Law School Drop Out turned History Grad Student Hopeful - Advise Needed

[historygradhopeful1]

After having a good undergraduate education in Middle Eastern Studies from a respected public institutions, including 2 study abroads, developing advanced proficiency in Arabic, conducting research in the region, having my senior thesis featured by university, and graduating undergrad with a 3.8...I made a mistake - the biggest mistake of my life.

I should have followed my heart as I knew I wanted to be a Historian of the Middle East. That being said, I was pressured to do something "practical" and went to law school...a good one, but by no means Harvard. Needless to say, the law was not for me. I realized that after my first year as I hated the subject matter and my grades were pretty lousy, so I am a drop out. On top of that, law schools grade on a forced curve so my GPA would have been better at a school that has a higher set median GPA. I was also working close to full time during my 1L year - another big mistake.

As I finish up my grad school applications, this huge blemish on educational history is starting to give me quite a bit of anxiety. Will I be able to get into Masters/Doctoral Programs in Middle East Studies or Middle Eastern History? I'm applying to both MA and PhD level although my ultimate goal is the PhD.

For the schools that want statement of interest, I address it and try to explain it while taking responsibility, but I am unsure as to how they will view it and the best way to phrase it.

For schools that want research proposals, I may just send in an addendum to my application to explain the situation.

Needless to say, I am worried that dropping out of law school and having an abysmal 2.7 Law School GPA will end any hope for an MA program, let alone a PhD program. Or that if I do get into a terminal MA and apply on to PhDs when done, there still won't be any hope. If only I could turn back time.

Help!

[Mal83]

Well I can't say anything with much certainty about this, but I would think that because Law school is not really related to what you actually want to do, as in it's a complete departure, that perhaps, if you can explain it in your SOP, that it might not be a deal breaker. Something brief of course like "After realizing that Law School was not my passion I've decided to return to my area of true interest..." Something to that effect. In a sentence or two like that you can explain it away, you didn't really want to be there, it wasn't for you so you're switching gears and actually returning to what you've spent you're undergrad career doing. Because you are pursuing something that's basically a continuation of your undergrad degree, admissions is going to be most interested in your accomplishments and academic performance during that time and of course that will provide the best indicators for success in a master's program. It's not as if you're going from English to Engineering or something like that, I can't really imagine an admissions committee tossing your application to a Middle Eastern Studies program because Law school didn't work out for you, academically there's no connection between the two. A lot of people do other things that don't work out so well or are just unsatisfying in between undergrad and grad school, for many of us, it takes experiencing a few of those things before we're completely sure we want to pursue a higher degree in a specific field, I think admissions committees are used to and in tune with the diversity they come across in the applicant pool. You can even spin this into a positive, if anything you're now even more certain and committed to your chosen field after experiencing something else. You definitely can't undo your law school experience, so I wouldn't dwell on that, for the SOPs you have left to do try to spin this as positively as possible and take comfort in the fact that you had a great run in undergrad and you did your best with the applications. Also, realizing that something isn't for you and being able to take the plunge into a new direction is just as valuable an experience as any successful accomplishment in your life, it's all part of the learning curve. Many applicants, maybe even most of them, have at least one weakness they think will be a deal breaker, but as it turns out, a lot of them make out OK.