Should I drop out of law school or finish my last year, or get a MBA? I need help fixing my life.

IAL. I hated law school. I hated every F@#$ minute of it with the exception of 1 class and 1 research project. I hear that you don't think you want to practice. That does not in any way mean you should drop out now. 2/3 of a law degree has the worth of a turd, coupled with 2/3 of the debt. Having a law degree, even if you never seek admission to the Bar is a resume boost akin to an MBA or many doctorate programs. Finishing law school allows you to sit for the Bar exam. I recommend you strongly consider it. Even with no job out there. Having a law degree and being an actual admitted-to-practice lawyer is a resume boost. Finally, if you recall the analogy questions from the LSAT here's an analogy for you to ponder: Law school is to practicing law as swimming is to repairing a car. THERE'S NO RELATIONSHIP AT ALL. If you hate law school you just may find a job serving needs of our population as a lawyer which you find rewarding and very enjoyable. Hang in there.

I have no law school or lawyering experience, just memories of rejection letters and an LSAT score that suggests that I am dumber than a bucket of hammers. But, I have been depressed, anxious, and worried both while a student and not. Congratulations and good on you for continuing to function and go to class!!! Really!!! A lot of people couldn't do it! It sounds like you do have some focus, and, my God, you have some funding! Only some, maybe, but some! I agree with Sticherbeast. Three more semesters, including one you sound excited about, and I hope we can get an update!

If I were you, I'd get a job, go part-time, and tough it out. A completed advanced degree says good things about you. For the rest of your life, you'll always be able to say, "yeah, well, even though it was tough, I finished law school." And when you have your other career that you're in, you'll always be able to look at your JD and chortle. "I beat you, law school," you'll say, coolly sipping a snifter of brandy. "I beat you." Also, if law school sends you to Tokyo, then that's cool. And if you tough out law school amongst your peers, then that's also good - you're networking amongst future attorneys, and you never know when that'll come in handy. (Anecdote: a friend of mine recently graduated from a T4 with a great job. He decided halfway through that he didn't like law school and he didn't like being a lawyer, so he got a job halfway through his part-time program and he worked his way up. His employer likes having a spare esquire around, but his job is really in sales and management. Happy ending.)

I haven't seen this laid out quite explicitly here, so: I think it's important to keep clear that this is a matter of marginal costs. Right now you have 2/3 of a law degree, the value of which is at most approximately zero, possibly much less, if it's perceived as a drag on your resume. The question at this point in time is whether that complete law degree is worth the costs of the final year (let's say it's $40,000). I put it like that because it's easy to get wrapped up in issues of sunk cost, "I'm already in so much debt", and so forth. The sunk costs are sunk regardless. The only question, from a microeconomic standpoint, is whether a complete JD is worth $40,000 more than 2/3 of a JD. I'm *totally* ignoring the psychological issues, and I don't mean to imply that they're unimportant or irrelevant, but I think others are addressing those well.

"I will try to look into other things that I could do with my JD if I finish. I know you can do other things with it, but honestly I don't think I ever believed it was really possible. I think I have in my head that because I am not at a T-1 school whatever I do will be worthless in the real world." If you want to go to a white shoe New York lawfirm, yes, a T-1 school would be helpful. For ALMOST ANYTHING ELSE, the degree itself will matter, not the school. Useful things to do with a law degree that are not practicing law: *Human resources. SOOOOO much legal compliance stuff, lots of understanding and implementing the law. *Higher education administration. I guess also because there's a lot of legal compliance stuff? Or maybe just a lot of lawyers who like school? Anyway, tons of lawyers floating around Res Life-type posts. *Hospital ethicist. Yeah, that's actually a job. *Real estate brokers *Bank trust officers (which may actually use the degree and prefer admission to the bar) *Politics & Government: Running for office, serving on staff, campaigning, working for advocacy groups, writing legislation, working for administrative agencies *State department/foreign service That's just some people I personally know NOT practicing law with their law degrees, off the top of my head. I also know a law-degree-having meteorologist who's a TV weatherperson, but that doesn't have much to do with the law degree. :) I also know -- not making this up -- a bird-house artist who went to a Top 10 law school and now, um, paints birdhouses and sells them for a lot of money because they're art. There are entire books devoted to "what ELSE can I do with my law degree?" If you can figure out what you like to do, ideally something that would take you to Japan, you can probably figure out how to leverage your law degree to get you there. And if you're in HR or whatever, NOBODY is going to care if you say "I got my law degree at Columbia" vs. "I got my law degree at Dayton." Unless they went to one of the schools and want to play "who'd'ya know?"

