I'm giving up on Law School....

[LSATFailure2011]

I have applied to 13 schools, and got rejected from 12 of them (Widener University was the only school that admitted me, and they initially waitlisted me so that shows how little they thought of me). ....

With a 150 LSAT and 2.7 GPA, I simply am not Law School Material.

I am currently enrolled in a Kaplan test prep class, and it has been an eye opener. Despite driving 30 miles back and forth 3 days a week in addition to an $1800 investment my LSAT score hasn't improved one bit. In essence my score is what it is, and evidently it is not good enough to get into law school.

Moreover.... I give up.... I don't want it badly enough anymore...... They say I'm too stupid..... Maybe I am? Maybe they are wrong? In the end we will never know for sure. Case and point as to why the LSAT cannot accruately predict law school success. People with low LSAT scores simply aren't given the opportunity to fail.  If getting into law school is this difficult, I can't imagine the struggle it must be to get a job. It just seems like the cards are stacked against you.

At this point I am going to begin to re-test the job market, in the hopes that I can land a position that leads to a successful and satisfying career. It's been an awful first year out of college that has featuerd rejection from both the workforce and academia. Perhaps the rejections have been blessing in disguise. Eventually if I live long enough someone is going to give me an opportunity, and when they do, I will not take it for granted...


What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

[Thane Messinger]

Moreover.... I give up.... I don't want it badly enough anymore...... They say I'm too stupid..... Maybe I am? Maybe they are wrong? In the end we will never know for sure. Case and point as to why the LSAT cannot accruately predict law school success. People with low LSAT scores simply aren't given the opportunity to fail.  If getting into law school is this difficult, I can't imagine the struggle it must be to get a job. It just seems like the cards are stacked against you.

At this point I am going to begin to re-test the job market, in the hopes that I can land a position that leads to a successful and satisfying career. It's been an awful first year out of college that has featuerd rejection from both the workforce and academia. Perhaps the rejections have been blessing in disguise. Eventually if I live long enough someone is going to give me an opportunity, and when they do, I will not take it for granted...

*  *  *

We don't often know whether a decision is a good one or a bad one until much later.

One question, relating to finding a successful and satisfying career, is this:  What do you like?

Thane.

[LSATFailure2011]

Moreover.... I give up.... I don't want it badly enough anymore...... They say I'm too stupid..... Maybe I am? Maybe they are wrong? In the end we will never know for sure. Case and point as to why the LSAT cannot accruately predict law school success. People with low LSAT scores simply aren't given the opportunity to fail.  If getting into law school is this difficult, I can't imagine the struggle it must be to get a job. It just seems like the cards are stacked against you.

At this point I am going to begin to re-test the job market, in the hopes that I can land a position that leads to a successful and satisfying career. It's been an awful first year out of college that has featuerd rejection from both the workforce and academia. Perhaps the rejections have been blessing in disguise. Eventually if I live long enough someone is going to give me an opportunity, and when they do, I will not take it for granted...

*  *  *

We don't often know whether a decision is a good one or a bad one until much later.

One question, relating to finding a successful and satisfying career, is this:  What do you like?

Thane.

I had a really great interview with Frito-Lay the other day. Hopefully it turns into something..

[Hamilton]

You are only "stupid" if you equate your LSAT performance and inability to get in to law school to intelligence - it's a simple matter of aptitude, not intelligence.

Consider yourself blessed and fortunate to learn now that law and law school is not your thing - now you can move on, don't look back.  Fiind your passion, find what you want to do, find what is FUN and make a living doing it.  If it requires additional schooling, so be it - whatever you choose will be a heck of a lot less expensive and painful than law school.

This is a blessing - straight up, not 'in disguise.'  You have avoided a very big financial, personal, and professional curse: getting in to a T4 law school with no scholarships and little opportunity for gainful employment after graduation.  Unlike OBL, you dodged a bullet.

Now, go forth and conquer.

[FalconJimmy]

I don't blame you for being discouraged.

I'm old.  Might very well be the oldest guy here.  (I can remember the NASA missions to the moon from having watched them firsthand when I was a little boy if that gives you any clue.)

I'm old enough to have made a few decisions and to have a few regrets.

I never, ever, ever have regretted an instance where I gave it a shot and failed.  Even if it wasn't my best shot, if I at least got in there, took my lumps and found out, I never regret those decisions.

My biggest regrets?  The ones where, after decades, I sit there and think, "WTF?  Why didn't I...?"  They're the ones where I wanted to do something and didn't try because I was afraid of failure.

