Retracting The Idea Of Law School With My Job Forum

[retupmoc12]

I informed my company that I would be leaving for law school in September. Not a new job, just school. Since then, all of my co-workers and supervisors have found out, all of whom are supportive. After doing some deep soul searching, however, I am not going to pursue law school. Instead, I plan on staying at my job and moving up. I haven’t told anybody yet that I plan on staying, and I am nervous. I have a couple questions for those who have been in the same boat, and for those who can provide their honest feedback:

1. Is this going to be a humiliating if I stay?
2. Am I still going to get opportunities for advancement, or will my supervisors always pass over on me because I almost left?
3. Am I just better off going to law school now because I told them I am leaving? Or, should I just realize that time will heal the embarrassment?

[thebrownnote]

I had a moment like this, so I thought I'd offer my two cents.

1. It might be humiliating if you stay, but you should be able to clearly articulate in two sentences why you are staying. It can be as simple as "after going through the application process, when I sat down and thought about it, any law school worth going to was going to leave me 250k in debt, and I didn't want to enter my 30's with that hanging over my head." I think anyone who can't respect that isn't a good person.

2. I think this depends largely on how you handle the situation. If you go into your supervisor's office hat-in-hand and sincerely explain the situation, with a well-reasoned, well-presented discussion of why you want to stay, they might even come out of it respecting you for your honesty and maturity. Of course, this will be a lot easier for you if they haven't already found/hired your replacement. If they have, I think you're basically shit out of luck and should possibly offer to resign.

3. No, I don't think you should just nut-up and go to law school, since it sounds like you don't want to go to law school. Unless you actually have a unicorn job where you're doing one of a kind work, there are other companies etc. out there that you can find. Don't spend 250k to go to school just because one company in one city wasn't okay with your change of heart.

Good luck!

[retupmoc12]

bump

[mvp99]

I informed my company that I would be leaving for law school in September. Not a new job, just school. Since then, all of my co-workers and supervisors have found out, all of whom are supportive. After doing some deep soul searching, however, I am not going to pursue law school. Instead, I plan on staying at my job and moving up. I haven’t told anybody yet that I plan on staying, and I am nervous. I have a couple questions for those who have been in the same boat, and for those who can provide their honest feedback:

1. Is this going to be a humiliating if I stay?
2. Am I still going to get opportunities for advancement, or will my supervisors always pass over on me because I almost left?
3. Am I just better off going to law school now because I told them I am leaving? Or, should I just realize that time will heal the embarrassment?

to move up you probably have to change jobs every 2-4 years so I wouldn't think about this too much

[PJam1989]

1. Depending on what school you were supposed to go to, it can actually make you seem more devoted to your job. For example, if you were accepted to an Ivy League law school...only to turn it down...your supervisors may say, "wow, his / her heart is in the company." If you were accepted to Cooley, though, you may get another response. You may very well be the "water-cooler conversation" for like 2 weeks...but then someone else will do something and you'll be fine.

2. I don't know

3. Don't just go. At the same time, understand that you took the LSAT and applied to law school, and accepted the offer for a reason. You obviously put a great deal of thought into the decision. Perhaps you are going through "buyer's remorse." In other words, our jobs and co-workers always seem to be rosier when we have 1 foot out of the door. Make sure you really think about this. Once you decide to stay, and you have both feet back in the house, you may look around and realize why you wanted to leave. Good luck

[1styearlateral]

Seems stupid to waste 3 years of your life and $200k just to not look stupid. If you really don't want to go to law school, and especially if your job does not require bar admission, the joke would be on you if you ended up going anyway just to avoid a little embarrassment. Even still, I don't see how this could be embarrassing; although they encouraged you to go, that doesn't necessarily mean that they care if you do or do not or that they will form any opinion otherwise.

[Alive97]

I changed my mind about law school in a similar way in the past and the only people I caught some doubt from was my family. Personally I wouldn't worry about it being embarassing. You're choosing what you want to do and it's your life; nothing else matters really. A lot of the people who I told I changed my mind praised the decision.

[rdawkins28]

If you did your job well and are liked by your coworkers, coming back is no problem. I've left companies for greener pastures, but have always been welcome back.

The only time that was a problem was when I had left for about 5 years and wanted to come back. The VP and the rest of the workers were fine with it. But the manager who eventually replaced me wasn't too happy. So that didn't work out.

So as long as it doesn't affect anyone greatly - someone moved up into your position, hiring has been made, et cetera, you should be fine.