law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L Forum
- cavalier1138
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Ok, as much as I think the OP made a disastrous decision in choosing to attend law school, I'm even more distressed by (a) how few of you have seen "Animal House" and (b) how few of you bothered to read the thread.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
I'm going to agree here. OP should drop out. I didn't even remember it, but sure enough I checked the threads and I apparently spent a lot of time telling OP to not go to law school. Going back to an inside sales job at $50,000/yr. + commission isn't going to be too awful with the $20,000-$30,000 of debt you've accumulated so far. Plus, making $50,000/yr. + commission would probably be a very good outcome for most coming out of Loyola, so by dropping out and going to sales you'll probably end up better off than if you saw the law school thing through.cavalier1138 wrote:I'm actually in the "drop out" camp, but that's because I was apparently in the "don't go at all" camp back when you told everyone that you were going to law school because you couldn't figure out anything better to do.
Shocking. Everyone who warned you about this was right. But I don't know why anyone expects you to start listening to advice now.
Last edited by RedPurpleBlue on Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Thanks man, I appreciate it. I got a B in torts btw so my GPA is 2.7 right now. If I bust my ass and get a little lucky in my spring semester I hope I can pull my GPA up to a 3.0.mcmand wrote:False analogy.rzzza wrote:Did America surrender when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
I don't think you should drop out at this point. Rethink your strategy as we've already discussed. Once you're in your 1L summer gig and have your grades back, you can reevaluate. It's not usually worth dropping out at this stage.
Addendum: do not listen to the folks telling you to drop out. This is not the environment to make that decision. You should wait (as I said above) to see how well you turn things around. Even if you still struggle next term, you should have a good talk with folks at your school, and supportive people in your life, about what your goals are and what are the ways to achieve them. It may mean staying, or going, or taking a semester or two off, but just relying purely on the advice of the two jokers (so far) on this thread on life changing decisions is not advisable.
Good luck and check back in. PM if you need more advice or ideas for how to approach the rest of 1L.
Neither of those are one of the worst law schools in the U.S. What are you talking about man? The worst law schools in the U.S. are the ones ranked in the 200's or unaccredited ones that aren't even ranked.jacketyellow wrote:Same here. We argued with him for days about Loyola and Chicago-Kent, and he still went! Now, he has bad grades at one of the worst law schools in the United States, and we're supposed to tell him to stay at that school? Dude, just drop out. It's no use spending all this money because you have nothing else to do when you likely won't even work as a lawyer after graduation.cavalier1138 wrote:I'm actually in the "drop out" camp, but that's because I was apparently in the "don't go at all" camp back when you told everyone that you were going to law school because you couldn't figure out anything better to do.
Shocking. Everyone who warned you about this was right. But I don't know why anyone expects you to start listening to advice now.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Below a certain rank, all law schools are an indecipherable mass of worthlessness. Both those schools are well below the rank where that starts to be true.
