Top Law Schools

Haven't even started classes yet and have come to the realization that his whole law school thing completely blows. I'll be spending countless hours reading/doing other bullshit and spending a ton of my parents money all the while having no guarantee of even getting a job, let a lone a decent job. Should I drop? I'm going to SMU, no debt

eagle2a wrote:Haven't even started classes yet and have come to the realization that his whole law school thing completely blows. I'll be spending countless hours reading/doing other bullshit and spending a ton of my parents money all the while having no guarantee of even getting a job, let a lone a decent job. Should I drop? I'm going to SMU, no debt

Yes. Ask your parents to fund a down payment on a home instead or something.

If your main complaint is about doing bullshit, welcome to life. OTOH, unless SMU happens to be a strong regional, you have connections that can land you a job, or you have a technical background and don't mind doing patent prosecution, going to SMU is bad bet.

Ya if you can recoup your first semester tuition, fuck it and bail my friend

Freebot wrote:If your main complaint is about doing bullshit, welcome to life. OTOH, unless SMU happens to be a strong regional, you have connections that can land you a job, or you have a technical background and don't mind doing patent prosecution, going to SMU is bad bet.

FWIW, SMU is a strong regional, so long as you consider that region to be DFW.

If you haven't even started classes and you want out, don't waste your time and your (or your parent's) money.

Fuck, I should have just dropped. This shit completely blows. What are my job prospects like if i'm below median? Can I at least get some shit law position or am i completely fucked

eagle2a wrote:Fuck, I should have just dropped. This shit completely blows. What are my job prospects like if i'm below median? Can I at least get some shit law position or am i completely fucked

You could probably get some job, but why prepare for a failure you can stop from happening?

eagle2a wrote:Fuck, I should have just dropped. This shit completely blows. What are my job prospects like if i'm below median? Can I at least get some shit law position or am i completely fucked

Why do you want that, there are lots of jobs outside of law. Like, the vast majority of jobs.

Finish the term out and decide then if you want to drop.

In terms of studying, what are you guys's thought on reading case summaries instead of the casebook? Also, I'm certainly not aiming for shit law but I always think in terms of the worst case scenario, which can get pretty depressing at times

Just drop out now and cut your losses. Do it tomorrow. Its an expensive mistake. But you'll be done with it.

flawschoolkid wrote:Just drop out now and cut your losses. Do it tomorrow. Its an expensive mistake. But you'll be done with it.

I mean I'd at least recommend getting grades and seeing from there, but reading OP's posts makes me die a little inside. OP - if you hate your life and can't stand it, you won't regret dropping out but you're going to regret staying in.

eagle2a wrote:In terms of studying, what are you guys's thought on reading case summaries instead of the casebook? Also, I'm certainly not aiming for shit law but I always think in terms of the worst case scenario, which can get pretty depressing at times

If you're a cynic and care about the outcome then you're better off thinking about your life today, not life in ten years from now. Focus on getting better at applying the laws you're learning in class to facts, not on what will happen 5 years from now if you do poorly on exams. Reading summaries is fine, and use the saved time to do practice questions rather than sit and worry. If you get comfortable applying law to fact then you'll be ahead of most people.

you sound pathetic, quitting law school isn't going to magically make your life better. fix your character

fieryking wrote:you sound pathetic, quitting law school isn't going to magically make your life better. fix your character

That's constructive.

If you are still reading all of the cases, then your feelings are understandable. Case summaries can work if you take notes in class & use supplements.

OP's post history suggests that his heart really isn't in this whole law school thing. Which is obviously fine, but he probably should drop out now.

What I might do is drop out, retake the LSAT a few years from now, and maybe come back if you feel like you'd want to give it another shot. In the meantime, work out a deal with your parents where you get to keep the money they would have otherwise spent on SMU but for your new fancy future scholarship/dropping out.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:

fieryking wrote:you sound pathetic, quitting law school isn't going to magically make your life better. fix your character

That's constructive.

I think "isn't going to magically make your life better" is a fair point in a lot of circumstances. I think people may be quick to pull the "drop out" trigger here at the slightest sign that a person doesn't love law school*. Since you've already paid for the semester, you should definitely at least see how you do before. If grades are good, should give it the full year and see if you like whatever you do over the summer.

*unless that person has a clear plan for immediately entering into another industry. This is more if that plan is just "chill at parents house and maybe get a job at Starbucks." And let's be real here - his parents aren't just going to give a pool of money that would have gone towards Education in the form of Liquid cash or buy him a house. I don't think people really behave this way.

