2.0 - Should I drop out?

[Stole Your Nose!]

Yeah, it's tough to advise OP to stay in law school solely for a potential resume bump with non-legal jobs...

[Ninja1]

Yeah, it's tough to advise OP to stay in law school solely for a potential resume bump with non-legal jobs...

Agreed, but I think it is a fair point to consider.

[RonSantoRules]

Yeah, it's tough to advise OP to stay in law school solely for a potential resume bump with non-legal jobs...

Agreed, but I think it is a fair point to consider.

Bad advice. You will only be overqualified for jobs that you could have got anyways without a J.D. and will have to convince employers that they should hire you IN SPITE of you having a J.D. If you don't believe me, check out the authors of the blog Barely Legal. There are some posts on there about one of the authors who pursued a non-legal career and met a lot of resistance because of his J.D.

Here is a great post from the author about how a JD still makes you an entry level candidate and the resistance he had to overcome to get a non-legal job: http://barelylegalblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/finding-non-legal-job.html

[TheDudeMan]

While I agree with the above poster.... Barely legal is hardly a reputable source.  It was two dudes that went to a TTT and graduated bottom half of their class.  Do you really expect much there?

[Jolie Was Here]

While I agree with the above poster.... Barely legal is hardly a reputable source.  It was two dudes that went to a TTT and graduated bottom half of their class.  Do you really expect much there?

But that's the position the OP finds himself in (aside from the very obvious fact that being in the bottom of the class after one semester does not guarantee that you'll be there after six).

[,.,.,.;.,.,.]

Two of my best friends went straight to law school after undergrad, hated it, and dropped out after a semester. One was doing very well (7th in her class after 1st semester), one was doing somewhat poorly. That was 10 or 11 years ago (yes, I'm Old) and they've both gone on to have lovely, fulfilling lives. Sure, paying the debt from a semester of expensive school that didn't end up yielding a degree sucked, but I don't believe that either has ever regretted the decision to pull the plug.

I personally think that that year or so after college is one of the more difficult in our lives. It's tempting to avoid the big questions by aimlessly continuing your education until answers, like, fall out of the sky or something. And frankly, that works for some people. For me, it made much more sense to just get out there and face it all.

This sentence is actually one of the best I've ever read on this forum, and I've been on here since the summer before my LSAT.  Kudos to you.  Very well said.

[,.,.,.;.,.,.]

I have basically the exact same story as you. I made the tough decision and dropped out of law school. I realized that being a lawyer was going to be a poo life, and very few people were actually 'wired' to enjoy legal work. I definitely am not one of them. Since dropping out (only a few months ago, dropped out mid semester from the U of U) I've got a job with an internet marketing firm and I love it. I can guarantee I'll end up being better financially off because I'm doing something that fits me.

I found law school to be a joke. The case method of learning is the biggest *ucking sham I've ever run into. I quickly realized that I was under a massive delusion that law and law school was some admirable thing, when in fact it's just not true. Law school was a joke, and people who really love studying the law are by nature a little backwards. 

I'm not trying to persuade either way, just trying to lend a helping hand. Quitting law school was the best decision I could have made. I can't imagine 'sticking it out.' It would have been absolutely ridiculous for me to do that.

The scary thing is that I generally agree with you.  It's not a very effective way to learn the BLL and prepare for your exams, despite the fact that your professors crush you through it.

I'm glad that someone like you hangs around this forum.  As law students or even young lawyers, we're biased to see law school solutions for people.  In many cases, that's absolutely not true.  Law school is not for everyone.  Not everyone can be ranked, and likes to argue, and can see themselves doing menial grunt work for years before gaining traction in a competitive and prestige-fixated field. 

My engineering friends still don't understand why your school is so important.  They know good engineers from CUNY and bad engineers from MIT; hiring isn't exactly interested in either.

[fertsru]

I have basically the exact same story as you. I made the tough decision and dropped out of law school. I realized that being a lawyer was going to be a poo life, and very few people were actually 'wired' to enjoy legal work. I definitely am not one of them. Since dropping out (only a few months ago, dropped out mid semester from the U of U) I've got a job with an internet marketing firm and I love it. I can guarantee I'll end up being better financially off because I'm doing something that fits me.

I found law school to be a joke. The case method of learning is the biggest *ucking sham I've ever run into. I quickly realized that I was under a massive delusion that law and law school was some admirable thing, when in fact it's just not true. Law school was a joke, and people who really love studying the law are by nature a little backwards. 

I'm not trying to persuade either way, just trying to lend a helping hand. Quitting law school was the best decision I could have made. I can't imagine 'sticking it out.' It would have been absolutely ridiculous for me to do that.

My sincere congratulations to you! I just recently heard a similar story from an old attorney. Many years ago he and his childhood buddy were working at UPS. He continued thru college, then law school. His buddy dropped out of college and went to work for UPS full time. He eventually became a regional manager and then retired at 47 with several millions in the bank, while the attorney is still working and not even close to having millions in retirement.

Unfortunately, I don't see myself becoming a manager of any big corporation any time soon, so I am going to stick with law school for now. This way I know I'll be able to find a decent paying job, instead of gambling on my career.

[Ninja1]

Yeah, it's tough to advise OP to stay in law school solely for a potential resume bump with non-legal jobs...

Agreed, but I think it is a fair point to consider.

Bad advice. You will only be overqualified for jobs that you could have got anyways without a J.D. and will have to convince employers that they should hire you IN SPITE of you having a J.D. If you don't believe me, check out the authors of the blog Barely Legal. There are some posts on there about one of the authors who pursued a non-legal career and met a lot of resistance because of his J.D.

Here is a great post from the author about how a JD still makes you an entry level candidate and the resistance he had to overcome to get a non-legal job: http://barelylegalblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/finding-non-legal-job.html

People feel threatened by individuals that are measurably smarter than him.

Yeah, no McPloyment is in your future if you have a JD, but I can think of plenty of folks with JDs that are in non-legal fields and do very well for themselves.

[Jake_MONDATTA]

"My engineering friends still don't understand why your school is so important.  They know good engineers from CUNY and bad engineers from MIT; hiring isn't exactly interested in either."

I really don't think that's true, at least when it comes to engineering jobs at the higher end of the spectrum.  Engineering is more nuts-and-bolts practical than law, but prestige still matters.  You can be a top engineer with a degree from anywhere in the same way you can get to be partner at Cravath with a JD from Fordham (there are 3, last time I checked).  That is, you have to prove that you're awesome.