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2L here. Are any of you unhappy while in law school? So last year, I was pretty much really depressed most of the time and it got so bad that I even went to see a therapist by my second semester. We got pretty close to figuring things out but then my free sessions ran out and the semester had ended. The thing was... I never thought my unhappiness was because I was in law school. I thought that this was something internal going on just in me because come on... who likes life during 1L? I never thought it was the external circumstance. I can think of many reasons why I like the law and many reasons why I'm in law school (I like the concept of needing different elements to argue for a certain issue, I like having the opportunity to read and write, I like the idea of writing a story/argument based on a specific set of facts that must be used to convince others, I like the idea of helping society be functional) but maybe I'm depressed for a reason - that I actually don't like this, that this isn't what I want out of my life, and I'm just afraid to do what I really want.

To people that "hate" law school or are unhappy right now, why do you stay?

Law school is absolutely miserable. But being a lawyer is pretty fun, and I liked my summer job a lot. Too bad law school and being a lawyer have so little to do with each other.

Yeah, law school sucks. I would never do it again. But I need a job, so whatever. Work is work, but as long as I have a life outside of work, that's what matters.

What I am very unhappy about is the necessity of have to take a third year of LS. Instead of making $$ you wind up paying the school for a useless year. The swing on that is around $200K. . . . money you lose by not working and $$ you pay because the system is gamed (IMHO).

I current have 5 friends in law school - 3 at T14s and 2 at T50s. Their feedback has been pretty much the same: Law School is definitely a lot of work and can be stressful at times, but overall they really enjoy their classes, their classmates, professors, etc. Overall, they are very happy and really enjoy being law students.

Obviously this is a very small sample size, but there are students out there that are really enjoying life despite all the rigors of being a law student.

1L here. Extremely unhappy, but I don't think it has much to do with law school. School itself is fine, but I'm really just looking forward to getting out there for some hands on experience. I think my problem is really a relationship problem that seems to be compounded by the stresses of school. But I don't think the average 9-5 for a poli sci major would be any better while going through this shit.
Anyway. That's just a personal note that I thought I'd throw in the mix.

kalvano wrote:Law school is absolutely miserable. But being a lawyer is pretty fun, and I liked my summer job a lot. Too bad law school and being a lawyer have so little to do with each other.

lolwut. I'm going to love billing 2000+ hrs......

depending on your path, practicing could be a lot worse than school. Probably just important to make at least some room for a life outside of work, whether it be school or billing hours.

tfer2222 wrote:lolwut. I'm going to love billing 2000+ hrs......

depending on your path, practicing could be a lot worse than school. Probably just important to make at least some room for a life outside of work, whether it be school or billing hours.

Then don't work where you don't want to?

If you are not happy, you should seriously look at whether you want to be here or not. There are way too many lawyers as it is. We don't need miserable people. If you love it, do it. If you don't, you should seriously look at doing something you will enjoy. Life is too short to be a miserable person in.

spicyyoda17 wrote:I current have 5 friends in law school - 3 at T14s and 2 at T50s. Their feedback has been pretty much the same: Law School is definitely a lot of work and can be stressful at times, but overall they really enjoy their classes, their classmates, professors, etc. Overall, they are very happy and really enjoy being law students.

Obviously this is a very small sample size, but there are students out there that are really enjoying life despite all the rigors of being a law student.

1L here and absolutely love it.

Scotusnerd wrote:

tfer2222 wrote:lolwut. I'm going to love billing 2000+ hrs......

depending on your path, practicing could be a lot worse than school. Probably just important to make at least some room for a life outside of work, whether it be school or billing hours.

Then don't work where you don't want to?

If you are not happy, you should seriously look at whether you want to be here or not. There are way too many lawyers as it is. We don't need miserable people. If you love it, do it. If you don't, you should seriously look at doing something you will enjoy. Life is too short to be a miserable person in.

If everyone followed this advice, biglaw would collapse.

thelawyler wrote:

spicyyoda17 wrote:I current have 5 friends in law school - 3 at T14s and 2 at T50s. Their feedback has been pretty much the same: Law School is definitely a lot of work and can be stressful at times, but overall they really enjoy their classes, their classmates, professors, etc. Overall, they are very happy and really enjoy being law students.

Obviously this is a very small sample size, but there are students out there that are really enjoying life despite all the rigors of being a law student.

1L here and absolutely love it.

