To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question.... Forum

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Aeroshockwave

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To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by Aeroshockwave » Sat Jan 30, 2010 5:43 pm

Long time lurker, first time poster. Although I suspect the responses will be overly pessimistic, I know no one else in law school and would like y'all's perspective.

Just to start off I will give you all the relevant stats.

1st semester grades: B-, C+, C+, C-.

Debt: 20 g's in undergrad (was very lucky that I had a full ride at USC), 30 grand or so in 1L debt.

School: mid tier school with a B- curve, which may or may not be changed by the faculty to a B/B+ curve at the end of the year.

Scholarship: currently on 2/3 scholly with a required 3.0 gpa, so outlook of keeping that = not good.

So, all that being said, I hate law school. I have hated nearly every second of it since I walked in the door. Don't like the people, the material, the work, classes, etc. I seriously do not see that changing.

My rationale for going to law school in the first place? Well, let's see. I am the first in my family to even go to college and my folks were disappointed that after undergrad I did not pursue a professional degree. Spent about a year running political campaigns before quitting that and began working in restaurants to pay the bills. Through that I discovered an intense passion for the restaurant and bar business and have always had a knack for cooking. Every single day I go to sleep I miss working in a restaurant. Every day I get up I loathe going to law school and watch the clock tick down until the day is over. But about two years ago, I decided it was "time to get a professional degree" (whatever the hell that means). I basically explained to people that a law degree is very versatile and there were lots of things I could get into once attaining a JD because I have never had an interest in being a trial lawyer or anything of that sort. When people ask me what I like about the law I draw a complete and total blank.

So, here I am considering dropping out and getting a low level serving job at a restaurant, working my way up to management, possibly going into a culinary program or perhaps even an MBA at some point in the future. The only thing really holding me back is the intense shame that will be brought down upon me and the nagging sense that perhaps I will begin to like everything and that being a lawyer will be radically different than what I am doing now and that I will enjoy it.


thoughts???

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by leron » Sat Jan 30, 2010 5:47 pm

Aeroshockwave wrote:So, all that being said, I hate law school. I have hated nearly every second of it since I walked in the door. Don't like the people, the material, the work, classes, etc. I seriously do not see that changing.
i think you know exactly what you need to do.

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prezidentv8

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by prezidentv8 » Sat Jan 30, 2010 5:53 pm

Hey if you don't like what you're doing, don't do it. Might take a little courage to quit, but if you think you'll be happier in the long run, then go for it!

ScaredWorkedBored

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by ScaredWorkedBored » Sat Jan 30, 2010 5:53 pm

You don't want to be there and your consistent grades indicate either lack of interest or aptitude.

Leave.

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extempore88

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by extempore88 » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:02 pm

.
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thalassocrat

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by thalassocrat » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:04 pm

ScaredWorkedBored wrote:You don't want to be there and your consistent grades indicate either lack of interest or aptitude.

Leave.
TITCR. To counteract the potential shame go become a multimillionaire restaurateur and be happy with yourself.

Bankhead

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by Bankhead » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:06 pm

Get out now. Best of luck.

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thesealocust

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by thesealocust » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:07 pm

edit: never mind
Last edited by thesealocust on Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Aeroshockwave

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by Aeroshockwave » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:10 pm

thalassocrat wrote:
ScaredWorkedBored wrote:You don't want to be there and your consistent grades indicate either lack of interest or aptitude.

Leave.
TITCR. To counteract the potential shame go become a multimillionaire restaurateur and be happy with yourself.

Well, the problem is that might take awhile. My dad works in a garage and from what he tells me he never told his coworkers that I quit politics and started working as a server. So, for like two and a half yrs he was lying about what I was up to.

What I can't get them to understand (as well as many friends of mine) is how good I was and how much I loved it. Had I stuck with it I would have been promoted off the floor for sure and could see myself going to the top of the management field. What I used to do and my feelings about it are like night and day compared to how I am in law school and how I feel about it.

