<p>DD has finished her first year of law school. She is enrolled in a dual degree program, JD and MA in International Affairs. Last week she dropped the bombshell that she hates law school, can't stand the thought of returning, and wants to just get the MA. She has tempered that now with the idea of taking a year off of law school, working on the MA, and possibly going back the following year to finish the JD. This has thrown everyone at the law school, the dean is away on vacation, and no one can answer the question of can this be done. The grad school is fine with the whole idea but cannot code it for the computer registration w/o the input from the dean.</p>
<p>I know ABA has a fairly tight grip on law schools and what they let students do. Is this against their rules or can this be done? Does she have to totally quit law school? Would they ever let her return if she wanted to? I would like to clarify that it's not as if she has changed her mind about what she wants to do. She has a fairly clear idea of her career goals and after 1L she realizes that they are probably more attainable with the MA than the JD.</p>
<p>I think that it would be completely up to your daughter’s law school. To my knowledge, there is no ABA regulation that would prevent a student from taking a leave of absence. </p>
<p>I would recommend that your daughter get in touch with the Dean of Students for her law school immediately to discuss her desire for a leave of absence.</p>
<p>I should preface by saying that I have no experience with law school itself, but public perception is that the first year of law school is much, much worse than the subsequent two years. Any chance that affects your daughter’s thinking?</p>
<p>Each time she has talked about how much she hates law school I’v said you aren’t supposed to like it. She was told that once she got to take some electives she would like it. She took two this summer and hated them too. I think part of it is that she has always excelled academically (obviously, she is there) but it’s hard. Harder than anything she has ever done before. She also claims she doesn’t like any of her classmates. She is an introvert and they are all loud and obnoxious, according to her. Maybe law school is not a fit after all and she is on the right track to look elsewhere, or maybe she should tough it out and get through it. I really don’t know.</p>
<p>Did your daughter take any time off between her undergraduate degree and this program? If not, that could be part of the problem. Kids do burn out. I would encourage her to take this next year off if she can possibly do so. Even if she can’t leave with the option of returning, quitting a program that’s not right for her is better than sticking with something just because you think you “should.” It’s a recipe for depression.
Your daughter needs to make an appointment with the Dean and find out what her options are. You need to give her permission to do what she feels is best for her without feeling she’s letting everyone down.
^^^If this is true, then why stay in law school if she hates it?</p>
<p>Yes, she took two years off. One living abroad and learning the language and another working for a law firm. I should add that she was 19 when she graduated so she is still young. I fully support leaving for good. She has not been happy and I have worried about her at times, wondering if she was heading for depression or if that was just what law school students looked like. She would like to keep her options open but if she has to chose one I hope she will chose the MA over the JD simply because it’s going to be a long two years if she returns for the JD.</p>
<p>To tie up this thread: DD heard back from the dean and he said if she took a leave of absence to pursue the MA she would still have to pay law school tuition. Since she is fairly certain she will not want to come back she is withdrawing from law school since the tuition difference between the grad school and the law school is many thousands of dollars. She was also told that if she withdraws and then wants to return she will have to repeat her first year classes. No one ever said law school gave the warm fuzzies.</p>
<p>If, and this sounds like a big if, she chose one day to go back to law school, could she transfer those classes to a different school? I know lots of law students who transfer after the first year.</p>
<p>I know at the LS my kid attended, some people pursue joint degrees. Since they are usually Ph.D.s, which people at that university don’t pay for, they pay NO tuition during the year(s) they take graduate courses. I’ve never HEARD of having to pay LS tuition during those years. </p>
<p>I say this because I think you’re wrong in saying that “law school” didn’t give the “warm fuzzies.” It’s this particular LS which doesn’t. </p>
<p>Personally, I would demand that the dean put this in writing. Before doing so, however, I’d MAKE SURE she gets several certified copies of her official transcript and a statement that she withdrew voluntarily. I suspect that she could find another LS which would allow her to “transfer” if she should decide to go back to LS. But since it looks as if the school won’t facilitate such a thing, I’d get the records NOW including the written statement of what the dean has told her. She might want to ask the dean of the school of arts and sciences or the head of her IR program to assist her in doing that. </p>
<p>I would do this not only because it might preserve the option of going back to LS should she change her mind, but also because along the way, she may need proof that she withdrew voluntarily and was in good standing to get clearance for govenment or NGO jobs. I wouldn’t count on the good graces of this LS to get them in the future. I’d want to have it all down in black and white to prevent a future snafu. I wouldn’t leave any possibility that a request for a transcript for a transfer or as part of the documentation required to get, e.g., a security clearance, would result in getting a transcript that said something like “ineligible for reinstatement.”</p>
<p>Thank you for the excellent advice. She is requesting copies of her transcript today. Security clearances are probably in her future and we don’t want unexpected problems.</p>
<p>The really aggravating part of this is that she knows students at her law school that are taking leaves of absence and working on master’s. It’s the dual degree part that is messing her up. If she had applied to the MA program separately and then asked for a leave it would not have been a problem. The law school is doing it simply because they can. </p>
<p>After hearing this stuff from the dean it is making her more certain that she will never return to this law school. Maybe somewhere else but not this.</p>
<p>A lot of people have listened to my DD’s woes this weekend and everyone’s question is “How can they legally do that?” Since it is a law school I have to assume they know they can, but I thought I would ask here. Can a student pay for a year, earn grades, and then have to repeat it all again if she takes a year off w/o paying tuition while she’s not there?</p>