I read your post and it reminded me of what I went through. Send me mefi mail and we can talk about it in more detail. First off, this: Congratulations and good on you for continuing to function and go to class!!! Really!!! A lot of people couldn't do it! It sounds like your 3rd year won't be so bad. You don't seem to go to a school that believes the 3rd year should be boot camp hell. The hardest part may be the upcoming summer where you learn you don't have immediate job prospects after graduation. The issue of debt is also something to be concerned about. Have you read this http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/world/asia/29iht-japan.1.14856390.html? The question is whether you are interested in any form of the practice of law. Law school and law practice are two very different things. The practice of law is less intense and more rewarding than many law schools make it out to be. I think you can make it. You're seeing a therapist for the depression. The debt? Defer it. The job? There are places that will hire you without regard to your class standing - especially if you're not taking a job that requires the active practice of law - or if you're willing to work in a rural community - be it in the US or Japan. How do you get a job without regards to your class rank? I'll talk about that in a mefi mail because its kind of off topic for this discussion. The bar exam? You can pass it because - surprise - most people do, even those at the bottom of their classes. Not enough lawyers admit their depression because it still carries a stigma, but I would venture to guess that at least 60% of your peers are going through some version of what you're dealing with.

It's hard for us as outsiders to determine whether your dislike of law school and negative feelings about the law are due to your depression or if that is how you would feel even if you were not suffering the effects of depression. You might consider sticking it out until the end of the school year to see if your perception changes as you begin feeling better.

You have one year left. My advice is to stick it out. It sounds like law school was once a talisman to make your life better -- but that didn't work because your unhappiness was chemical, not situational. Now that you're on the right track to getting your depression under control (meds, therapy), my advice is to finish up while you're this close, rather than throwing in the towel and being right back where you started two years ago. Some law schools offer split degree programs, so you could explore extra-legal career options. Have you considered transferring rather than dropping out altogether? Also bear in mind that you don't have to take the bar to get a job many fields where a JD would help you leg up on whatever professional ladder you decide to climb. From my personal experience: 1. Switching "things" (people, degree programs, cars, houses) will not make you happy if what you are is depressed; 2. The second year of law school sucks worse than the first; 3. The third year of law school is a piece of cake and nothing lifts your spirits like a diploma!

While I would recommend someone considering or entering law school to think very hard about that decision, I really believe you should stick this one out until the end. Please don't take your experience in law school as an indication that you will love or hate practicing the law - many people who hate law school love working as a lawyer, and vice versa (I enjoyed both, but I think this is more rare than you realize.) Law school can be a crushing experience - I've witnessed public meltdowns. But you're in the home stretch. Seriously, 3L year will be your easiest. Focus on two things: 1) your depression, which is the REAL issue here; and 2) the job search - really hit the ground running, and think optimistically if you're able to. Your GPA and law school ranking will preclude you from some jobs, but there are still many you are an excellent candidate for. And while the market is atrocious, there are still jobs being posted everyday, and there are still some newly-minted lawyers getting hired. And this may get easier as the economy slowly recovers (I can't speculate.) Once you start working this may all seem like a distant memory. Working as a lawyer in Japan may be a great route. Someone who is fluent in both English and Japanese is a valuable asset. Be sure to network like crazy during that semester abroad.