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Notor

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by Notor » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:13 pm

Aeroshockwave wrote:
thalassocrat wrote:
ScaredWorkedBored wrote:You don't want to be there and your consistent grades indicate either lack of interest or aptitude.

Leave.
TITCR. To counteract the potential shame go become a multimillionaire restaurateur and be happy with yourself.

Well, the problem is that might take awhile. My dad works in a garage and from what he tells me he never told his coworkers that I quit politics and started working as a server. So, for like two and a half yrs he was lying about what I was up to.

What I can't get them to understand (as well as many friends of mine) is how good I was and how much I loved it. Had I stuck with it I would have been promoted off the floor for sure and could see myself going to the top of the management field. What I used to do and my feelings about it are like night and day compared to how I am in law school and how I feel about it.
Stop being a wuss and stand up for yourself. If you hate law school don't do it... stop trying to please mommy and daddy, it's not like they are paying for anything anyway if you are that much in debt. Live your own life and do what you want to do, stop living for them.

Aeroshockwave

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by Aeroshockwave » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:15 pm

Notor wrote:
Aeroshockwave wrote:
thalassocrat wrote:
ScaredWorkedBored wrote:You don't want to be there and your consistent grades indicate either lack of interest or aptitude.

Leave.
TITCR. To counteract the potential shame go become a multimillionaire restaurateur and be happy with yourself.

Well, the problem is that might take awhile. My dad works in a garage and from what he tells me he never told his coworkers that I quit politics and started working as a server. So, for like two and a half yrs he was lying about what I was up to.

What I can't get them to understand (as well as many friends of mine) is how good I was and how much I loved it. Had I stuck with it I would have been promoted off the floor for sure and could see myself going to the top of the management field. What I used to do and my feelings about it are like night and day compared to how I am in law school and how I feel about it.
Stop being a wuss and stand up for yourself. If you hate law school don't do it... stop trying to please mommy and daddy, it's not like they are paying for anything anyway if you are that much in debt. Live your own life and do what you want to do, stop living for them.

Yeah, I know you're right about that. After I moved away to go to school at 18, I never once asked nor received money from them. In fact, they stole and borrowed a couple thousand from me at one time. And when I was stretched thin last semester I asked them for money and got an inordinate amount of shit over it.

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BeastCoastHype

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by BeastCoastHype » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:17 pm

I have a two step plan for you:

1) Quit law school. Stop torturing yourself.

2) Go back to work in the restaurant industry and be happy. Apply to an MBA program down the road if you need to and the timing is right.

Best of luck!

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Aberzombie1892

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by Aberzombie1892 » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:19 pm

Aeroshockwave wrote:Long time lurker, first time poster. Although I suspect the responses will be overly pessimistic, I know no one else in law school and would like y'all's perspective.

Just to start off I will give you all the relevant stats.

1st semester grades: B-, C+, C+, C-.

Debt: 20 g's in undergrad (was very lucky that I had a full ride at USC), 30 grand or so in 1L debt.

School: mid tier school with a B- curve, which may or may not be changed by the faculty to a B/B+ curve at the end of the year.

Scholarship: currently on 2/3 scholly with a required 3.0 gpa, so outlook of keeping that = not good.

So, all that being said, I hate law school. I have hated nearly every second of it since I walked in the door. Don't like the people, the material, the work, classes, etc. I seriously do not see that changing.

My rationale for going to law school in the first place? Well, let's see. I am the first in my family to even go to college and my folks were disappointed that after undergrad I did not pursue a professional degree. Spent about a year running political campaigns before quitting that and began working in restaurants to pay the bills. Through that I discovered an intense passion for the restaurant and bar business and have always had a knack for cooking. Every single day I go to sleep I miss working in a restaurant. Every day I get up I loathe going to law school and watch the clock tick down until the day is over. But about two years ago, I decided it was "time to get a professional degree" (whatever the hell that means). I basically explained to people that a law degree is very versatile and there were lots of things I could get into once attaining a JD because I have never had an interest in being a trial lawyer or anything of that sort. When people ask me what I like about the law I draw a complete and total blank.

