Anyone else thinking of dropping out? Forum

[Nofuture4me]

1L here. I had a rough first semester grade wise. Not bottom but a little below median. If my grades are terrible this semester I'm done. I'm not even sure if being a lawyer is for me anyway. I've done a lot of thinking this year and really re-evaluated what I think I may want out of life. I'll be 40k in the hole after this year. It's too late and I'll have to pay it back anyway. I just don't know if I want to dig myself deeper if I'm unsure, or just cut my losses and move on. I was never big law or bust. Honestly I didn't even know what kind of law I wanted to practice coming into LS. I figured I'd take some classes in different areas and see what appealed to me, kind of how I chose my undergrad major.

The debt is really freaking me out, and I didn't put as much thought into it as I should've when applying. I guess that part of that had to do with the fact that I didn't have any undergrad debt, so I figured I had some wiggle room to take education loans. Maybe I should've taken some off between college and LS to see what else was out there...

My schools considered a lower T1 school by TLS standards I guess. Not giving any more specifics about that.

I can't imagine I'm alone here. Half my class is below median and my school isn't great with scholy $/grants to begin with, as I'm sure a lot of other schools arent either. Anyone else thinking of throwing in the towel? I just don't know how I'm going to tell my parents if I do. Yea, its not their money and yea it's my life, but I've also never quit anything in my life either.

[bananapeanutbutter]

It's not quitting if it's financially prudent. If you won't make 6 figures and are paying sticker, it is not quitting. Going with the flow is quitting. It's like saying if the Lakers let Dwight walk they are quitting.

[Bikeflip]

2L fall's prime drop out time. No shame in it.

The parental stuff's a five minute conversation, and it'll suck. They really want the best for you, but they probably don't know how to play the law school game. As such, you know the game better than they do. You know the pitfalls. If they need more convincing, there have been a number of mainstream media articles about law school, not to mention law school transparency. If they want to judge you and think of you as a failure, then they're shitty parents. Again, it'll be a shitty conversation, but five minutes is a short amount of time compared to 2 years and $80,000 more debt.

[anori]

1L, also thinking of dropping out. The thing that pisses me off is that everyone says, "Go talk to the professor if you do poorly on an exam." Well, I tried that. One professor promised to give me comments and never did. Another one went over it and said, "Well, you lost some points here, and some points there..." without any indication of how I could do better. I'm at a T30 and I was obviously smart enough to get in!

[bananapeanutbutter]

1L, also thinking of dropping out. The thing that pisses me off is that everyone says, "Go talk to the professor if you do poorly on an exam." Well, I tried that. One professor promised to give me comments and never did. Another one went over it and said, "Well, you lost some points here, and some points there..." without any indication of how I could do better. I'm at a T30 and I was obviously smart enough to get in!

You can ask to read your friend's exams who did better, or ask them to read yours. If you come to the realization that like you said it has little to do with overall intelligence and aren't sensitive it won't make things awkward.

The professors aren't here to teach you. They are legal geniuses. Teachers like you're used to before law school are not hired because they're brilliant at their subject matter. They probably didn't have to take any practice tests to get A's.

[pinkcamellia]

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 2&t=191130

[mephistopheles]

I'm at a T30 and I was obviously smart enough to get in!

this is meaningless.

[UnfrozenCaveman]

Half your class is below median?! That's absurd!

[bananapeanutbutter]

just take lots of practice tests and get experience applying. i'm convinced a lawyer with 40 years of successful real world experience from a 4th tier would be on law review at hys. it's not about what you know. you can probably only know half the BLL and get an A in a 20 page fact pattern.

[Myself]

.

[bananapeanutbutter]

1L, also thinking of dropping out. The thing that pisses me off is that everyone says, "Go talk to the professor if you do poorly on an exam." Well, I tried that. One professor promised to give me comments and never did. Another one went over it and said, "Well, you lost some points here, and some points there..." without any indication of how I could do better. I'm at a T30 and I was obviously smart enough to get in!

