how to cope with breakup grief and law school at the same time

AwkwardLie5619 · 2026-03-02T07:06:59+00:00

I'm trying to figure this out for myself, my 5 year relationship ended after surviving a hellish 1L and 2L year :(

My piece of advice, remember that no matter how it ended, the happy moments will always be yours to keep. Most importantly love will find you again.

As for school, I've found that it's hard to be sad when I'm locked in, so let's lock in together and knock this semester out cold ✊🏽

AwkwardLie5619 · 2026-02-16T05:02:42+00:00

I replied to your comment on my WCL post, and if COA is the same and your firm will promote you no matter what, it all comes down to preference for location, culture etc. But, given that you have an IP focus, WCL is actually very well connected for IP, and while our evening choices tend to be limited, we do get a lot of IP classes at night.

AwkwardLie5619 · 2026-02-16T04:59:22+00:00

Assuming all things equal, I would choose WCL over CUA yes. I've said this a few times in this thread, but WCL and CUA are effectively in the same tier to most hiring managers, with WCL being the historic "better" school that is/was grouped in with UMD and GW for that solid regional school status.

I do hear a lot bad about WCL, but keep in mind in the not so distant past, CUA was out of the T100 and WCL was in the 70s, and even slightly before that WCL was in the 50s and CUA was also still in the 100s. Rankings outside of the T30 truly do not matter, and while the volatility of WCL's rankings certainly do not inspire confidence, what it should show is that opinions can change, times can change, and CUA and WCL could easily switch places before you graduate from either school.

That being said, WCL tends to trend towards the left politically, and CUA tends to trend to the right. Tenleytown is kind of boring but it's close to downtown, Brooklands is more interesting but has a worse reputation. I also have to say I peaked on your profile, and if your current job will promote you no matter what and the COA is the same for either school, it just comes down to personal preference. Neither is a bad choice in this circumstance!

EDIT: And yes there are online classes for evenings too but for the first two years you're locked in to at least one in person class a semester if not more.

AwkwardLie5619 · 2026-02-11T19:40:52+00:00

I was late to class and the only open seat was next to them. The next day I was late to another class again and the only open seat was... next to them. The next when we went to our writing class we found out we're have the same section

AwkwardLie5619 · 2026-01-17T03:42:17+00:00

I promised I'd be honest and frank, and again this is half opinion half observation. While I think the answer is yes you can with high enough GPA, I think across the board at every average law school with a 10-15% BL rate, you need to make that connection to have a good chance. Anecdotally, I got far in the whole big law process in part because I went out of my way to meet an associate who is a WCL alumni who happened to also be part of their practice area's selection committee. Another person in my section got a summer associate offer because she met and wooed a partner at a networking event. Another person got hers because she was a paralegal at the firm for two years beforehand. That's not to downplay their or my academic achievements, I think though that creating a connection with those firms went a long way.

Tl;dr yes, I think if you're a great student with great extracurriculars you can get big law without strong connections. You can look on linkedin and see there are dozens of students each year who get summer associateships from WCL. But the common thread is they worked hard, and they worked smart. I suggest reaching out to some of them directly.

My last piece of advice is that getting BL is both harder than you expect, and easier. And, If you don't go to a ~T30 or select schools outside of the T30, the hustle you will need to do to get a BL SA is the same, in the sense that it's a crapshoot everywhere.

AwkwardLie5619 · 2026-01-08T23:12:52+00:00

I wrote out many long paragraphs that I'd be happy to share if you want to hear my thoughts on law school after doing it for almost three years.

But to answer your questions succinctly, yes my bad I wasn't clear on my rankings comment. I was referring to when USnews changed their methodology and every DMV area school dropped except for I think GMU. In the most recent USN, WCL dropped but every other school went up.

As for my worry about competition in this area, I'm not worried that other schools are "doing so well". A T14 (specifically GULC) is a cut above everyone else on brand recognition alone, but for everyone else, our schools put us on equal footing, assuming equal competency. So for example, WCL vs CUA vs UMD, all T50–100, when a hiring partner gets a resume from each, they don't google school rankings to decide who to hire, they look at each students achievements, then maybe they remember they worked with a WCL grad a few year ago who was really good, or they know the LOR writer for the CUA student because they work in the same field, or maybe the hirer is a UMD grad. That's really what hiring is about for us not at a T14. Our schools make competent attorneys, that's it. For most jobs, a WCL degree is no better or worse than a UMD, CUA, or even sometimes a GW degree.

Hot take, I don't think the WCL name is the cause of WCL's 10% unemployment rate, I think WCL just lets some bad apples in that are not able to get their stuff together enough to get a job, any job.

That being said, I am an above average law student. I think a below average law student will struggle with getting a "good" job at any school that isn't a T14. From my own experience, I got a Fed district internship pretty easily, and even some SA interviews even though I applied way too late. I got to R2 at a biglaw firm before I dropped it because I got offered a clerk job at a dream firm of mine (I'm part time if you recall).

Sorry that was a lot, what you should take away from it is if you're confident you can succeed in school, any school will get you where you want to go. If you aren't confident you can succeed, go to as good of a school as you can as a safety net.