So, here I am considering dropping out and getting a low level serving job at a restaurant, working my way up to management, possibly going into a culinary program or perhaps even an MBA at some point in the future. The only thing really holding me back is the intense shame that will be brought down upon me and the nagging sense that perhaps I will begin to like everything and that being a lawyer will be radically different than what I am doing now and that I will enjoy it.


thoughts???
OP I think I know what school you go to. Nevertheless, there are other things to do with you law degree. For example, I'm spending my 1L summer working as legal counsel at a University. I can honestly say law firm life looks like hell to me. That being said, there truly are a wide range of other opportunities available in and out of law that a law degree would help you progress in. Think of a law degree as a pumped up version of an MBA (they aren't truly interchangeable in the business field, but close in some ways). I think that you may regret leaving. That being said, $41,000 in tuition may be hard to swallow without $$$ (and not being HYS).

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thesealocust

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by thesealocust » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:21 pm

edit: never mind
Last edited by thesealocust on Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Aeroshockwave

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by Aeroshockwave » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:22 pm

thesealocust wrote:
Aberzombie1892 wrote:Nevertheless, there are other things to do with you law degree. [...] There truly are a wide range of other opportunities available in and out of law that a law degree would help you progress in. Think of a law degree as a pumped up version of an MBA (they aren't truly interchangeable in the business field, but close in some ways).
BULLSHIT AND LIES. This is the furthest thing from the truth I have ever heard. This may be the least true thing ever written on the internet.

On a scale from 1 to true, this is like a 1.2.

LIES LIES LIES LIES.

While my BS meter senses you are right, elaborate por favor.

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vanwinkle

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by vanwinkle » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:23 pm

thesealocust wrote:
Aberzombie1892 wrote:Nevertheless, there are other things to do with you law degree. For example, I'm spending my 1L summer working as legal counsel at a University. I can honestly say law firm life looks like hell to me. That being said, there truly are a wide range of other opportunities available in and out of law that a law degree would help you progress in. Think of a law degree as a pumped up version of an MBA (they aren't truly interchangeable in the business field, but close in some ways).
BULLSHIT AND LIES. This is the furthest thing from the truth I have ever heard. This may be the least true thing ever written on the internet.

On a scale from 1 to true, this is like a 1.2.

LIES LIES LIES LIES.
+1, a JD can actually sandbag you. I've heard of people not getting non-law jobs because of their JDs and the employer suspecting they'll only stick around until they can find a law job and then bolt. Sticking around for a JD when you don't want to practice law is one of the dumbest things you can possibly do.

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NayBoer

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by NayBoer » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:26 pm

What about like culinary school or something? Easier to sell that to your parents as a worthwhile way to spend your time.

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thalassocrat

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by thalassocrat » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:27 pm

Aeroshockwave wrote:
thalassocrat wrote:
ScaredWorkedBored wrote:You don't want to be there and your consistent grades indicate either lack of interest or aptitude.

Leave.
TITCR. To counteract the potential shame go become a multimillionaire restaurateur and be happy with yourself.

Well, the problem is that might take awhile. My dad works in a garage and from what he tells me he never told his coworkers that I quit politics and started working as a server. So, for like two and a half yrs he was lying about what I was up to.

What I can't get them to understand (as well as many friends of mine) is how good I was and how much I loved it. Had I stuck with it I would have been promoted off the floor for sure and could see myself going to the top of the management field. What I used to do and my feelings about it are like night and day compared to how I am in law school and how I feel about it.
Yea, the multimillionaire part will take a while, but from what you've said being happy with yourself wouldn't. Seriously, and I recognize that it's a hell of a lot easier for me to say this as an anonymous person on the internet than it probably is for you to do it, quit. Go back to the restaurant business. And if your parents give you shit for it, tell them if they want you to go to law school so damn much they can pay for it. Alternatively or additionally, start forwarding them articles on how bad the legal market is with comments like "even with the JD I'd end up waiting tables anyway."