You have been accepted to Law School.  You don't seem happy with the school.  Yes, to some degree, the school will be destiny.  You will never be on the Supreme Court.  You might never have a shot at biglaw.

However, the law is bigger than that.  We are a nation of laws and that means that the law impacts every little aspect of life.

You can argue civil rights cases and change the course of history.

You can hang out a shingle and make six figures doing divorces and DUI defense.

You can work in PI and make millions upon millions of dollars.

Maybe avoiding law school is a good choice for you.  I just got my financial aid notice and it looks entirely likely that I'll graduate law school six figures in debt.

After all this time, though, this will let me address one of my regrets:  that I should have done this a lot sooner, but allowed others to discourage me from doing something I have always found very, very interesting.

There are more important things than money.  I've made six figures before.  The recession has clobberred my finances, but I have every confidence I'll make money again.  Enough money that I won't worry about money.  Of course, I come from modest origins, so, my tastes in life aren't very expensive.  However, I'll be back at the country club in a few years.  I have no doubt of that. 

Money is a fleeting thing.  You'll make a lot in your lifetime.  You'll spend a lot.  So long as you have enough to do right by your kids and not retire eating dog food, you did okay.

So, just make sure your decision is one you can live with.  Make sure that when you're 70 years old in the rocking chair, you won't be kicking yourself for the decisions you made when you were younger.

Some folks live their lives in a straight line.  They work their butts off in High School, work their butts off in College, then work their butts off in Law School. Combined with god-given intellect, they're millionaires in their 30s. 

The rest of us?  We have to fight for our opportunities and successes.  My friend once told me, "Ya know, some people get invited in and walk right through the door.  You?  If the door is opened just a crack, you throw yourself at it and kick it and do whatever you have to do to open it yourself."

So, what kind of person are you?  That door is open, but just a crack.  You gonna kick the **** out of it?  Or you gonna go sell Fritos?

Either decision is fine.  Neither one affects me one whit. 

It's what YOU can live with.  That's what you should be thinking about right now.

[Thane Messinger]

My biggest regrets?  The ones where, after decades, I sit there and think, "WTF?  Why didn't I...?"  They're the ones where I wanted to do something and didn't try because I was afraid of failure.

*  *  *

Either decision is fine.   

It's what YOU can live with.  That's what you should be thinking about right now.

Everyone should read FJ's words, twice. 

Think very, very, very, very, very seriously about what you will look back on. 

Will you say "I am SO glad I did ...x." or "Why in the...did I do y?" or "Why the &^%$ didn't I do z?"

What do you REALLY want?  What do you really not want?  This is not about an interview, or even an acceptance.  It's about the real you.  (Hint:  Chances are your parents and grandparents and family and friends will be able to help.  They know you better than you sometimes.)  But what you're looking for is the real you behind the many yous you try to be.

Go forth and seek the inner truth!

= :   )

PS:  Even if Fritos does work out, think about doing something crazy.  Now is the time.  Join the Navy.  Join the Peace Corps.  Go teach English somewhere.  Start a business.  Live!

[BikePilot]

Go work for Fritos, work your way up into management and you'll be bossing all the lawyers around

[LaShuanM]

I'm sorry to hear your giving up on your dream. I may be optimistic but I only saw positivity in all that you said. You wrote I applied to 13 law schools and got accepted to 1, I read excitingly you got accepted to law school. Something many will never experience...including me. I look at law school as a means to the end. You have to own it and not let it own you.

Why not start at Widener and demonstrate your ability to do well and then transfer to one of the other schools you really want to attend.

I have a 3.3 undergrad and a 146 LSAT, I only applied to Widener and did not get a direct admission most likely because my LSAT is below the median 152 LSAT score.... But I was accepted in the TAP program and if I do well I will begin law school in the fall.

I am very excited about this opportunity, and as I mentioned earlier Law school is a mean to the end. It's a step on the path of where I'm going. I know exactly what I want to do and what I need to do to get there.

Well good luck! Remember be positive... It's your best assett!

[Thane Messinger]

I have applied to 13 schools, and got rejected from 12 of them (Widener University was the only school that admitted me, and they initially waitlisted me so that shows how little they thought of me). ....

With a 150 LSAT and 2.7 GPA, I simply am not Law School Material.

There's a book I promised I would mention.  It's not yet out in hard copy, but it is out on Kindle now.  It's Law School Undercover, by a "Professor X."  An inside look at law school, including law school admissions from someone who served on admissions committees as a memer of the faculty.  Might be helpful in your decision.

Best of luck to you,

Thane.

[johnnysweet]

Hey come to Widener I'm starting at the Harrisburg Campus this fall. I really don't think its as bad as people make it out to be.