- cavalier1138
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Let's say your dreams come true. What job options will you likely have with a 3.0 at this school?rzzza wrote:Thanks man, I appreciate it. I got a B in torts btw so my GPA is 2.7 right now. If I bust my ass and get a little lucky in my spring semester I hope I can pull my GPA up to a 3.0.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
If OP goes to a strong regional school, a 3.0/3.2 with some strong networking could get OP at a nice regional law firm (or regional biglaw).cavalier1138 wrote:Let's say your dreams come true. What job options will you likely have with a 3.0 at this school?rzzza wrote:Thanks man, I appreciate it. I got a B in torts btw so my GPA is 2.7 right now. If I bust my ass and get a little lucky in my spring semester I hope I can pull my GPA up to a 3.0.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Or it might be below median and OP has an almost 0% chance at getting employed. We need to know the school and the school's median before being able to tell OP anything like you suggest.1styearlateral wrote:If OP goes to a strong regional school, a 3.0/3.2 with some strong networking could get OP at a nice regional law firm (or regional biglaw).cavalier1138 wrote:Let's say your dreams come true. What job options will you likely have with a 3.0 at this school?rzzza wrote:Thanks man, I appreciate it. I got a B in torts btw so my GPA is 2.7 right now. If I bust my ass and get a little lucky in my spring semester I hope I can pull my GPA up to a 3.0.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Sure. But even if a TTT I'd still say it's not 0%. I graduated at median (with a sub-3.0 gpa) and am in great boutique in a major market. It can be done.sparkytrainer wrote:Or it might be below median and OP has an almost 0% chance at getting employed. We need to know the school and the school's median before being able to tell OP anything like you suggest.1styearlateral wrote:If OP goes to a strong regional school, a 3.0/3.2 with some strong networking could get OP at a nice regional law firm (or regional biglaw).cavalier1138 wrote:Let's say your dreams come true. What job options will you likely have with a 3.0 at this school?rzzza wrote:Thanks man, I appreciate it. I got a B in torts btw so my GPA is 2.7 right now. If I bust my ass and get a little lucky in my spring semester I hope I can pull my GPA up to a 3.0.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Just because it CAN be done doesn't mean its likely. I mean someone will eventually win the lottery, but the odds are awful. Here, we can assess more specifically with more data. I congratulate you on your success, but doesn't mean its likely.1styearlateral wrote:Sure. But even if a TTT I'd still say it's not 0%. I graduated at median (with a sub-3.0 gpa) and am in great boutique in a major market. It can be done.sparkytrainer wrote:Or it might be below median and OP has an almost 0% chance at getting employed. We need to know the school and the school's median before being able to tell OP anything like you suggest.1styearlateral wrote:If OP goes to a strong regional school, a 3.0/3.2 with some strong networking could get OP at a nice regional law firm (or regional biglaw).cavalier1138 wrote:Let's say your dreams come true. What job options will you likely have with a 3.0 at this school?rzzza wrote:Thanks man, I appreciate it. I got a B in torts btw so my GPA is 2.7 right now. If I bust my ass and get a little lucky in my spring semester I hope I can pull my GPA up to a 3.0.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
OP is in a difficult spot so far. But dropping out now deprives him of additional data to evaluate if it's worth it, and dropping out of law school has consequences, just like going to law school does.sparkytrainer wrote:Just because it CAN be done doesn't mean its likely. I mean someone will eventually win the lottery, but the odds are awful. Here, we can assess more specifically with more data. I congratulate you on your success, but doesn't mean its likely.
OP can turn this around this semester, and see if he likes his 1L summer. I think the latter is particularly important for his personal risk/benefit analysis as to whether the cost and his odds of finding employment meaningful to him make it worth it. He should have done that before showing up for first semester, but it's too late for that now. Depriving himself of the potential to see if he likes real legal work after he has done a semester seems like a wasted opportunity to me.
You can read the old threads to see where he's at for school. It's one of two options. The links are previously posted.
I don't think there is much point in brow-beating him if his semester already started, as the deadline for tuition refunds is rapidly approaching, if not already past. He may as well give it a go if he can't get his money back.
Good luck OP, as I said earlier. Put your back into it this semester, and use your head, too. I think you can figure this out to get back into the land of B's and maybe B+'s. If not, talk to your support network about next steps.
Last edited by mcmand on Mon Jan 29, 2018 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Wait I never called for OP to drop out, but more information from him could help assess that questionmcmand wrote:OP is in a difficult spot so far. But dropping out now deprives him of additional data to evaluate if it's worth it, and dropping out of law school has consequences, just like going to law school does.sparkytrainer wrote:Just because it CAN be done doesn't mean its likely. I mean someone will eventually win the lottery, but the odds are awful. Here, we can assess more specifically with more data. I congratulate you on your success, but doesn't mean its likely.
OP can turn this around this semester, and see if he likes his 1L summer. I think the latter is particularly important for his personal risk/benefit analysis as to whether the cost and his odds of finding employment meaningful to him make it worth it. He should have done that before showing up for first semester, but it's too late for that now. Depriving himself of the potential to see if he likes real legal work after he has done a semester seems like a wasted opportunity to me.
