considering dropping out -- advice? Forum

[Frau_Blucher]

Facts: i go to a tier 2 school; full scholarship (so long as I maintain a 2.0 GPA); cost of living = $0; debt = $0; first semester GPA = 2.85; undergraduate GPA = 3.8 (major: philosophy); quality of life = all time low; chances of getting a job = ?? (abysmal?); likely salary if I do get a job = ?? (50-60k?); I could make that much as a teacher, and have a much better quality of life. I don't completely hate law, but I don't love it either. I don't really need more than 60k a year to be comfortable in life.

Issue: is it worth it to stay in school and finish the JD, or should I drop out and do teach for america?

Holding: ???

Rationale: ??

[nebula666]

GPA means nothing...what is your RANK

[jetsfan1]

Just a 0L so won't comment on your law related decision but you dont just "do" teach for America it is incredibly competitive (I think the acceptance rate is somewhere around 10 percent) so all ill say is that's not something you can assume you will be getting. In any case good luck with your decision I hope whatever you decide works out best for you!

[Frau_Blucher]

thanks jetsfan1. yeah I guess I did just shrug that one off, i didn't realize it was so competitive. hmm my undergraduate GPA is still pretty good, do you think my law school gpa would hurt my chances?

[bk1]

Why is your qol low? What makes you think that you would dislike practicing law?

[Mick Haller]

You should probably drop out. In your situation, you would have to love practicing law and probably be willing to suffer long hours at a low salary to become successful at it.

For me, bar prep was about 5x worse than 1L, because it was mostly the same material you get in 30 weeks of 1L condensed down to 8 weeks of bar prep. My point is, if your quality of life is low now, it's likely to get worse at some point. And if you cross that hurdle, it's going to be an immense struggle to find a legal job.

If you are feeling bad now, then it's time to find something else. Things are going to get harder for you, not easier. Life's too short...

[jetsfan1]

I really don't know much more, I'm sorry, just know some people who went through the process. That's not to say you won't get it, the high gpa should help but there are other factors as well. At any rate, there are other ways to get into teaching as well, doesn't havta be tfa. If you do decide on the teaching route, definitely apply though you may very well be a great candidate I do not know. I would just say do some more research and maybe fish around tls there are a good amount of people on here who have done tfa maybe try to pm them and get more info on the application process. Again, good luck!

[NYstate]

Make a poll. I think you should drop out. Even a free degree means nothing if you can't find a job. You already don't want to be a lawyer. There is no reason to continue . Staying in school because you can't think of anything better to do would be foolish.

If you are unhappy and not doing well, don't stay.

[rad lulz]

Make a poll. I think you should drop out. Even a free degree means nothing if you can't find a job. You already don't want to be a lawyer. There is no reason to continue . Staying in school because you can't think of anything better to do would be foolish.

If you are unhappy and not doing well, don't stay.

[Frau_Blucher]

Thanks for the help all, I really appreciate the input.

Bk187 – I honestly don't know exactly why my quality of life is so low, but it just feels like the stress never ends (at this point I'm pretty sure I'm depressed); reading cases is just mind numbing to me; I enjoy my legal writing classes because there is a problem to solve and I get to piece together the logic of different holdings to make a case – that's fun; but there's just nothing creative about reading cases, boiling them down and understanding them. So I'm not really sure if I would dislike practicing law for the same reason I dislike law school.

[worldtraveler]

Why do you want to teach? Do you have any idea what it's like?

There isn't a huge demand for teachers with a philosophy degree. I think you might have a harder time getting into the field than you think.

[thethe]

I think you should stay.

Law degrees aren't very portable to other fields short of previous very experience in an area of law related to that field, but the knowledge of law and being a lawyer can be useful in general + having the esquire thing after your name may prevent people from trying to take advantage of you in business and the like.

These benefits are probably not worth 100k for you or even half of that, but if it's just 3 years when you have no options anyway, I would hold out. You seem to not know what you want to do and will be starting from scratch, so why not just do that in 3 years when you have some knowledge you got for free that is useful to life in general?