Yeah, "isn't magically going to make your life better" is a fair point. It was more the calling someone pathetic part I objected to.

If the "no debt" is because of a full scholarship plus QoL stipend/work study, then dropping out won't necessarily (or 'magically') improve OP's life, it will actually challenge them to find an alternative in an immediate sense. If it's because his or her parents are paying for tuition and cost of living, then leaving law school could very well improve OP's stature in a material sense (whether they are just a generically unhappy person is another matter, but I don't think you can truly gather that from a few tls posts). You have to consider the underlying structure. OP can live with generous parental support and pursue other career opportunities at their leisure without the daily and existential drain that is attending a law school you loathe. With these life advantages, what makes one miserable is pursuing activities and an education one doesn't value.

jbagelboy wrote:If the "no debt" is because of a full scholarship plus QoL stipend/work study, then dropping out won't necessarily (or 'magically') improve OP's life, it will actually challenge them to find an alternative in an immediate sense. If it's because his or her parents are paying for tuition and cost of living, then leaving law school could very well improve OP's stature in a material sense (whether they are just a generically unhappy person is another matter, but I don't think you can truly gather that from a few tls posts). You have to consider the underlying structure. OP can live with generous parental support and pursue other career opportunities at their leisure without the daily and existential drain that is attending a law school you loathe. With these life advantages, what makes one miserable is pursuing activities and an education one doesn't value.

I think you're making a false assumption that because the parents have the means to pay $210K or whatever (less whatever scholarship OP may have) that means they will allow OP to live in a perpetual state of "generous parental support." Like I guess it's possible, but I don't think it's uncommon for UMC families to behave in a way where they'll be generous with educational expenses but not just serve as an amorphous gravy train. In terms of like his parents not kicking him out such that he won't be homeless that's one thing.

If OP will be genuinely miserable as a lawyer then it's probably not worth pursuing even if a free JD will be a lot better off then whatever OP's current credentials are. But they should probably use a Summer to determine that. All we really know now is that OP seems to strongly dislike reading cases and other bullshit and is stressed about the possibility of not getting a job at the end of it... but are they in a better position to get meaningful employment with their Bachelor's Degree?

star fox wrote: If OP will be genuinely miserable as a lawyer then it's probably not worth pursuing even if a free JD will be a lot better off then whatever OP's current credentials are. But they should probably use a Summer to determine that. All we really know now is that OP seems to strongly dislike reading cases and other bullshit and is stressed about the possibility of not getting a job at the end of it... but are they in a better position to get meaningful employment with their Bachelor's Degree?

That is really good advice. I think the "drop out" reflex of TLS doesn't serve OP very well. It's no secret that 1L generally sucks. Just because OP vocalizes it doesn't mean that law is a bad fit for OP.

star fox wrote:

jbagelboy wrote:If the "no debt" is because of a full scholarship plus QoL stipend/work study, then dropping out won't necessarily (or 'magically') improve OP's life, it will actually challenge them to find an alternative in an immediate sense. If it's because his or her parents are paying for tuition and cost of living, then leaving law school could very well improve OP's stature in a material sense (whether they are just a generically unhappy person is another matter, but I don't think you can truly gather that from a few tls posts). You have to consider the underlying structure. OP can live with generous parental support and pursue other career opportunities at their leisure without the daily and existential drain that is attending a law school you loathe. With these life advantages, what makes one miserable is pursuing activities and an education one doesn't value.

I think you're making a false assumption that because the parents have the means to pay $210K or whatever (less whatever scholarship OP may have) that means they will allow OP to live in a perpetual state of "generous parental support." Like I guess it's possible, but I don't think it's uncommon for UMC families to behave in a way where they'll be generous with educational expenses but not just serve as an amorphous gravy train. In terms of like his parents not kicking him out such that he won't be homeless that's one thing.

If OP will be genuinely miserable as a lawyer then it's probably not worth pursuing even if a free JD will be a lot better off then whatever OP's current credentials are. But they should probably use a Summer to determine that. All we really know now is that OP seems to strongly dislike reading cases and other bullshit and is stressed about the possibility of not getting a job at the end of it... but are they in a better position to get meaningful employment with their Bachelor's Degree?

All fair points.

When push comes to shove, most wealthy families don't cope with professional disappointment with strict economic estrangement. But that's a personal call.