You can read the old threads to see where he's at for school. It's one of two options. The links are previously posted.
I don't think there is much point in brow-beating him if his semester already started, as the deadline for tuition refunds is rapidly approaching, if not already past. He may as well give it a go if he can't get his money back.
Good luck OP, as I said earlier. Put your back into it this semester, and use your head, too. I think you can figure this out to get back into the land of B's and maybe B+'s. If not, talk to your support network about next steps.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Sorry, lumping you in with everyone else who is on the pile-on/drop out train.sparkytrainer wrote:Wait I never called for OP to drop out, but more information from him could help assess that question
Last edited by mcmand on Mon Jan 29, 2018 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Serious question- after getting bad grades at the quality of school you're at, are you still glad you went to law school just to please your parents (I read through the old threads that were linked above)?
Are you at least finding what you're learning in your classes interesting, so that even if this decision pans out horribly for you financially, you'll at least potentially enjoy your job? Just curious. I kinda want to keep following your story now.
I'll give you one thing- you've taken some really bad outcomes surprisingly well/in stride.
Are you at least finding what you're learning in your classes interesting, so that even if this decision pans out horribly for you financially, you'll at least potentially enjoy your job? Just curious. I kinda want to keep following your story now.
I'll give you one thing- you've taken some really bad outcomes surprisingly well/in stride.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Without knowing your history or what law school you go to, I'll just briefly mention that I was above median but not even top 33% after my first semester at a t20 school, killed every other semester after that, graduated in the top 5%, did a federal clerkship, and landed at one of those elite litigation boutique making roughly biglaw money litigating pretty cool cases (although I kinda want to lateral for other reasons now).
It takes a fuckton of hard work and some luck to pull yourself up when you started off poorly, but it's doable if you want to see it through instead of giving up now.
Again, that's without knowing your history, why you went to law school, how interested you are in it, what other options you have, etc.
It takes a fuckton of hard work and some luck to pull yourself up when you started off poorly, but it's doable if you want to see it through instead of giving up now.
Again, that's without knowing your history, why you went to law school, how interested you are in it, what other options you have, etc.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
A t20 is very different from the schools that OP was considering going to (and presumably is now attending). OP goes to a school ranked in the vicinity of 100 according US News.
T20 can include some great schools in major markets, e.g. GW, UCLA, GULC etc. which certainly lead to different employment outcomes for the median graduates.
T20 can include some great schools in major markets, e.g. GW, UCLA, GULC etc. which certainly lead to different employment outcomes for the median graduates.
- pancakes3
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
i will say, good job on A- in legal writing. if you kill it in 2nd semester legal writing and TA'ing for a legal writing professor, that's a pretty good resume line. you still need your GPA to get screeners but it's a big time signal - probably better than rando LR grunt. def better than rando journal grunt.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Yeah agreed. I think all my classmates who were legal writing TAs ended up landing pretty well. It's definitely a skill employers want.pancakes3 wrote:i will say, good job on A- in legal writing. if you kill it in 2nd semester legal writing and TA'ing for a legal writing professor, that's a pretty good resume line. you still need your GPA to get screeners but it's a big time signal - probably better than rando LR grunt. def better than rando journal grunt.
OP, depending on how your school's journals/law review works, good writing could also get you on to law review or at least another journal just based on writing alone. (My school's LR took a chunk of people based on their write-on sample alone, a chunk based on grades and sample, and a chunk just on grades.) This is more of an outside chance, but it's not impossible. Really give some of your memos your all in terms of editing and refining and consulting with permitted resources/your instructor. Nice thing about legal writing is it usually helps train your brain for better exam writing, too. Won't help with speed but definitely helps with clarity/organization, which a professor grading a stack of essays will appreciate.