Most people's QOL is at an all time low. Most ~40k jobs people had before law school were much less work, much less boring and much less cut throat than applying 19th century principles conveyed by people in white wigs on intensely timed unrealistic fact patterns that determine their futures.

[kapital98]

You're going for free and it's almost impossible to lose your scholarship. Think very hard before dropping out. Maybe you should finish 1L while looking for alternative options? This will give you time to think, and investigate, alternative options while also keeping the potential for a law degree.

If you ever change your mind later, you can always resume your studies and finish the last two years. Don't expect such a generous scholarship though.

[ManoftheHour]

I think you should stay.

Law degrees aren't very portable to other fields short of previous very experience in an area of law related to that field, but the knowledge of law and being a lawyer can be useful in general + having the esquire thing after your name may prevent people from trying to take advantage of you in business and the like.

These benefits are probably not worth 100k for you or even half of that, but if it's just 3 years when you have no options anyway, I would hold out. You seem to not know what you want to do and will be starting from scratch, so why not just do that in 3 years when you have some knowledge you got for free that is useful to life in general?

Most people's QOL is at an all time low. Most ~40k jobs people had before law school were much less work, much less boring and much less cut throat than applying 19th century principles conveyed by people in white wigs on intensely timed unrealistic fact patterns that determine their futures.

If the stips aren't hard, I'd just go part time and finish the degree. To add to thethe's post, it's anecdotal, but my friend who is working under a HR rep said that his superior found his law degree to be very useful in his job. I don't know the specifics, but he said having definitely helped him in landing the position. Once again, these small boosts aren't worth 100k, but if you're going for free, why not get a degree and work part time for some money and experience?

[thethe]

I think you should stay.

Law degrees aren't very portable to other fields short of previous very experience in an area of law related to that field, but the knowledge of law and being a lawyer can be useful in general + having the esquire thing after your name may prevent people from trying to take advantage of you in business and the like.

These benefits are probably not worth 100k for you or even half of that, but if it's just 3 years when you have no options anyway, I would hold out. You seem to not know what you want to do and will be starting from scratch, so why not just do that in 3 years when you have some knowledge you got for free that is useful to life in general?

Most people's QOL is at an all time low. Most ~40k jobs people had before law school were much less work, much less boring and much less cut throat than applying 19th century principles conveyed by people in white wigs on intensely timed unrealistic fact patterns that determine their futures.

If the stips aren't hard, I'd just go part time and finish the degree. To add to thethe's post, it's anecdotal, but my friend who is working under a HR rep said that his superior found his law degree to be very useful in his job. I don't know the specifics, but he said having definitely helped him in landing the position. Once again, these small boosts aren't worth 100k, but if you're going for free, why not get a degree and work part time for some money and experience?

I can see that. I certainly think studying for the LSAT, and law school exams makes you more reasonable in assessing conflicts b/w 2 people in real life, and making judgments on people.

[bmt05002]

STAY!!! Free education is golden!!! Milk that cow for all its worth! Twenty years down the road, you'll be happy you have a j.d. after your name, people will have to pay you more since you have a graduate degree.

[A. Nony Mouse]

STAY!!! Free education is golden!!! Milk that cow for all its worth! Twenty years down the road, you'll be happy you have a j.d. after your name, people will have to pay you more since you have a graduate degree.

Unless, of course, they don't want to hire you in the first place because you have a graduate degree and they'll have to pay you more.

[Lacepiece23]

STAY!!! Free education is golden!!! Milk that cow for all its worth! Twenty years down the road, you'll be happy you have a j.d. after your name, people will have to pay you more since you have a graduate degree.

Unless, of course, they don't want to hire you in the first place because you have a graduate degree and they'll have to pay you more.

I think this would be different if OP was fresh out of school looking for a non law related job, which would make him less marketable. Considering OP has a job I can't imagine that when OP goes for a promotion for his current job, or goes to look at another job where all else being equal OP and has a J.D. that this would hurt OP. And if OP was starting to feel like this was hurting him/her then could OP just leave it off his resume? Just a question you'd know better than I would if my logic is correct.