I'd wait til grades come out and/or about two weeks into your second year when you realize there are two more years of this BS before saying you love it

beachbum wrote: If everyone followed this advice, biglaw would collapse.

Not my problem if people want to be miserable for the rest of their life for lots of money. If that money brings them enjoyment, power to them. I'm don't find that same enjoyment, so I'm going to find something I like.

Recent grad. Here's my happiness scale:

Working as a lawyer >>>> Working before law school >>>>>>>>>>>>> law school

I haven't had to pull a true all-nighter yet, but even then I think I'll enjoy this more.

3LE and I have to admit... I love it, for the most part. I'm having a total GRIND semester but the rest has been fun and I think I'm going to enjoy being a lawyer. I worked before school and I really believe that enjoying your job is key: you spend most of your time at work, so... OP, what is it that you really want to do, that you might be afraid to do?

I don't like being in law school. Boring as shit, taught to the least intelligent members of the class. Then there are the grades douchers who are losers in every aspect of their life other than a couple 3-hour exams, but who think they are the law gods' few begotten sons.

So, I guess I hate law school because it forces me to be in classes with severe slackers and overbearing gunners who will die at 43 from heart attacks. The working world, in my experience, tends to shed those outliers rather quickly, or at least gives you avenues for insulating yourself from the most unbearable ones.

I loved my SA, mainly for the work and not the forced socialization, so I'm happy that I came to law school, as it gives me a ticket to that kind of work. But I'm not happy being in law school.

BlueDiamond wrote:

thelawyler wrote:

spicyyoda17 wrote:I current have 5 friends in law school - 3 at T14s and 2 at T50s. Their feedback has been pretty much the same: Law School is definitely a lot of work and can be stressful at times, but overall they really enjoy their classes, their classmates, professors, etc. Overall, they are very happy and really enjoy being law students.

Obviously this is a very small sample size, but there are students out there that are really enjoying life despite all the rigors of being a law student.

1L here and absolutely love it.

I'd wait til grades come out and/or about two weeks into your second year when you realize there are two more years of this BS before saying you love it

Life is always a grind, but I'm a glass half full kind of guy. Life is what you make of it. And I choose to enjoy my good moments.

beachbum wrote:

Scotusnerd wrote:

tfer2222 wrote:lolwut. I'm going to love billing 2000+ hrs......

depending on your path, practicing could be a lot worse than school. Probably just important to make at least some room for a life outside of work, whether it be school or billing hours.

Then don't work where you don't want to?

If you are not happy, you should seriously look at whether you want to be here or not. There are way too many lawyers as it is. We don't need miserable people. If you love it, do it. If you don't, you should seriously look at doing something you will enjoy. Life is too short to be a miserable person in.

If everyone followed this advice, biglaw the job market would collapse.

FTFY

thelawyler wrote:

BlueDiamond wrote:

thelawyler wrote:

spicyyoda17 wrote:I current have 5 friends in law school - 3 at T14s and 2 at T50s. Their feedback has been pretty much the same: Law School is definitely a lot of work and can be stressful at times, but overall they really enjoy their classes, their classmates, professors, etc. Overall, they are very happy and really enjoy being law students.

Obviously this is a very small sample size, but there are students out there that are really enjoying life despite all the rigors of being a law student.

1L here and absolutely love it.

I'd wait til grades come out and/or about two weeks into your second year when you realize there are two more years of this BS before saying you love it

Life is always a grind, but I'm a glass half full kind of guy. Life is what you make of it. And I choose to enjoy my good moments.

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

1L here. I'm meh right now. Mid season slump I guess. Civ Pro and Property are killing me slowly from boredom.

2008 LS grad and practicing NYC associate here. I recall that I enjoyed life outside of law school and I enjoyed classes to an extent while I was in school, however, I absolutely recall the stress and sometimes the despair that comes along with the whole process. I recomend looking for some outside activity (beyond the 4 walls of LS), to help keep your sanity. Try getting a part-time law job at a small firm and see if you actually enjoy the work aspect of the law. I realized very early on (I got a lot of Pre-LS legal experieince through internships and continued with those all through LS) that I liked the practice of law much more than attending LS.

On the topic of the profession being more "fun" than LS. I should first note that as a practicing attorney, I can tell you that often times, the practice of law is more stresful and tiresome than attending LS. The difference is that you can see the output of your work when done. Also, if you're in a good firm, not every day is like that. When I have a massive appellate brief due or a trial coming up, life sucks. But when I'm in my normal practice mode, its not bad at all and I actually enjoy the relative freedom I have in my practice and the diversity of the work I do. I also have a good deal of scheduling freedom which comes from an abundance of trust built between myself and my boss. The profession can be rewarding and enjoyable (with bouts of deadline driven insanity in between).

