Academic Dismissal/Readmittance

[omchance]

I need some help/advice....

I am 27 and just finished 1L.  I was not on academic probation after first semester (although law school kind of kicked my ass and knocked me off my elitist educational pedestal a little bit- 2.2).  Second semester grades started rolling in and things were looking about the same... pretty average.  And then I got a D in class. My overall cumulative was now a 1.97.  I need a 2.0 for good academic standing. 

I already wrote my petition for readmission and the dean asked me to identify why my performance was so poor. And I honestly couldn't answered because all I do is study.  I seriously have no life. 

And the kicker is that since I was on good academic standing for the first semester, I was allowed to enroll in summer classes (which I am currently taking) and even if my grades in those courses pull me above a 2.0, I still might not get readmitted.  Anyone have any stats on how readmission panels usually rule and also has anyone ever contested a grade.  I want to contest the grade; however, I am worried about jeopardizing the relationship with that professor if I am readmitted and have to take future classes with him.

Law school is a female dog.... I have two Masters Degrees (with honors) and now I just feel like an idiot.  It's weird to experience school from the bottom of the class.

Anyways, any help/advice/consolation will be appreciated.
And for those of you haters with negative comments, please keep them to yourselves.  I am already suicidal and you might push me over the edge and then you would have my blood on your hands.

Thanks!
J

[big - fat - box]

Law school is about exams, not preparing for class and analyzing the minutiae of every page of assigned reading. Sometimes the people who study the hardest do the worst b/c they are not prepared for how law school exams work.

If you are already enrolled in summer classes, my best advice to you is to get the LEEWS program asap and work through it. You need to sit down with a cd player and listen to the cds on headphones with the workbook in front of you and really do the program. Other than that I would suggest the Examples and Explanations books for each course you're taking. Follow along with the syllabus and read the corresponding chapters each week and work through the problems...if you just skim them or use them like a dictionary to look stuff up you won't benefit. Lastly, I would outline every week and try to get your outlines done like 2 weeks before exams. Work through lots of timed practice exams well before the exam also. If your school doesn't keep exams on file, check out some exams from similar schools in your state/region and use them. (use google to find them).


As far as readmission goes, some schools will let you petition for readmission after taking a year away from school. There are no hard stats on readmission, sorry. Contesting grades is rarely successful unless the prof made an error in adding up your points. It happens. My 1L year, I actually caught an error by the prof and he had to recalculate grades for the entire class. My suggestion would be to go see the prof and ask for feedback on the exam and for him to explain how the score was calculated. If he did make a computational error, odds are he'll catch it himself.


If you really are suicidal, get counseling asap.

[M_Cool]

And for those of you haters with negative comments, please keep them to yourselves.  I am already suicidal and you might push me over the edge and then you would have my blood on your hands.

I think you should get counseling or talk to someone in person.  The internet is a negative place and I doubt you will feel any better by surfing the web for this answer.  But seriously, they are just grades on a piece of paper at the end of the day. 

As for your question about readmission, I have no experience with it but I imagine that it varies widely per school.  The best place to ask is your school administration.  Talk to them about your options.  My first thought if you can afford it financially is to get away from law school and maybe reapply for admission to a different school so that you can start over?  Not sure how that works but I think it has been done.

[anxiety]

I need some help/advice....

I am 27 and just finished 1L.  I was not on academic probation after first semester (although law school kind of kicked my ass and knocked me off my elitist educational pedestal a little bit- 2.2).  Second semester grades started rolling in and things were looking about the same... pretty average.  And then I got a D in class. My overall cumulative was now a 1.97.  I need a 2.0 for good academic standing. 

I already wrote my petition for readmission and the dean asked me to identify why my performance was so poor. And I honestly couldn't answered because all I do is study.  I seriously have no life. 

And the kicker is that since I was on good academic standing for the first semester, I was allowed to enroll in summer classes (which I am currently taking) and even if my grades in those courses pull me above a 2.0, I still might not get readmitted.  Anyone have any stats on how readmission panels usually rule and also has anyone ever contested a grade.  I want to contest the grade; however, I am worried about jeopardizing the relationship with that professor if I am readmitted and have to take future classes with him.

Law school is a female dog.... I have two Masters Degrees (with honors) and now I just feel like an idiot.  It's weird to experience school from the bottom of the class.

Anyways, any help/advice/consolation will be appreciated.
And for those of you haters with negative comments, please keep them to yourselves.  I am already suicidal and you might push me over the edge and then you would have my blood on your hands.

Thanks!
J

i sit on the academic standards/honor committee at my school as a student member.  i would say that the answer to your question may depend upon the tier of your school.  if your grades make you a liability to the school, or if they indicate that you will not be able to pass the bar, the chances are much higher that your petition will not be well-received.  these committees can be very unforgiving -- before i was offered a seat on the one at my school, i knew of a kid who was denied readmission for a 1.99/2.00.  if you don't have a good excuse for the grades, then it probably isn't going to go well for you unless you can provide some sort of evidence that your performance this year was a fluke (for example, show them your grades from your other degree programs).  most of these procedures and exact instructions can probably be found in your school's student handbook.

if you're really suicidal: 1-800-784-2433.  call immediately.

[PSUDSL08]

I think a couple of questions for clarification are necessary before attempting to give honest, meaningful advice: (1) What is the rank/tier of your law school and (2) Since you've already pursued two masters degrees, what are you hoping to achieve with a JD?

