Emergency Question about enrolling this fall PLEASE HELP

[pop_tort]

Hi, everyone I am currently moving into a new city and a new school that I recently become not to happy with.  I am about 5 hours from my home and want to practice law closer to my home, but decided to attend a school further away because I was not accepted to the local schools and was offered a decent scholarship at the school I am beginning to attend.  My LSAT scores were only 148 and 151 so i did not expect to many acceptances and or money for attedning any law schools.  Now that I am in my new city away from everything, family friends and girlfriend of 4 years, I am regretting my decision more and more.  I still have the option of getting out of my lease and I am definitely considering it.  This is where I need everyones help, I recently have found out that my scholarship is applied to tuition differently than I previouusly thought.  This has not made me to happy and I feel that I am paying more for an education that I may not have necessarily picked a few months ago.  Can you please help me with my choices???

My ideas are to stick it out and go to school.  Hopefully I will be able to transfer, I know this is not a good possibilty however and I do not want to be stuck in this city for 3 years. 

My other option would be to take a year off again, and study for the LSAT, I have never studied for it and took both tests cold.  They are the only two LSAT's that I have taken.  I would enroll in a Kaplan or Powerscore class something along those lines, work part-time and study full time for the december LSAT.  I really want to attend a local school in Pittsburgh such as Duquesne, Pitt or even WVU or Penn State I would be happy with any of those. 

Please help with ideas, or if you think these feelings will go away.  THANX

While this could just be pre-law school jitters, it seems that if you are this unhappy and school hasn't even started, you probably shouldn't continue at this point. Your first year is going to be stressful/busy/anxiety ridden, so you want to be in the most comfortable situation possible. If your emotional needs require more interaction and support with old friends and family, then perhaps this is not the best situation for you.

I agree with the others... don't go to a school with the plan on transferring. In undergrad that is more of a possibility since your grades mostly depend on your own performance. In law school however, your grades are influenced by the performance of your peers. So even if you write an A or B exam, you may end up getting a B,C, or D due to the curve.

If PA is where you want to be, I think it would be to your benefit to take another year and better prepare for the LSAT and try again with the application process. With a better LSAT, you may find a better reaction from schools regarding admissions and $cholarship money. Perhaps you can also have an admissions counselor provide a one-time application review and see if there are any ways you can improve your apps.

It's good that your are being honest with yourself at this point.... let us know what happens!

[latinlord]

wow Corbe, i'm so sorry to hear how things are going with you at UDM. I am pretty much in the same situation locationally wise. I'm like 10hrs away from my hometown philly. Here are some possible suggestions...

1st have you thought abou Deferring for a year. That way u can still have the opportunity to go there if you wanted to next year and if you were not able to do better the next cycle. You really should study study for the LSAT. Actually I can't believe that you just went into the exam cold TWICE!! You obviously can do it though! I mean cold you got up to a 151 which is better than I did with months of studying. IF you studied and applied yourself i'm sure you could hit a much better score. I hear Powerscore is the best. Are you miserable only in Detroit? or are you miserable about just not being so close to Pittsburgh? It seems like in your situation that the majority of the schools you applied to you would not be happy "at the beginning" (I said that b/c moving away is always tough in the beginning after that you lean to adjust) with b/c they are not close to your home. So next year only apply to those 4 schools that you said that are close to you. B/c you don't want to be in the same situation again in a different area. 

If you do decide to stay....I told myself that I was going to keep as busy as I could with law school. Study as much as I can and try to get involved with the school. That usually helps out with the new location and different atmosphere, you will be able to meet people and time will go quicker. Remember why you are there, "to study law" for the purpose of haveing a law degree wheather to be an attorney or further your legal education. And you were given this wonderful opportunity from UDM. I think if you keep yourself busy with school then you should be able to feel a lot better. I feel anxious and nervous about leaving my friends and family too. I think though, that may help me b/c there will be less distractions. Also i'm excited about meeting some new people and having new experiences in Indiana. Sure i'm thinking about transfering, but I know that it may not happen. I like to just take things one day at a time. I expect that I will become accustomed to the area and maybe even comfortable after sometime. Seriously I think you might be thinking too much about it, sometimes we have to take different routes to get to where we want to go. Sometimes to reach our ultimate goals in life we have to take these longer more difficult routes. IN THE END THOUGH, IT IS WORTH IT!!