More than anything else: Be true to thy self. Deep down, you know whats going on in your head/heart. Try to figure out what you need in your life that is missing at the moment and address that concern directly. Best of luck.

ReasonableMan, you make me happy. Loved that. Great advice.

BlueDiamond wrote:

thelawyler wrote:

spicyyoda17 wrote:I current have 5 friends in law school - 3 at T14s and 2 at T50s. Their feedback has been pretty much the same: Law School is definitely a lot of work and can be stressful at times, but overall they really enjoy their classes, their classmates, professors, etc. Overall, they are very happy and really enjoy being law students.

Obviously this is a very small sample size, but there are students out there that are really enjoying life despite all the rigors of being a law student.

1L here and absolutely love it.

I'd wait til grades come out and/or about two weeks into your second year when you realize there are two more years of this BS before saying you love it

This.

nygrrrl wrote:3LE and I have to admit... I love it, for the most part. I'm having a total GRIND semester but the rest has been fun and I think I'm going to enjoy being a lawyer. I worked before school and I really believe that enjoying your job is key: you spend most of your time at work, so... OP, what is it that you really want to do, that you might be afraid to do?

i was premed for a long time. i left for personal reasons. i miss science a lot.

but also... i struck out. so i'm worried this is all because i'm discouraged or not. this has been a struggle. i have some more callbacks coming up that i got from mass mailing with firms that are probably better fits than my OCI firms but i'm not too pumped up about it (should i be?).

on a closing note... i've feel like i can breathe for the first time since i started considering trying for medical school. but worried about the debt, the chances of getting in, and the fact that i may be glamorizing medicine in my head. i've had clinical shadowing experience but it was long ago.

Edit: my question isn't whether you are tired/feel burnt out - it's whether you are happy? for example, climbing a mountain is extremely difficult, tiring, and stressful but at the top and throughout the whole process, you are probably pretty happy if that's what you wanted to do. not a perfect example but i think you get it lol

glitched wrote:

nygrrrl wrote:3LE and I have to admit... I love it, for the most part. I'm having a total GRIND semester but the rest has been fun and I think I'm going to enjoy being a lawyer. I worked before school and I really believe that enjoying your job is key: you spend most of your time at work, so... OP, what is it that you really want to do, that you might be afraid to do?

i was premed for a long time. i left for personal reasons. i miss science a lot.

but also... i struck out. so i'm worried this is all because i'm discouraged or not. this has been a struggle. i have some more callbacks coming up that i got from mass mailing with firms that are probably better fits than my OCI firms but i'm not too pumped up about it (should i be?).

on a closing note... i've feel like i can breathe for the first time since i started considering trying for medical school. but worried about the debt, the chances of getting in, and the fact that i may be glamorizing medicine in my head. i've had clinical shadowing experience but it was long ago.

Edit: my question isn't whether you are tired/feel burnt out - it's whether you are happy? for example, climbing a mountain is extremely difficult, tiring, and stressful but at the top and throughout the whole process, you are probably pretty happy if that's what you wanted to do. not a perfect example but i think you get it lol

If you had something else that at one point you really wanted to do I can see how law school would really suck. It sounds like you really had the opportunity as well and gave it up for law school in a way.

What did you do for 1L summer?

kalvano wrote:Law school is absolutely miserable. But being a lawyer is pretty fun, and I liked my summer job a lot. Too bad law school and being a lawyer have so little to do with each other.

I'm in this camp. I loved my summer job, I like my externship this semester, but law school itself is kind of like a weird religious cult where everyone is forced to go through ancient, painful rituals that make close to zero sense--but everyone has to do because "that's the way things are done."

My favorite part is actually being on a law journal. It allows you to actually think creatively, critically, and practically (when you are writing your note, at least). I also really appreciate the opportunity to hang out with and chat with some of the most brilliant people I've ever met in my life.

Dealing with the constant career uncertainty and the poverty that goes with being a grad student can be REALLY tough though. I worked a corporate job for 4 years before coming to law school, and got really used to being financially independent. Also, dealing with the randomness of grading and yet the importance of grades is nothing short of maddening. Law school exams/grading is too sloppy a process to justify the outcomes it creates.