Last edited by mcmand on Mon Jan 29, 2018 3:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
My T20 was none of those schools. It's one of those nice schools that happened to be horribly placed in what I might not even consider a secondary market. Neither my clerkship nor the firm I ended up at (and the other firms I interviewed with, for that matter) were in the market in which my school is located.PorscheFanatic wrote:A t20 is very different from the schools that OP was considering going to (and presumably is now attending). OP goes to a school ranked in the vicinity of 100 according US News.
T20 can include some great schools in major markets, e.g. GW, UCLA, GULC etc. which certainly lead to different employment outcomes for the median graduates.
Also, the T100 includes a lot of schools that place well within their geographical region, too, so it matters that I don't know what school OP went to. S Schools like Loyola and Pepperdine, which I think are in the lower half of the T100, place OK (although not great) in the SoCal market, presumably because of their massive alumni network here. I think Georgia State places OK in Atlanta although it's obviously dominated by UGA. SLU places pretty damn good in St. Louis. Drake places well in Iowa (although there's like zero biglaw there obviously). And so on... those are just the ones I have a better idea of. I'd take your word for it if you say that OP's T100 has horrible chances at employment in general, but then again his grades probably wouldn't change that anyway.
All I'm saying is that a bad first semester is horrible, and makes it a giant fucking uphill battle from here on out, but it does not have to determine OP's fate should he choose to continue.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
I work with and know a lot of Loyola and Chicago Kent grads (and John Marshall). You should consider dropping out. You will be lucky to have a job at graduation, will probably get a job doing insurance defense in Chicago making $60k or working as a Cook County Prosecutor making $57,000 after and assuming you passed the bar. I see these grads all the time. They go from shitty Chicago law firm to shitty Chicago law firm. The only ones who get to good firms are the ones who got a shitty firm, but had good grades and were able to lateral after 1-3 years. But otherwise, Loyola and Chicago Kent are garbage in terms of employment. That is not to say you cant become Partner at an insurance defense firm. Because Loyola and Kent graduates are very good lawyers.cavalier1138 wrote:Let's say your dreams come true. What job options will you likely have with a 3.0 at this school?rzzza wrote:Thanks man, I appreciate it. I got a B in torts btw so my GPA is 2.7 right now. If I bust my ass and get a little lucky in my spring semester I hope I can pull my GPA up to a 3.0.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
Update: I graduated from Loyola despite a shitty GPA throughout, passed the bar, and was offered a job at a mid-size firm that pays $65k.
I don't know why people here dump on Loyola/DePaul/Kent/John Marshall grads. I see a ton of senior attorneys and partners who went to those schools. They seem to be doing alright.
I don't know why people here dump on Loyola/DePaul/Kent/John Marshall grads. I see a ton of senior attorneys and partners who went to those schools. They seem to be doing alright.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
As you pointed out in your other thread, you're in much more debt than you can afford to pay off.rzzza wrote: ↑Thu Feb 04, 2021 10:14 pmUpdate: I graduated from Loyola despite a shitty GPA throughout, passed the bar, and was offered a job at a mid-size firm that pays $65k.
I don't know why people here dump on Loyola/DePaul/Kent/John Marshall grads. I see a ton of senior attorneys and partners who went to those schools. They seem to be doing alright.
Congrats on the job, but this is literally the outcome people projected for you when you set out on this venture.
And no one--literally no one--has criticized the graduates of these schools. The criticism is that these schools don't offer their graduates reasonable job opportunities for the debt those graduates will take on (see yourself, for instance). That has nothing to do with the actual quality of the lawyers who graduate from thos institutions. But it's impressive that you've managed to get through three years of law school to emerge still thinking that John Marshall must be a good school because you know some people who succeeded with a John Marshall JD.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
It's not just a few people, I see tons of John Marshall grads in senior attorney and partner positions in the greater chicagoland area. I doubt those people are making only $65,000 a year. I felt a lot of preferential treatment from partners who were Loyola alumni; I think it helped me get interviews and eventually got me this job. There were a ton of people here who acted like being a graduate from a lower ranked regional school is a death sentence. Even amidst the covid economy and even with my shitty GPA I had no problems getting interviews.cavalier1138 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 05, 2021 9:38 amAs you pointed out in your other thread, you're in much more debt than you can afford to pay off.rzzza wrote: ↑Thu Feb 04, 2021 10:14 pmUpdate: I graduated from Loyola despite a shitty GPA throughout, passed the bar, and was offered a job at a mid-size firm that pays $65k.
