Tungston

In short: I didn't do very well in undergrad (it was like a 2.9 I think, with the worst grades highly concentrated in my second year). I tried to make that better by applying to an MA program in philosophy, where I got a 3.96. I applied to PhD programs last cycle, and I was actually high on a few waitlists (e.g. UVA, Amherst,and I was actually first on the waitlist at Iowa), but I didn't get in (in at least two cases, I was explicitly told they had to drop their waitlist because of COVID). However, I did get into a second-tier law school, and decided to attend, thinking that if I couldn't get a PhD in philosophy I could be a lawyer and/or try again next cycle. So I figured I could bide my time in law school, fix up my application, and reapply . I got a lot of very helpful advice on my application from committee insiders, and I decided to try again this time. Unfortunately, something I never expected happened: I got destroyed in law school. Like, the worst grades I have ever gotten in anything ever I got in law school. I'm in my second semester, and I'm considering dropping out because I'm afraid of what my final transcript is going to look like. My first semester was one B+ and the rest Cs and C-s. This is literally the worst I've ever done in anything. I studied hard, I genuinely tried to do well, but I just got eviscerated. I'm now terrified that I've just completely screwed up my chances of ever getting into a PhD because I made a really stupid decision to go to law school, and I'm frustrated and angry at myself both for not being better at law than I am, and for making the foolish decision to go to law school in the first place. I'm sitting here, waiting on 15 applications (putting special hope on those that I sent in before I got my first semester grades, terrified that this one decision to go to law school may have cost me any future opportunity at getting into a PhD program. How do committees look at stuff like this?