<p>I'm an URM senior at a top state school, currently have a 2.59 GPA, majoring in Soc and I have 3 F's on my transcript. Fortunately, my school has a forgiveness policy if students repeat courses with a C- or below, and I only need to retake 2 more.
Initially, the only reason why I went to college was to get into law school. My grades suffered because I didn't communicate with my family for a few years after school started, and wasn't focused on school. Since the steady decline of my gpa starting my freshman year, I've been more discouraged than ever about completing undergrad, given that my initial goal of attending a top law school has failed, because my grades are terrible.
Furthermore, I have softs, but I don't think they're very spectacular. </p>
<p>My parents, friends and family are all telling me that I need to just finish and start working any job I can get directly out of college so that I can pay back my loans. I, however, am resistant to the idea of pushing myself to graduation and going straight to work. I still want to go to law school. </p>
<p>Ideally, I'd like to start over--take a few months or a year off from school, develop work ethic, experience and perspective and then go back to school with more self-discipline and better habits, and be prepared to take the LSAT. However, I know that's just the ideal and perhaps a ton of things could go wrong if I don't stay in school and finish asap.</p>
<p>I don’t think taking a break will help you to develop your work ethic as you believe. Self-discipline and good habits won’t magically develop for you from taking a little time-off. Meanwhile, you’d be digging yourself into a deeper and deeper hole with debt. Your GPA pulling you down over the past four years is minor compared to how burdening your ballooning student debt could be over the course of your life.</p>
<p>I’d take your family’s advice and get out and work. That sort of real life experience with deadlines to meet and serious consequences if you fail may really help you to develop the perspective and work ethic you’ll need in law school. The good habits you need develop from taking on what you can handle, actively working to develop good habits, and as your time management skills and self-discipline increase, increasing your responsibilities. Your choice now is not whether or not to be a lawyer. It’s whether to push towards law school now, which you do not seem to be prepared for, or work a few years to try to build up funds, gain maturity, and gain the ability to handle law school. If you work in a related field, your law school prospects could even increase. Having to work for awhile and put law school on hold could strengthen your personal investment in your dream and your desire to achieve it.</p>
<p>Slightly unrelated note; why do you want to be a lawyer? Law school is expensive, job prospects are bad, and even after years of work the salary often isn’t very good.</p>
<p>I’ve known a few people who’ve been overtaken by student debt. It isn’t good. It’s depressing and frustrating.</p>
<p>Yes, stay in college. I can understand that you’re discouraged, but you’re nearly done. Get the degree-and consider a year or two in the world or work; perhaps even a year or two in a service job, such as the Peace Corps. After you’ve settled on if and why you still want to go to law school, then prepare for and take the MCAT.
So finish; while it hasn’t gone as well as you’d like, you’ll have more options with the degree than without.</p>
<p>Sorry if it wasn’t clear. What crankyoldman said is what I meant to say. Finish your few months and get your degree then get out in work. Don’t stay in college longer than you need.</p>
<p>Thank you all for responding. I’ve decided that I’m going to give up on my dream of going to grad school because I don’t even know if I can cope with my experience at the university–having a very unfulfilling social life. I don’t even know why it’s so important to me, but I suppose I also feel that I have a history of not being able to maintain close relationships and this is really bothering me. That, and the fact that I’m living 2 1/2 hrs away from home at a party school…People aren’t particularly motivated by much more than partying a lot and scraping by with grades. The only really serious ones are the science majors… so yeah. I wrote another post, explaining that I’m like on the verge of dropping out. =/</p>
<p>You are a senior - so finish, now. If you were a sophomore, my advice would be different; in that case, taking time off may be helpful. In reality, if you take time off, you will never finish. </p>
<p>Economists once studied people who almost finished a course of study and those who finished the course of study but went into a different field that does not require the diploma. They found that the latter group did substantially better than the former group. (This is called the “sheepskin effect”.) Now, this is not a reason to just get a law degree - it’s too expensive to necessarily be a net economic gain for the holder. But it is a reason to finish college before you start working. I know people who are excellent at their jobs, are in their thirties, and cannot get into some companies because they do not have a bachelor’s degree. </p>
<p>Finish it; you’re almost there. But do not go straight to law school; take many, many years off.</p>
<p>LSAC calculates ALL your grades up to your first degree. All the classes you failed, your 2.5 will show up even if you start over. Just graduate. No law school that will take you now is worth the tuition in this economy.</p>
<p>Yup-Senior year time to graduate. I agree with your parents, Graduate and test the job market. (yes I know it’s rough out there). But finish this chapter and then look forward to the next. GL.</p>