the last two years, and 22 had job offers before they even graduated (the other 3 were lazy fucks) doing things like oil reserve mapping and defense contracting. All are making >55K right out of UG. Just a thought.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 9:52 am
by jkpolk
bartleby wrote:TLS SUPPORT GROUPPP. nah thanks, i appreciate it. i'm ra-ing. it is super chill and i'm gonna stick it out but take physics I and II at a community college so i can satisfy some electrical engineering prereqs - already have chem 1 and chem 2 and cal 1 and cal 2. i'm just looking forward to no more fact patterns.
I think I like you. Best of luck!
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 10:04 am
by togepi
If a barrage of B's messes with your confidence, I'd reconsider doing electrical engineering. I did civil engineering which is considered a lot easier, and coming from high school with almost a 4.0, I got used to Cs, Ds, and Fs pretty quickly. There's a lot of weed out classes and many professors keep the average at a C and have no qualms with failing people.
But if law is not for you and you're 100% sure you don't want to do it then drop out. You could always finish law school and find a job and work for a few years and then get your EE degree and do some patent work for EE.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 11:17 am
by zonto
You could also consider computer science as another course. I find a lot of similarities with the logic structure and reasoning, just with code instead of fact patterns. I actually changed from computer engineering to English (and now law) because I was more comfortable with English than code.
Job market seems pretty solid too, and you don't have to take all the crazy math/physics classes that engineers take.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 12:17 pm
by kalvano
Go to the SMU Guildhall program, learn how to program video games, and get a $100K+ a year job on graduation.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:12 pm
by bartleby
my last two grades for prop and con law turned out to be a pair of A-'s, just got them now, both 4 hour classes. this just verifies how much i hate law school exams. i was the most prepared for my first two classes and got the B treatment and for property, in which i used up all 8 of my absences and didn't know what the F an easement was until the day before, i get my first pseudo A...
told dean i was taking a leave of absence today though...
either way, i think i want out. only chance i'll reconsider is if i get the A in lrw but only 1 person in the class gets an A and i don't know how to cite
dunzo
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 3:30 pm
by de5igual
bartleby wrote: best case scenario, I'm in the top 20% (B-, A-, A-).
bartleby wrote:my last two grades for prop and con law turned out to be a pair of A-'s, just got them now, both 4 hour classes. this just verifies how much i hate law school exams. i was the most prepared for my first two classes and got the B treatment and for property, in which i used up all 8 of my absences and didn't know what the F an easement was until the day before, i get my first pseudo A...
told dean i was taking a leave of absence today though...
either way, i think i want out. only chance i'll reconsider is if i get the A in lrw but only 1 person in the class gets an A and i don't know how to cite
dunzo
so does this mean you're pretty much in the top 20% (assuming worst case B- in LRW?)
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 3:35 pm
by bartleby
my bad, it was A, A for best case scenario. i will at least pause and think if i'm top 25% but i'm now at 95% dropping out
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 3:42 pm
by kalvano
Not much of what you do in school will reflect what you do as a lawyer.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 3:49 pm
by bartleby
yeah i just don't want to be a lawyer. if i feel the itch, i'll finish it out later. i'm like semi-old at 25 and while it isn't my last chance to pursue something new...it is pretty close.
Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 1:02 am
by togepi
kalvano wrote:Go to the SMU Guildhall program, learn how to program video games, and get a $100K+ a year job on graduation.
What are the prerequisites for that?

Re: 99% dropping out
Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 1:04 am
by RedBirds2011
kalvano wrote:Not much of what you do in school will reflect what you do as a lawyer.