Law school is a place of broken promises and shattered dreams, young one.

It's not that bad.

You don't need to be smarter than your peers to do well.

You know if you have a good job after 1 year.

[lsm987]

I didn't do very well my 1L year (I'm a 3L now). I hit smack in the middle of the curve my first semester and below the curve the second semester. Sometime in 2L I figured it out and my grades went up. (For what it's worth, I think I started getting A's because I stopped trying to write exams how I thought law school exams were supposed to be written and started just writing like I'd write anything else.) So don't resign yourself to thinking that below average performance this year means you won't do well the entire time you are in law school. You are going to continue learning to "think like a lawyer" next year and the year after.

As for the debt, there are repayment programs for that. $40K won't qualify you for much, but if you stay in school and end up with $120K, then you can probably get some help from income-based repayment or pay as you earn. You'll still have to make payments but at least the monthly payments will be capped at a reasonable % of your income and everything left over after 20 or 25 years is forgiven.

My advice for you is to figure out whether law is something you want to do for the rest of your life. And think about the viability of your other career options. Aside from the competition and stress of exams, did you like the challenge? Did you find the substance of your classes interesting? If so, keep going. Your grades won't matter after a few years and loans are manageable. But if not, spending the next 40 years doing something that isn't intellectually stimulating to you is no way to live.

[BarbellDreams]

I didn't do very well my 1L year (I'm a 3L now). I hit smack in the middle of the curve my first semester and below the curve the second semester. Sometime in 2L I figured it out and my grades went up. (For what it's worth, I think I started getting A's because I stopped trying to write exams how I thought law school exams were supposed to be written and started just writing like I'd write anything else.) So don't resign yourself to thinking that below average performance this year means you won't do well the entire time you are in law school. You are going to continue learning to "think like a lawyer" next year and the year after.

As for the debt, there are repayment programs for that. $40K won't qualify you for much, but if you stay in school and end up with $120K, then you can probably get some help from income-based repayment or pay as you earn. You'll still have to make payments but at least the monthly payments will be capped at a reasonable % of your income and everything left over after 20 or 25 years is forgiven.

My advice for you is to figure out whether law is something you want to do for the rest of your life. And think about the viability of your other career options. Aside from the competition and stress of exams, did you like the challenge? Did you find the substance of your classes interesting? If so, keep going. Your grades won't matter after a few years and loans are manageable. But if not, spending the next 40 years doing something that isn't intellectually stimulating to you is no way to live.

40K of debt isn't enough to get help, so jack up your debt to 120K so you can get in a payment plan?! What are you talking about?

To OP: Check your school's final refund date. Some schools are geenrous and will let you see what interviews for OCI you've been given prior to that date so if you have 20 interviews you're fine but if you have 2 you may wanna drop out. Its all a personal decision. What alternatives do you have when you drop out? Do you have another skill or job lined up? Whats your undergrad degree?

[qwertyboard]

It's not quitting if it's financially prudent. If you won't make 6 figures and are paying sticker, it is not quitting. Going with the flow is quitting. It's like saying if the Lakers let Dwight walk they are quitting.

Being below median at a lower t14 sucks... I would imagine below median at a t50 is a death trap unless you know someone who will get you a job. Dropping out if you don't get better grades this semester seems like a smart idea. Good luck.

[cinephile]

I think it's much, much harder to drop out when you're half way through than only 1/3 of the way through. Moreover, if you're stuck in an expensive city for law school, it could be costly to stay in your apartment without the loans and/or a struggle to find someone to take over the lease and end up paying for it (for some months) even after you've moved home.

I was still doing callbacks through late September. And then there's the waiting to hear back. This is awfully late to drop out. At that point, October, you'll probably end up sticking it out and now you're 60k in debt.

The choice should be made now whether to stay or go.

