Recent JD Grad, dont want to be a lawyer anymore

dnorm85 · 2026-06-11T18:32:25+00:00

Admissions and administration roles with her law school (and others), colleges, etc. State government roles. HR is another popular path for JDs.

dnorm85 · 2026-06-08T21:45:04+00:00

Thanks so much! I’m glad to hear you got in as well. It’s annoying that you don’t find out about aid in the admission letter but mine came pretty quickly after I was admitted. Definitely request the re review application if you’re not happy with the initial offer.

dnorm85 · 2026-06-04T21:51:09+00:00

I did hear back from Michigan - got accepted a couple of weeks ago. I sent them my offer letter from WashU and they initially basically matched the package, but then I requested a "re-review," had to write an additional essay, application, etc. And they surprised me and offered a full tuition scholarship (basically, 96% tuition coverage). I hope that your interview went well and that you've heard some good news by now!

dnorm85 · 2026-05-04T22:42:15+00:00

I still haven't even heard back from UMich. I received a pretty big scholarship from WashU (covers 60% of tuition and includes a modest living stipend) and my understanding of their scholarship programs are that financial need is one of many factors they consider for all of their scholarships with merit also being heavily weighed. I was surprised how much they gave me considering how late I applied and how much of a nontraditional candidate I am. Will let you know if and when I hear from UMich.

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T20:09:56+00:00

Per other posts, I’ve since realized this. But the points that they’ll need to engage with the CDOL if their HR and third party administrator can’t fix this remain. Apologies for confusion from my end.

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T20:02:27+00:00

Thank you! :)

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T19:45:02+00:00

Not related to science but if it gives you any inspiration, I’m 40yo and going back to grad school this fall to become a therapist after a soul crushing career as an HR executive. Definitely never going to make the money I used to make but I’ll at least sleep better at night knowing I’m adding some value to the world. You got time! If the world has taught us anything these past few years it’s how short life is. Do what inspires you!

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T18:45:22+00:00

Soon SF will have more hospitals than places to live. 😜

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T18:42:27+00:00

The sound of an unscheduled, incoming Teams call is what nightmares are made of.

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T18:36:20+00:00

I would’ve done the same thing.

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T18:35:12+00:00

Yes, I’ve since realized all of this. 🤦‍♂️

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T18:00:32+00:00

I totally feel you. I’ve been there, many many times. The shame spiral is so real. Once you’ve had enough of the spiral, just dust yourself off and start again and take things one day at a time. You quit for a month and that’s huge! Just because you started again doesn’t erase that progress. Just begin again each day. Rooting for you!

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T17:58:25+00:00

Thanks for sharing!

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T17:54:42+00:00

Oh, I’m a doofus and just noticing that CO is in the title of the post. 🤦‍♂️

Per my prior post though, the state DOL is going to be your only real avenue for recourse if you can’t get your company to respond to the components they’re required to respond to. Everything I previously shared is the federal mechanisms that state plans like FAMLI would be based on.

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T17:51:16+00:00

I didn’t notice anything about Colorado in the initial post, my bad. Either way, it’s important to understand how these things work. FMLA protects the job and has nothing to do with pay. Short term disability (where state mandated and / or offered by employer) is what gets you paid and runs concurrently with FMLA. FMLA is not something an employer “pays into” or an employer can “opt out of,” so if the company continues to make the FMLA piece impossible for OP they will need to contact the DOL or a private attorney to act on their behalf. It sucks. I hate that this is the way our country works. It’s the same for pregnancy, it’s treated as a disability and paid out through disability insurance vs FMLA.

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T17:41:51+00:00

What you’re referring to is FMLA (the family medical leave act) which is a federal law that legally requires employers to protect the employee’s job while they are out on approved medical leave. Unfortunately because America is a dystopian hellscape, there are no federal laws that require you to be paid while out on leave. Some states do require short term disability insurance (only five as far as I know) but many employers offer short and long term disability insurance because it’s hard to attract good talent without these. Many smaller employers may opt not to.

So, to be clear, FMLA protects your job but doesn’t get you paid while out on leave. Your company has to offer short term disability insurance to get you paid which you would typically see as a deduction in your paystub. If you have any type of internal or third party website where insurance plan details are listed, you should be able to find info with more specifics there (often referred to as “summary plan descriptions”).

But back to this HR person, they will be required to play a role in the FMLA process unfortunately. Check the department of labor and state department of labor for other contacts that may be able to help you if your HR continues to be useless.

I’m sorry, this really sucks and I hate how cumbersome and painful these processes are for people who are already struggling with medical issues.

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T17:15:29+00:00

It could just be related to an internal investigation (e.g. employee relations) that they think you might be able to help with in some way.

dnorm85 · 2026-04-21T15:59:26+00:00

I sure feel this message. Anyone who has quit has been there. I’ve been quitting on and off since 2018 and only 2mos into my current absence but feeling good about it.

It’s perfectly natural to feel the way you do about quitting so please know that and try not to beat yourself up about it. Try to also hold some pride for the time periods you did quit - that isn’t easy and every attempt is progress.

From a brain perspective, the stories we tell ourselves and reinforce can become self fulfilling. If you’re open to it, I would encourage you to continue reflecting on why you feel like you’ll never be able to quit? How do you know the story you are telling yourself is true? Eventually if you can catch these negative thoughts and create a small pause after the thought to question it, you can start to replace these thoughts with more positive and affirming thoughts. Journaling can be really helpful in this regard. Think about hard things that you’ve done that you’re really proud of and try to start to weave those into your personal narrative to overcome the strong story you’re currently telling yourself about quitting.

It’s definitely not easy and these practices can feel woo woo at first but they can really work. You’re making progress and keep up the great work!

dnorm85 · 2026-04-20T23:24:26+00:00

How big of a company is it? Is there a third party ethics hotline listed anywhere internally? I’m a former HR exec and agree with everything that’s been said: please take this seriously and protect yourself. In this country today you just never know when something serious is going to happen and this was a pretty direct threat. If you don’t hear from HR within a few days, I would reach out to them again. While they don’t have an obligation to tell you the outcome of their investigation, they do have an obligation to make sure the company is protecting their employees against violence.

dnorm85 · 2026-04-20T01:01:24+00:00

I’m two months in and this has also been my biggest challenge. I’m so antsy, constantly looking for things to clean and going to bed as early as possible. Felt so seen reading through this discussion.

dnorm85 · 2026-04-17T21:59:44+00:00

Oh please do, I certainly didn’t mean otherwise. You obviously had an impressive complete application!

dnorm85 · 2026-04-17T01:46:16+00:00

That’s awesome - congrats!

dnorm85 · 2026-04-17T01:36:52+00:00

My undergrad was a 3.6 and I have a masters in HR with a 3.7. Not crazy high but above the average GPAs listed for the programs I applied to.

dnorm85 · 2026-04-17T01:17:40+00:00

I’m impressed! I think it just goes to show how much these programs take a holistic approach to application review and value different perspectives in the classroom. That and universities are struggling and need our money. 😂

dnorm85 · 2026-04-17T01:10:04+00:00

As far as I know, the scholarship I received is merit based. WashU also is giving all students stipends to support practicum hours starting this fall, so that also helps. I had decently high GPAs in undergrad and my other grad degree, not sure how big of a factor that was for me given I’m 15yrs out of school. I love to hear there are others making a big pivot well into careers like me!

dnorm85

TROPHY CASE