I don't know why people here dump on Loyola/DePaul/Kent/John Marshall grads. I see a ton of senior attorneys and partners who went to those schools. They seem to be doing alright.
Congrats on the job, but this is literally the outcome people projected for you when you set out on this venture.
And no one--literally no one--has criticized the graduates of these schools. The criticism is that these schools don't offer their graduates reasonable job opportunities for the debt those graduates will take on (see yourself, for instance). That has nothing to do with the actual quality of the lawyers who graduate from thos institutions. But it's impressive that you've managed to get through three years of law school to emerge still thinking that John Marshall must be a good school because you know some people who succeeded with a John Marshall JD.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
What proportion of the total number of John Marshall grads out there do the partners you're talking about actually make up? What's the employment rate like for your classmates? What do their salaries look like and how do they compare to their debt?
And no one has ever claimed that no one succeeds out of John Marshall etc. The question is whether it makes sense to commit a lot of money to getting a degree from one of those schools, depending on what you want to do with your degree, given the odds of a successful outcome, and that you can't know that you'll succeed before you go.
And no one has ever claimed that no one succeeds out of John Marshall etc. The question is whether it makes sense to commit a lot of money to getting a degree from one of those schools, depending on what you want to do with your degree, given the odds of a successful outcome, and that you can't know that you'll succeed before you go.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
You do realize that the environment those people graduated into was much different, right? And that you’re only seeing the relative few who thrived.rzzza wrote: ↑Fri Feb 05, 2021 10:10 pmIt's not just a few people, I see tons of John Marshall grads in senior attorney and partner positions in the greater chicagoland area. I doubt those people are making only $65,000 a year. I felt a lot of preferential treatment from partners who were Loyola alumni; I think it helped me get interviews and eventually got me this job. There were a ton of people here who acted like being a graduate from a lower ranked regional school is a death sentence. Even amidst the covid economy and even with my shitty GPA I had no problems getting interviews.cavalier1138 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 05, 2021 9:38 amAs you pointed out in your other thread, you're in much more debt than you can afford to pay off.rzzza wrote: ↑Thu Feb 04, 2021 10:14 pmUpdate: I graduated from Loyola despite a shitty GPA throughout, passed the bar, and was offered a job at a mid-size firm that pays $65k.
I don't know why people here dump on Loyola/DePaul/Kent/John Marshall grads. I see a ton of senior attorneys and partners who went to those schools. They seem to be doing alright.
Congrats on the job, but this is literally the outcome people projected for you when you set out on this venture.
And no one--literally no one--has criticized the graduates of these schools. The criticism is that these schools don't offer their graduates reasonable job opportunities for the debt those graduates will take on (see yourself, for instance). That has nothing to do with the actual quality of the lawyers who graduate from thos institutions. But it's impressive that you've managed to get through three years of law school to emerge still thinking that John Marshall must be a good school because you know some people who succeeded with a John Marshall JD.
I mean, good for you on the job if it’s one you like and your debt load makes that salary livable. Still not necessarily a wise move for a OL starting out.
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Re: law school is already annoying the hell out of me and I'm only halfway through 1L
I appreciate the stick-to-itiveness. Good on you for seeing it through and being comfortable with the decisions you made. What does your debt service look like and knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently? If anything?rzzza wrote: ↑Thu Feb 04, 2021 10:14 pmUpdate: I graduated from Loyola despite a shitty GPA throughout, passed the bar, and was offered a job at a mid-size firm that pays $65k.
I don't know why people here dump on Loyola/DePaul/Kent/John Marshall grads. I see a ton of senior attorneys and partners who went to those schools. They seem to be doing alright.
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