[new2law]

Two masters degrees at 27, nice job. I am suprised that they didnt place you on "academic probation" before dismisal though. My first semester at undergrad was a summer semester, I though I'll take one pre-med science class to see if I want to go into medicine or not. If I ace it I'll be a medic, if I fail it I'll take a business major. BAD MISTAKE! Yes, I "passed" with a D but since it was the only class on the record my overall gpa was a 1.0 which placed me on academic probation and I was told that I had one semeseter to fix it or be academicly dismissed. Instead of the regular first year courses, that semester I took cakewalk stuff. For example I convinced the police academy at my college to let me take a 3credit gym class with them dispite not being a cadet myself. They did it since I was military and I told the instructor my story and he wanted to help raise my GPA. I got an A in it for doing laps and situps. Hell Yeah! I also took a class called "nature studies" were the main grade was a camping trip. I ate up a huge chunk of my electives that semester, but got off academic probation for it. Moral of the story for any freshman out there, take blowoff classes the summer before you start to raise your GPA that way if you get a poor grade it wont be the death of you.

Dosn't your school offer probation before dismisal?

[omchance]

I was under the impression that I had a semester to pull it up. But the school is saying that since I was below a 2.0 by the end of the year, that I am out. Yet, they are still letting me take the classes I am currently enrolled in.

I talked to the "Professor of Doom" who gave me the grade that tanked me and he told me that he could tell I knew the stuff, I just didn't get it down on paper.  When I submitted my petition, I submitted a copy of my 42 page outline for the course and a note for the review committee to review the grade.  Don't know what is going to happen yet.  They told I will not know until the end of July.  In the meantime, I live on campus, so if I am not currently a student, I am kind of worried about getting "evicted" from campus housing.  Only working 15 hours a week because of school rules and so I was primarily relying on financial aid.  Things are just really bad....

I don't really know what I was looking for by posting here.  Just needed to vent.  I feel really alone right now because I am too embarrassed to tell any of my friends or classmates.  My parents are tired of listening to me gripe and told me that they don't have enough energy to give me emotional support.  And to make matters even worse, the day I found out, I was supposed to go to a meeting at work.  I called my boss sobbing and said I couldn't make the meeting and now he is threatening to fire me because I won't tell him what happened.  I don't want to have to justify my absence from the meeting (which was really just a dumb "pep rally" kind of thing) and I don't feel that it is any of his business but since I might be needing money for a place to live/move/food/etc., I almost feel compelled to tell him.  I am extremely depressed and stressed over this.

And the reason I am going for the JD was because my MA in Education and my MBA weren't really helping me in the current job market.  Ah, crap.... maybe I should have just gone to Med School!  Ugh.

[EdinTally]

I suggest you get in a car and drive to the nearest slums for some perspective.

You have an advanced education;
a roof over your head;
food on the table;
presumably a couple bucks in your pocket;
your parents are assholes but it sounds like you got two.

I'd say you have it better than most.  Grow a thicker skin or that first divorce is really going to knock you on your ass.

gl

[anxiety]

rofl, you thought a JD would help in this job market, that's a good one.

as to your boss, just make some *&^% up.  why couldn't you think of that on your own? 

[PSUDSL08]

I was under the impression that I had a semester to pull it up. But the school is saying that since I was below a 2.0 by the end of the year, that I am out. Yet, they are still letting me take the classes I am currently enrolled in.

I talked to the "Professor of Doom" who gave me the grade that tanked me and he told me that he could tell I knew the stuff, I just didn't get it down on paper.  When I submitted my petition, I submitted a copy of my 42 page outline for the course and a note for the review committee to review the grade.  Don't know what is going to happen yet.  They told I will not know until the end of July.  In the meantime, I live on campus, so if I am not currently a student, I am kind of worried about getting "evicted" from campus housing.  Only working 15 hours a week because of school rules and so I was primarily relying on financial aid.  Things are just really bad....

I don't really know what I was looking for by posting here.  Just needed to vent.  I feel really alone right now because I am too embarrassed to tell any of my friends or classmates.  My parents are tired of listening to me gripe and told me that they don't have enough energy to give me emotional support.  And to make matters even worse, the day I found out, I was supposed to go to a meeting at work.  I called my boss sobbing and said I couldn't make the meeting and now he is threatening to fire me because I won't tell him what happened.  I don't want to have to justify my absence from the meeting (which was really just a dumb "pep rally" kind of thing) and I don't feel that it is any of his business but since I might be needing money for a place to live/move/food/etc., I almost feel compelled to tell him.  I am extremely depressed and stressed over this.

And the reason I am going for the JD was because my MA in Education and my MBA weren't really helping me in the current job market.  Ah, crap.... maybe I should have just gone to Med School!  Ugh.

This might not be the advice you want to hear, but you really should quit while you're ahead. Your rationale for going to law school (i.e. the JD will help you in the current job market) is fundamentally flawed. I know numerous people from T2/T3/T4 schools with grades far better than yours who are either unemployed or are in temporary document review positions. Jobs for new grads even in the $30K-50K range (state level clerkships, DA's office, PD's office, small firms) are extremely competitive nowadays.

As a 27 year old with an MBA and a Masters in Education, it appears from the limited info you've provided that you're pursuing education just for the sake of pursuing education. Assuming you graduated from college at 22, finished your MA in education at 23, and finished your MBA at 25...I can't imagine you've spent enough time out there to really (1) accurately gauge the markets in a non-recessionary period and/or (2) establish a level of seniority where the MBA will come in handy.

I'd honestly get out now while you can before you've accrued a mortgage worth of debt for no house. If in a few years you get the itch to go back to law school then give it a shot on a clean slate.