Edit: That came out harsher than I meant it to. Also, NayBoer might be on to something with switching directly to culinary school. I'd be worried about the cost, but I'm not sure how much they charge in tuition.
Last edited by thalassocrat on Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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thesealocust

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by thesealocust » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:29 pm

edit: never mind
Last edited by thesealocust on Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Aberzombie1892

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by Aberzombie1892 » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:30 pm

vanwinkle wrote:
thesealocust wrote:
Aberzombie1892 wrote:Nevertheless, there are other things to do with you law degree. For example, I'm spending my 1L summer working as legal counsel at a University. I can honestly say law firm life looks like hell to me. That being said, there truly are a wide range of other opportunities available in and out of law that a law degree would help you progress in. Think of a law degree as a pumped up version of an MBA (they aren't truly interchangeable in the business field, but close in some ways).
BULLSHIT AND LIES. This is the furthest thing from the truth I have ever heard. This may be the least true thing ever written on the internet.

On a scale from 1 to true, this is like a 1.2.

LIES LIES LIES LIES.
+1, a JD can actually sandbag you. I've heard of people not getting non-law jobs because of their JDs and the employer suspecting they'll only stick around until they can find a law job and then bolt. Sticking around for a JD when you don't want to practice law is one of the dumbest things you can possibly do.
Haha I see the other posters disagree strongly. I don't know. I had a marketing degree for undergrad so maybe that is what is causing me to have a different experience than others.

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by Aeroshockwave » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:30 pm

NayBoer wrote:What about like culinary school or something? Easier to sell that to your parents as a worthwhile way to spend your time.

See, that's what I would go for eventually. There are several great (and incredibly cheap) culinary programs in my city. I would take a year off to just work and get things in order and start that full steam. I'm already an excellent cook and have a true passion for it. Whereas right now I feel like the walking dead.

BUT the nagging suspicion remains that perhaps every 1L is thinking the same thoughts, and I'm just being a whiner.

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Aeroshockwave

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by Aeroshockwave » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:34 pm

Also, what do you all think of this nugget of advice:

Upon telling my best friend (who is not in law school but is applying this year) that I wanted to drop out, he said,

"you know what they give the guy who is last in his class right........?



a JD"

I love my friend, but I feel like perhaps he just does not get it.

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by shuchong » Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:40 pm

Aeroshockwave wrote:See, that's what I would go for eventually. There are several great (and incredibly cheap) culinary programs in my city. I would take a year off to just work and get things in order and start that full steam. I'm already an excellent cook and have a true passion for it. Whereas right now I feel like the walking dead.

BUT the nagging suspicion remains that perhaps every 1L is thinking the same thoughts, and I'm just being a whiner.
Not every 1L is thinking the same thing. I guarantee it. Even the ones who hate law school probably don't have what you have... a clear idea of what you want to do and what it would take to get there.

Another good thing about culinary school is that attending might keep your federal students loans deferred. I'm no expert on the loan regs, but I think that, so long as you take more than 50% of the credits you'd need to be full-time, you don't have to make payments. (Interest will still accrue though, on your non-subsidized loans).

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prezidentv8

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by prezidentv8 » Sat Jan 30, 2010 7:23 pm

shuchong wrote:
Aeroshockwave wrote:See, that's what I would go for eventually. There are several great (and incredibly cheap) culinary programs in my city. I would take a year off to just work and get things in order and start that full steam. I'm already an excellent cook and have a true passion for it. Whereas right now I feel like the walking dead.

BUT the nagging suspicion remains that perhaps every 1L is thinking the same thoughts, and I'm just being a whiner.
Not every 1L is thinking the same thing...
Yeah, I don't think it's horrible for "every 1L" either. I dig law school.

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Re: To Drop Out or to Stick with it. That is the question....

Post by eth3n » Sat Jan 30, 2010 7:42 pm

If I could cook, I would do the restaurant thing myself. TBH I didn't know anyone with real-world talent actually went to law school. @_@a

Seriously though, before you go, make (fake?) some friends, while a JD might not get you anywhere, its always nice to have someone who will give you a discount on legal services.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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