Thinking about dropping out? I'll tell you my story. Forum

[jplayer]

I am writing this for those of you who are like me and were disappointed by their law school experiences and are considering their options.

A few years ago I had a half-ride scholarship to a school at the lower end of the top 20. After the first semester I had a 2.9 out of a class median of 3.1-3.2. Since my goal was biglaw, I was devastated and knew that my chances were pretty slim at that point. I had really enjoyed law school and being around my professors/classmates, so I did not want to leave.

At that time most 1Ls still thought that the big law job market would bounce back after a few years, and I believed the US News data about 6-figure salaries. Even Law School Transparency at that time showed an average salary of about $80,000 for grads from my school. When I asked 3Ls about this they just laughed.

After some painful consideration of my options I did accept reality (thanks to an honest professor and some biglaw alums who leveled with me), and dropped out. It felt like a knife to the gut. My family and friends all thought I was a quitter and could not understand why I left after only one semester. They would not accept what I told them about the job market.

One of my interests besides law has always been tech. I enrolled to get a second bachelor's in Comp Sci at the same school. The staff were surprisingly supportive. To help pay I got a job on campus as a student tech, which led to a full-time position, which also means a full-ride scholarship. The work is tough in a way that those of us with liberal arts backgrounds have never experienced, but requires no more hours than law school.

The job market is like night and day! Check this out:http://resources.dice.com/report/dice-t ... ults-2013/
http://resources.dice.com/report/dice-t ... ults-2013/

Plus: much better work/life balance, mobility, excitement, great colleagues.

I'll stop there but feel free to ask me more if you want. Keep your heads up, you have more options than law school and Wal-Mart. Hope I helped!

[Lacepiece23]

no you didn't.... jkjk congrats man happy you found happiness. Honestly thats awesome that everything worked out. I'm still pursuing law so I have nothing to add, but thats a great story. btw can you tell me how I can get illegal downloads these days. It keeps getting harder and harder.

[cinephile]

Congrats!