2.9 after 1L Fall at t45 Law School. Drop Out? Forum

[Packers394]

Hi all. Long time lurker, driven to post by my grades

2.9 (B, B, B-, B-, B+ in classes with varying credit hours), where the median at my school (Illinois/Indiana/Wisconsin) is near a 3.3.

To be honest these grades aren't too uncharacteristic for me. I was a splitter, high LSAT, low GPA.

Should I drop out now or wait until after this semester to try and get it above a 3? I'm not looking for BIG LAW and would be cool with making 65k in Chicago, D.C., or my hometown. I'm on a significant scholarship (that I'm not in danger of losing) but I'll still be in debt from undergrad and "COL" expenses from law school.

What should I do?

[Dog]

This depends somewhat on your exit options. Do you feel like you put in your best effort or are your grades your own doing?Also, top 45? I'm assuming you go to Illinois.

[Packers394]

This depends somewhat on your exit options. Do you feel like you put in your best effort or are your grades your own doing?Also, top 45? I'm assuming you go to Illinois.

No, there's a lot I would do different. I guess my question is "is it too late?"

My undergrad degree is in English from a t50 liberal arts college, again, low GPA. Not a lot else out there for me. If I drop out, I'd need to consider going to get an M.Ed. or something.

Not giving any more specifics beyond t45 and the three schools I listed.

[foregetaboutdre]

sounds like my first year/semester of undergrad. 2.9 is frustrating....you feel like you did a bad job, but you also were so close from a 3+. Think about your exit options and your debt load. Also, do you really want to be an attorney? It's hard for people online to give you tips when we don't really know your situation too well. Also your network matters - maybe you could find a practicing attorney who had this happen to him/her their first semester and ask their advise.

[Packers394]

sounds like my first year/semester of undergrad. 2.9 is frustrating....you feel like you did a bad job, but you also were so close from a 3+. Think about your exit options and your debt load. Also, do you really want to be an attorney? It's hard for people online to give you tips when we don't really know your situation too well. Also your network matters - maybe you could find a practicing attorney who had this happen to him/her their first semester and ask their advise.

Yeah, the difference between a 2.9 and 3.0 feels a lot worse than just .10 of a full point. I'm confident that I can get back over 3.0 after this semester but not sure if that's enough, and who knows how much higher than 3.0 I can ever get it.

I dunno if I really wanna be an attorney in the way most people imagine the profession. The jobs I want require a J.D. but I'd never be filing motions or dealing with clients, whether they're multi-billion dollar corps or families fallen on hard times. You guessed it -- these are gov't jobs.

Anyway, I'm starting to grow a pretty decent network after just a semester in school.

[jingosaur]

It's likely that $65k in a major market is not going to happen if you maintain your GPA or don't get it back to where employers think you're near median. $40k wherever you can find a job is much more likely.

That being said, this may be your best option because your UG degree doesn't sound super-marketable.. Maybe give it one more semester and see how you do. Also keep in mind that you'll most likely get your FT job during or after 3L so employers will be looking at 6 semesters of grades.

[dudley12]

The two most important questions to me are first, how much debt will you have when you graduate, and second, how sure are you that you want a fed gov't job? I think if you're hoping to work for the gov't, you will need to get your GPA above median. I don't go to UIUC but I'll bet even state gov't jobs want top half of class. At the same time, you should really try not to get depressed or too down about your first semester -- law school exams are bad predictors of how well you actually understand the material and are more so a test of how much you have memorized; yet it's the way it is and you have to learn how to face them. Try to figure out what went wrong with your studying technique. One of the biggest mistakes I made during 1L year was not spending enough time memorizing my outlines. If you can memorize the big issues/themes of the courses and know the boilerplate arguments on both sides of the main legal issues, it makes it so much easier to get an A- on a time-constrained exam.

I know personally what it's like to have median grades at a T50 and it does suck -- you really have to be open minded about job prospects and consider the possibility that you'll end up starting out with a job that pays decent but doesn't even require a JD. If you're OK with that possibility and you will have less than about ~$50-$65k debt at graduation, then I say stick with it, as your earning potential will be higher with the JD. If you will graduate with say $100k in debt, I would say stick it out another semester, try not to get depressed, and try to get at least a 3.45 or so. If you end up with another similar semester and you're facing $100k+, you probably then have to consider dropping out or asking your parents for help w/ tuition.

[MagicMike80]

If you actually tried hard first semester, don't waste two more years of your life. Even if you didn't try as hard as possible, a GPA that sub-median cannot be chalked up to mere lack of effort - you're likely average at your t45 at best.

[Ron Don Volante]

T45? lol