[IAFG]

It's not quitting if it's financially prudent. If you won't make 6 figures and are paying sticker, it is not quitting. Going with the flow is quitting. It's like saying if the Lakers let Dwight walk they are quitting.

I don't follow sports so I don't totally follow this analogy but I am still totally sure it's right.

[worldtraveler]

1L, also thinking of dropping out. The thing that pisses me off is that everyone says, "Go talk to the professor if you do poorly on an exam." Well, I tried that. One professor promised to give me comments and never did. Another one went over it and said, "Well, you lost some points here, and some points there..." without any indication of how I could do better. I'm at a T30 and I was obviously smart enough to get in!

He was saying you could do better but not doing what you did that time, which is advice.

[anori]

Technically, yes, it's advice, but it's pretty uninformative.

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

It's not quitting if it's financially prudent. If you won't make 6 figures and are paying sticker, it is not quitting. Going with the flow is quitting. It's like saying if the Lakers let Dwight walk they are quitting.

Being below median at a lower t14 sucks... I would imagine below median at a t50 is a death trap unless you know someone who will get you a job. Dropping out if you don't get better grades this semester seems like a smart idea. Good luck.

Grades are different at non-elite schools.

[rad lulz]

With probably close to $140k when you factor in interest, if you don't get the grades that'll get you a big law job, with the infornmation you've given, I'd drop out

[Assumpsit]

I would drop out if I had a backup plan in mind after 1L and if my parents weren't giving me atleast a little $ towards school to take it out of the 6 figure debt range. I go to a "Top 20" school according to ATL's employment rankings and unless you had stellar grades (law review) or your parents hooked you up with a job (your parents are very rich and well connected) the prospects are dim. I'm probably going to be more concerned with finding a career outside of law 3L year as the jobs that I could probably get with my GPA alone are fucking terrible and my dad didn't get me a biglaw summer with median grades.

[zanzbar]

I am also in this boat. Lower T1 school, around 25 grand in debt, I was just slightly in the top 30% after first semester but I can't find shit for 1L summer. I have 1 more final then I am just going to take the weekend off, relax, and then start applying to undergrad institutions to get a 2nd degree in a real field. Not looking forward to telling the parents I wasted the last 5 years of my life, but what can you do.

[rad lulz]

I am also in this boat. Lower T1 school, around 25 grand in debt, I was just slightly in the top 30% after first semester but I can't find shit for 1L summer. I have 1 more final then I am just going to take the weekend off, relax, and then start applying to undergrad institutions to get a 2nd degree in a real field. Not looking forward to telling the parents I wasted the last 5 years of my life, but what can you do.

None of your profs want RAs?

[zanzbar]

I am also in this boat. Lower T1 school, around 25 grand in debt, I was just slightly in the top 30% after first semester but I can't find shit for 1L summer. I have 1 more final then I am just going to take the weekend off, relax, and then start applying to undergrad institutions to get a 2nd degree in a real field. Not looking forward to telling the parents I wasted the last 5 years of my life, but what can you do.

None of your profs want RAs?

Asked a couple of them that I did pretty well in their class 1L year, and they chose other people. If I do decently well this semester I might throw out some last minutes feelers to a couple profs but I pretty much got both feet out the door already. I just don't see myself in this profession my entire life.

[bananapeanutbutter]

It's not quitting if it's financially prudent. If you won't make 6 figures and are paying sticker, it is not quitting. Going with the flow is quitting. It's like saying if the Lakers let Dwight walk they are quitting.

Being below median at a lower t14 sucks... I would imagine below median at a t50 is a death trap unless you know someone who will get you a job. Dropping out if you don't get better grades this semester seems like a smart idea. Good luck.

I'm very far from median (and hopefully stay the same) at a t-14. But I intended to drop out if I wasn't. I was able to study much harder last time, because I knew I'd drop out. My goals have always been $ and being useful. If I can't do at least 1, I'm out, and I've already accepted the 2nd won't happen in this field if I want the 1st.