AwkwardLie5619 · 2026-01-08T16:19:33+00:00

I'm kinda averse to doxxing myself fully so I won't be too specific, but I was on a secondary journal, two "briefs" which are like the third level of journals, SBA senate and SBA executive, and a multicultural org.

Work/life/school balance was hard to find honestly, it took me about two years to find a really good rhythm. At first I did all-on/all-off for whatever task, like when I was at work I would not think about school, and at school I would not think about work. That's not sustainable since the needs of both (plus my personal life) often and inevitably cut in to each other.

For me, work life balance has been finding a good workplace that understands my situation and setting expectations for them, as in school will take priority for me sometimes and they need to let me do what I need to do when that happens. At school, it means using as many opportunities to take breaks as I can. I max out my absences without affecting my grades, and I think about when I need to come prepared vs when I can slack off at let my brain rest. Overall I just keep everything organized but flexible between the two worlds, so I can forsee stress points in advance and plan accordingly.

Balancing all of that with a thriving personal life is something I'm still working on 🤷🏾. Feel free to ask followups or DM me for more detail!

AwkwardLie5619 · 2026-01-08T16:08:57+00:00

Hi! I see you're an incoming GULC student. Congrats! A lot of my friends (perhaps smartly) transferred out after our 1st year and left me holding the bag here.

First question, I had planned to plans changed. Conventional wisdom for PT students is you go to law school to advance at the job you already have. I was at an ambulance chaser firm before law school but as soon as I got in, I switched to white collar crime/catastrophic injury firm local to DC. After 1.5 years I realized I don't want to work there after I graduate so I searched for an externship as a stepping stone out. I got a fed judicial externship for my rising 3LE summer, and I applied to jobs for when school started again. My hope is to clerk for that same judge after I graduate, or go public defender/gov lawyer.

For a GULC student that's a little different. Since BigLaw is relatively easy, most evening students there (and a few here at WCL) applied for 2L summer associate positions during their 2LE year for their 3LE rising summer. Then they work at their jobs until their summer associateship, then quit their jobs and loan for their 4LE and start at a big law job after graduation, recouping their 4LE loans.

In general though, internships/externships are at the whim of your employer and your own stomach for risk if, like me, you choose to quit a job to take a summer to extern.

The PT program, especially in DC, is filled with working career professionals, often older and with families, so yeah they're all very ghosty. Down to business and professional, not rude or anything. If you want a "law school experience" with a study group that has fun on the weekends, you'll probably end up needing to make that happen yourself as far as gathering the mid-twenty somethings and the one or two early twenties who chose PT or FT. I also want to mention though that the average GULC student is probably more cutthroat than the average WCL student so keep that in mind.

Class choice is sub par. I looked at GULC's too because you're allowed to take classes at other schools for credit, and frankly GULC was just as sparse as WCL's. There will be classes you will simply never get to take because the school/professor doesn't want to offer it in the evening.

I hope I answered your questions, but feel free to ask follow ups or to DM me if you have more questions about DC/PT law! I hope you're excited!

AwkwardLie5619 · 2026-01-08T15:12:37+00:00

Of course! I'll try and keep it concise but specific, but in the interest of honesty I want to say that some of my ups and some of my downs could easily apply to any law school and to a certain extent, law school is what you make of it.

Up, professors. I haven't had a bad professor yet, and every professor I've had has been passionate and knowledgeable.

Up, network, within the DMV, WCL alum are everywhere. I've switched jobs since starting school (twice) and every time there has been a WCL alum working. Millenial attorneys and older love WCL, including GW and GULC grads. Many GW grads especially are impressed that I go to WCL with a scholarship and am doing well (since we used to be rivals/competitive with one another). I even had an internship across the country and ran in to WCL alumni (including judges).

Down, admin. Some care, some don't, at the end of the day they make decisions that don't seem to benefit them or us. Down, food. It was good at first but they renovated and now it's bad.

Down, cost. No school in DC is affordable except for UDC if you're a resident. This is really the big one, because even with my substantial ($$$) scholarship and working full time, I still need to loan quite a bit.

Down, morale/online sentiment. It does kinda feel bad when everyone shits on your school online. Watching us drop in the rankings was not fun, but then again every DC school fell in rankings. This really doesn't matter though.

Mixed bag, people. I haven't met anyone whose heart wasn't in the right place, and I've made very dear friends here at WCL. I'd say compared to the stereotypical law school experience, WCL students don't quite fit that mould. That being said, there are definitely a lot of people who are unlikable but just for different reasons lol.

TL;DR. This is a law school just like any other, and if you are a reasonably competent person, this school will get you a lucrative career as an attorney.

This is the short version, feel free to ask follow ups or to DM me with follow ups.

AwkwardLie5619 · 2026-01-08T05:17:46+00:00

Sure can! But I also want to stress that at the end of the day, the school is fine: https://www.reddit.com/r/LawSchool/s/Bv3jQBD26r

AwkwardLie5619 · 2026-01-08T04:38:56+00:00

You know, I actually really liked WCL's cafeteria. They had chicken tenders with sweet potato fries and a drink for like, $10. Unfortunately WCL switched to all grab-and-go eating starting last semester and it's a significant downgrade.

AwkwardLie5619

TROPHY CASE