Impact Of a W On Firm Hiring? Forum
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
-
- Posts: 428474
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Impact Of a W On Firm Hiring?
I have a class that I never got around to studying for, reading for or going to. I figured I could outline it all today - the reading was quite slight - but I was distracted by the stunning news of the Chris Paul veto. It turns out that at my school if I don't take the exam I'll simply be withdrawn from the course. I'm a 3L with a clerkship and a near-perfect GPA; I plan to apply to firms during the clerkship. If I were to get a B, it'd be the worst grade I ever got in law school. I think it's possible that I could get a B+/A-, but it's possible that I wouldn't. Possible that I could do pretty badly. I'm trying to at least stay in the top 5-10% of the class. Would a W do much harm? Because I took a bunch of seminars for my last semester, I had to load up on courses this semester, so this is my sixth class. I could easily say that with journal work and all the classes, I realized after add/drop period - which had closed by the time I was back from applying to clerkships - that I didn't have time for all the classes.
- MrKappus
- Posts: 1685
- Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:46 am
Re: Impact Of a W On Firm Hiring?
W looks a lot worse than a B. Given that you (1) might pull it out anyway; (2) have a clerkship that'll help paint over a single lackluster grade; and (3) have great grades otherwise, I'd say take the final. The benefit (not having a W, which many think indicates a C, or worse) outweighs the potential cost (a *gasp* "B").Anonymous User wrote:I have a class that I never got around to studying for, reading for or going to. I figured I could outline it all today - the reading was quite slight - but I was distracted by the stunning news of the Chris Paul veto. It turns out that at my school if I don't take the exam I'll simply be withdrawn from the course. I'm a 3L with a clerkship and a near-perfect GPA; I plan to apply to firms during the clerkship. If I were to get a B, it'd be the worst grade I ever got in law school. I think it's possible that I could get a B+/A-, but it's possible that I wouldn't. Possible that I could do pretty badly. I'm trying to at least stay in the top 5-10% of the class. Would a W do much harm? Because I took a bunch of seminars for my last semester, I had to load up on courses this semester, so this is my sixth class. I could easily say that with journal work and all the classes, I realized after add/drop period - which had closed by the time I was back from applying to clerkships - that I didn't have time for all the classes.
- vanwinkle
- Posts: 8953
- Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 3:02 am
Re: Impact Of a W On Firm Hiring?
I don't see how a single W could hurt that much, especially if you do well in your remaining classes.
- MrKappus
- Posts: 1685
- Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:46 am
Re: Impact Of a W On Firm Hiring?
It can't hurt that much, but it's definitely worse than B, right?vanwinkle wrote:I don't see how a single W could hurt that much, especially if you do well in your remaining classes.
- vanwinkle
- Posts: 8953
- Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 3:02 am
Re: Impact Of a W On Firm Hiring?
Only if it's punitive, IMO.MrKappus wrote:It can't hurt that much, but it's definitely worse than B, right?vanwinkle wrote:I don't see how a single W could hurt that much, especially if you do well in your remaining classes.
Who thinks a W means a C? It means you never finished the class, and you didn't even get a grade to hide. That seems kind of ridiculous to me. Maybe if you had a row of them, but just one is easily explainable.
-
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:24 pm
Re: Impact Of a W On Firm Hiring?
I think a W would look much worse than a B. I have no authoritative basis for saying this (I'm not a hiring partner, obviously), but if I saw a W I would basically assume the person withdrew because they were literally going to fail (or get a C). A B may not be good compared to your other grades, but a W will look even worse. Unless you're actually worried about failing or getting a C, take the exam.
I'd also add that few people are going to ask you to provide the explanation you outlined above. They'll just look at your transcript and assume.
I'd also add that few people are going to ask you to provide the explanation you outlined above. They'll just look at your transcript and assume.
Want to continue reading?
Register now to search topics and post comments!
Absolutely FREE!
Already a member? Login