Top Law Schools

I am an out-of-state applicant w/ relevant/transferable work experience. Partners at CA biglaw also said so. My problem is mediocre 1L GPA...

Edit: I am a 3L and my 2L grade is like top 30% from T30.(one semester top 10% but the other semester is only 50% so by estimate I guess it would be like 30%ish)

are you a 2L? I'm assuming so since you only mentioned 1L gpa. if that's the case, you should be focusing on networking and improving your grades for 3L oci. worry about the bar later

Abbie Doobie wrote:are you a 2L? I'm assuming so since you only mentioned 1L gpa. if that's the case, you should be focusing on networking and improving your grades for 3L oci. worry about the bar later

Thanks and I am a 3L. I need to decide which bar to take...

Anonymous User wrote:I am an out-of-state applicant w/ relevant/transferable work experience. Partners at CA biglaw also said so. My problem is mediocre 1L GPA...

Edit: I am a 3L and my 2L grade is like top 30% from T30.(one semester top 10% but the other semester is only 50% so by estimate I guess it would be like 30%ish)

No it will actually hurt your chances if you take the bar exam of the state in which you plan on practicing.

Before you start thinking about the bar, you'll need to be able to properly articulate the answer a few questions:

Why California?
Do you have family there, or any other ties to the area?
Have you ever been there, and spent time there before?
Where in California do you want to be? California is a pretty big state and the legal markets are very different in NorCal and SoCal (i.e. some practice groups might be much more prevalent in one area and not the other).
If you had your pick of the litter, what type of law would you like to practice?

CA is great, but in reality, the legal market is over-saturated and it might be hard to get a job from out of state with medicare grades and no ties to the area. Have your summer internships been in CA? If not, you'll may have an even tougher time having someone believe that you really want to be there. You'll need a better reason other than the weather.

After you can answer all those questions, you'll next need to ask yourself if you are you committed to California. Meaning, would you be willing to take the bar and move out there to search for a job, even if you haven't lined one up before gradating?

If the answer to this last question is yes, than you've already got your answer. Take the bar in CA and figure the rest out as you go, even if that means not being certain about where you'll end up after results come out. But just know, that you'll likely need to (or at least would be much better off) living in the area that you'd like to work, after you take the bar. This will allow you to get out and network, as well as being local for interviewing.

One last reality check might be that as a 3L, going into biglaw might be a bit of a stretch. Entry level hiring, at least in California, is far and few between. It happens, but only at some firms and only one or two people at most. You'll be competing for those positions with tons of other people, many who might have better grades, from better schools, with better ties to the area. So if you are only looking at biglaw, and that's all you want, I think you will need to reassess your chances of success before you go committing to any state's bar exam.

CA is a brutal market to crack into, not sure bar passage will add anything to your chances.