ZugTheMegasaurus

Hopefully this is the best subforum for this topic; it's certainly a decision! I'm currently in my second semester of my 1L year. I had a really difficult time choosing between law school and pursuing a doctorate degree in history, and I'm something like 99% sure that I made the wrong choice. Simply put, I hate law school. I hate the subject matter; everything except criminal law is just another way of determining who gets the money in some given situation. It bores me to tears. My eyes just glaze over when I'm reading. The law school culture is irritating at best. I can't stand the constant push to shmooze and "network" with people -- as well as knowing that doing so is pretty much a necessity if I ever want a job. I can't focus and I just don't care about it. As a result, my grades are in the toilet. While I'm confident I can bring them within a respectable range at the end of this semester, I can't imagine doing this for another two years, and especially racking up $200K in debt in the process. Moreover, I realize now that where I thought I was a professional lawyer with a strong interest in history, I think I'm actually more suited to be a professional academic with a strong interest in law. Yesterday in my Constitutional Law class, the class was discussing legal bases for American slavery, going over things like the Dred Scott case and Emancipation Proclamation. In my UG, I focused strongly on Civil War-era black history, so this topic was right up my alley. When we discussed that in class, I completely felt my attitude change. I wanted to hear what was being discussed, and I could focus on the readings, and the time just flew by. It hit me like a ton of bricks: this is what I'm supposed to be doing. But now I'm between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, I don't want to walk away with $52K in debt and nothing to show for it. On the other hand, I don't want to sink even more in and end up doing something I hate doing. My tentative plan is this: take a leave of absence from the law school, spend that time applying to MA programs in history. If I get accepted (which I hope is a possibility even with the bad law school grades, assuming I explain the extremely poor fit between myself and the program), I complete the MA, using the opportunity to build up good relationships with professors, ultimately using it to apply to PhD program down the road. If I don't get accepted, I can still go back to law school (since the leave of absence allows for immediate readmission) and finish my JD. I'd love any insight anyone can give me on this matter; it's really stressing me beyond belief.