Decided to quit LS.

[okayplayer]

Do you not have a scholarship at your T4 with a 160 average LSAT?  Why are you having to take out loans?

They are the only evening division in town, i.e. they don't have to give away scholarships.  I did get an, albeit small, scholarship to the other local daytime 3rd tier law school, but have to keep my day job.

Meh.  Believe it or don't.  I'm not looking for sympathy.  I guess I was looking for some compelling reason not to quit, but haven't heard one yet.

Let me give it a shot, if you think one semester is a death sentence then there really isn't anything that anyone can tell you.  I'm not here to give you a "life ain't always rosey speech."  I am going to ask you to ask yourself if there was anything else you could have done.  My LWRA class was one grade-one paper, I laid it all on the line and was willing to take the grade given, because (to pull from the sports world) I left it all out on the field.  I also wasn't ready to give up because of a crappy grade.  If going to law school was a purely financial decision for you then maybe giving up IS the right thing to do.  You obviously hedged your bets by going to the local night school, is this something that you REALLY want?  I'm not saying going to a local night is a bad idea (I'm going to night school), but it doesn't sound like your heart was in it to begin with.  That being said, it was one semester, maybe you did get boned over by civ pro, it happens.  I don't know a whole heck of a lot about legal job searching, but I do know about networking, which is practically universal.  There are more important things than grades (any recruiter will tell you that).  My school recently had a round table discussion about networking with successful graduates as panelists, one guy graduated in the bottom 3%.  Plus, you don't think your school would get an awful rep if only 10% of graduates ended up as successful lawyers, others have done it, why not you?

[UChi2L]

If I can reach even one person, my work is worth it.

But what about your fan?  You're up to 2!

[Budlaw]

The only thing I've got to say is that just because 45K is the median salary at your school doesn't mean that the person that is the median class rank at your school makes 45K. Nor does it mean that the number 1 person at your school makes the highest amount out of school, nor does it mean that the person that graduates in the bottom of his class makes the lowest amount. 1 so-so semseter doesn't doom you to below median salary.

Also, that 45k probably has a lot of prosecutor/public defender and public interest jobs bringing down the median. I'll bet the median for private salary jobs at your school is 55 to 60k. This would put you at or above the range from your present job in 3.5 years. Further, private salaries at lawfirms are only going to be higher 3.5 years from now. So take it for what you will.

But hey if you're just not feeling it, then don't do lawschool anymore. It is your life in the end, and you've got to live it.

[brewha]

If I can reach even one person, my work is worth it.

But what about your fan?  You're up to 2!

Sweet! I'm building a following.

[eli250]

I hope this is a flame.  35th percentile means you are better than 2/3 of your classmates...and its only been one semester.

If this is for real, you should stick with it.

35th percentile means that he did as well or better than 35% of the other students.  It is the opposit of saying top 35%.   

[GwenK]

You're looking for someone here to give you a "compelling reason to stay?" Right there should be your clue to get out. I mean, really, if you need people to convince you that you should stay in ls then you really don't want to be there in the first place. I gave 16-year career and a six-figure job to go to LS school and I don't regret it one bit! We live off one salary (my husband's) making less than half of what I did. Is it easy, no. Is it worth it, hell yeah!

Sorry, but either you want it or you don't. You shouldn't be looking on some discussion board for validation or compelling reason(s) to stay in ls.

[slacker]

Meh.  Believe it or don't.  I'm not looking for sympathy.  I guess I was looking for some compelling reason not to quit, but haven't heard one yet.

If you have to be talked into/out of attending law school by strangers on a message board...umm... buy bye!

Either you stay or you don't stay. It's your life, you make the choice. It's really that easy.

[proletariat]

The final nails are being driven into the coffin of my law school career.  I emailed all my professors to double-confirm that my grades were accurate (no need to base a major life decision on bad data), and to thank them for their instruction.  Unless the school administration comes back with a carrot like discounted tuition, I'll likely be off the books as of COB today.  A discount is highly unlikely, but running the LS costs the same whether I'm there or not, so some tuition from me is better than nothing.

The decision came down to the fact that I account for 3/4 of our household income.  We can't (or aren't willing to) afford dropping back to the likely salary of a top 35% - 40% graduate combined with substantial loan payments.

I would stay if my current career's salary outlook wasn't as good or if the school's reputation was better.  The stars just aren't aligning on this one.

The best argument for staying in that showed up in this thread is the fact that my salary will grow substantially from whatever the starting salary is.  This is probably true, but not quite certain enough to make the risk worth it.

Another good argument was that certain firms look for engineering grads, any engineering grads.  This is an encouraging anecdote, but at the end of the day I can't hang my hat on it.

Thanks for all your collective input.

[jacy85]

Bottom line here:  If your only reason for going to law school was the money, then please do everyone a favor and leave now.  The law has a bad enough reputation as it is, partly because so many people see it as nothing more than a cash cow.

I'd suggest you find something to do that you're passionate about, but it might not pay enough.  So I'll refrain, and simply say, "good luck."

[lipper]

you should make your decision based on a full year - not one semester.  Also, to think that the salary to a person who is barely in the Top 20% would be that much more than a Top 35% grad is asinine.  When you are that close to the top, it comes down to how well you interview. I know, you are thinking, well all the job ads say "top 20%" - to follow that is stupid.  Firms just put those "guidelines" in so they don't get tons of resumes.  If you are close to that benchmark of "top 20%" - and at top 35%, i think you qualify as close - you can still apply for, and possibly get, interviews with lots of those "top 20%" firms.

just my 2 cents - but by the time you read this, you probably will have already withdrawn. and also, to base such a life altering decision on advice from anonymous posters on a message board would be ridiculous - and so i would hope, what anyone said above, didn't change your mind on what you want to do.