But....If you are truly miserable and absolutely willing to Retake that LSAT and STUDY, REALLY STUDY!! Then maybe deferrment might be a good option for you. That way you will have a year to see if you can step up your score and to evaluate your situation (like what if you don't get into the schools you want again, Are you willing to go back to Detroit?. Asking your self the questions of 1. How much do I really want a law degree? 2. What will I do, and How far will I go, to achieve this goal? If like me, you absolutely desire this more than anything else in the world, then like me you may have to take the "highroad" not everyone gets into law school actually only half that apply (remember this way my second time!?), an even smaller amount get into the schools they want first. Hence the closest school to philly I got into was Indiana, my second choice probiby would have been Florida A&M or Even UDM. Remember how happy you felt when you recieved your first acceptances?? My point as you probibly get by now is that this whole process is tough. Feel privileged to have gotten to where you are today!! Sit and really think about what you want to do. Do you want to study law this year?? Or do you want to give it a one year wait and see if you can do better on the LSAT AFTER STUDYING? Feel comfortable with your decisions, make a list of the pros and cons of each. I wish you all the luck in the world Corbe, not only as a fellow law student but as a fellow friend. Please let me know how you are doing and what choices you have made. I still remember when you started the famous "3rd and 4th tier acceptances thread" Your a fighter Corbe, i'm sure you will make the decision that is right for you. Take care amigo and PM me anytime if I can help you or even if you want to talk - Chris

[dalilamahimself]

i feel like i'm in a sort of similar situation.  i did horrible while i was in college 10 years ago...pretty decent on my lsat (not great but not bad) i could have done better.  i got into the university of balitmore and went there for a open house to all students who got in.  i wasn't thrilled with the vibes that i got at the campus.  a bunch of speakers talking about how this was the blue collar law school (term they used several times) and thumbed their noses at the t1's - especially u of maryland right across town.  i liked the pride that everyone seemed to have at the school but i felt almost like i was at a community college - with people who were there becuase it was the only place they could get into.  i know that i would do well at any school i went to - t1 or t4.  i also know that law school will return what you put into it.  and university of baltimore has a dual degree option with university of maryland that is great.  that's why i want to go there...but i'm debating the whole thing because, i too, would like to transfer but the chances are against me for that.  and i don't think that you should go to a school that you don't feel comfortable getting a degree from.  i just wonder - is going to ubalt better than not going anywhere.  i'm sure i would get a good education there...i really think i would.  i just want to be excited and because i f'd around 10 years ago in undergrad my options are very limited now.  i feel depressed about it.  i guess this is just a little vent and i'm hoping someone cheers me up

[drama gal]

Law school is a huge investment... Take the time off, study your butt off, and retake!
You also will have the advantage of having your highest score count rather than the average next time around.  Good Luck!

And DEFINATELY take a prep course... I highly recommend PowerScore and to stay away from Kaplan.

[queencruella]

Law school is a huge investment... Take the time off, study your butt off, and retake!
You also will have the advantage of having your highest score count rather than the average next time around.  Good Luck!

And DEFINATELY take a prep course... I highly recommend PowerScore and to stay away from Kaplan.

Many schools are still averaging 3 scores, though, so it's not something you can count on. Unless the OP can do significantly better, her average is not going to be that different from her current highest score.

[drama gal]

Law school is a huge investment... Take the time off, study your butt off, and retake!
You also will have the advantage of having your highest score count rather than the average next time around.  Good Luck!

And DEFINATELY take a prep course... I highly recommend PowerScore and to stay away from Kaplan.

Many schools are still averaging 3 scores, though, so it's not something you can count on. Unless the OP can do significantly better, her average is not going to be that different from her current highest score.

Even if the schools are still averaging, a number of schools before LSAC started allowing the report of the highest score, would take it if you scored 6 points higher which is totally possible with some real study effort and a prep course.  Either way, I think it's better if she holds off going to a school she really does not want to go to and is outside of the region she wishes to work in upon graduation.  I really don't think she has anything to lose, but she has alot more to gain by a retake.

[Stephon Devante]

i'm in a similar situation.  here are my thoughts:

1. if i bust my hump, i should be able to do ok.  i figure the worse case scenario is top 1/2.  
2. top 1/2 should be good enough to transfer home, if i want.
3. being apart from friends, family, and so could be a blessing.  hopefully, it allows me to focus all my energy into my studies.  

It seems to me that numbers 1 and 2 combined are a hell of a group of assumptions.