grade school through High school rank vs. LS rank

[Aeroplane]

Originally, I was going to ignore your posts after "Yes, I am a 0L" but I could not let this one slide. You will be singing a different tune one day. There are TONS of people that studied harder than me and others that did well. Yet, I was able to pick out the top 3-4 in my section within about a week to a month in class. These people did not study harder than anyone else, except the slackers, yet I had them pegged for the top and they were the top. Intelligence matters, IMO, more than hard work, but if you are more intelligent than the rest of your classmates and you work at least as hard as them, you should be at the top of the class.

I think being able to "pick the top" is probably a non-T14 phenomenon.

+1

I dunno if it's limited to the T14 or not. I'm at Michigan & I can't tell who the top/bottom/median people in my section are. But maybe I'm just dense when it comes to that stuff.

[mac.empress]

Originally, I was going to ignore your posts after "Yes, I am a 0L" but I could not let this one slide. You will be singing a different tune one day. There are TONS of people that studied harder than me and others that did well. Yet, I was able to pick out the top 3-4 in my section within about a week to a month in class. These people did not study harder than anyone else, except the slackers, yet I had them pegged for the top and they were the top. Intelligence matters, IMO, more than hard work, but if you are more intelligent than the rest of your classmates and you work at least as hard as them, you should be at the top of the class.

I think being able to "pick the top" is probably a non-T14 phenomenon.

+1000

You absolutely CANNOT do that at my school.

[mac.empress]

Prep school - Top 2% to Top 5% the whole time (actual ranking)

High School - Top 10% (estimate)

UG1 - Top 10% (actual ranking)

Law School - Top 20% (estimate so far, damn it, I'm gonna freaking improve!)

But the work it takes make Top 20 is brutal!



Edit: I'm realizing I'm getting older and dumber. Hmmn...

[270910]

Prep school - Top 2% to Top 5% the whole time (actual ranking)

High School - Top 10% (estimate)

UG1 - Top 10% (actual ranking)

Law School - Top 20% (estimate so far, damn it, I'm gonna freaking improve!)

But the work it takes make Top 20 is brutal!



Edit: I'm realizing I'm getting older and dumber. Hmmn...

What curve does your school have? I could have sworn your first grades were like a B and a C or something like that? Maybe I have you confused with somebody else?

[jawsthegreat]

HS: 2.3
UG: 3.5
LS:???

[twert]

this turned into sort of an interesting thread. +1 for the 1Ls.

[VMan]

(It will seem like I'm bragging at first here, but keep going through the entire cycle -- you will feel better than me by the end.)

Life previous to HS: Did very little work, consistently the most exceptional student in any school I attended.
High school: Did very little work, top 5-10%.
"T10" liberal arts college: Did very little work, top 1/2. Professors generally liked me.
"T20" law school: Doing some work, bottom 1/4. Professors probably see me for the pathetic slacker I am.

That's what happens when you're accustomed to gliding by your entire life on your wits and charm and no actual hard work, ladies and gents. I've stepped it up a little this semester, but I am still pretty screwed going into the future.

[mikeytwoshoes]

ITT: whip it out and see whose is the biggest!

--ImageRemoved--
ITT TLS eats a cockmeat sandwich.

[A'nold]

To those that did well in high school: Were you guys actually trying? It seems like I had to purposely avoid turning in things to get to my C- sweetspot. I swear even a semi competent person could have finishised in the top 5 students at my high school without breaking a sweat. You guys must have gone to good high schools or something.

[prezidentv8]

To those that did well in high school: Were you guys actually trying? It seems like I had to purposely avoid turning in things to get to my C- sweetspot. I swear even a semi competent person could have finishised in the top 5 students at my high school without breaking a sweat. You guys must have gone to good high schools or something.

We had an awesome robotics team.

[09042014]

Top 2% of my high school. About exactly bottom 1/3 in college. Law school admissions are dumb, why am I going to a T13?

[Mattalones]

Top 2% of my high school. About exactly bottom 1/3 in college. Law school admissions are dumb, why am I going to a T13?

... What I am wondering is how you have over 6,200 posts in only a few months of TLS. Whoa!

[09042014]

Top 2% of my high school. About exactly bottom 1/3 in college. Law school admissions are dumb, why am I going to a T13?

... What I am wondering is how you have over 6,200 posts in only a few months

That same work ethic that I had in undergrad applies to my job. They pretend to pay me, I pretend to work. Somehow I still do better work than my coworkers. I think my company must be an elaborate drug front or something.

[Mattalones]

Top 2% of my high school. About exactly bottom 1/3 in college. Law school admissions are dumb, why am I going to a T13?

... What I am wondering is how you have over 6,200 posts in only a few months

That same work ethic that I had in undergrad applies to my job. They pretend to pay me, I pretend to work. Somehow I still do better work than my coworkers. I think my company must be an elaborate drug front or something.

Impressive! I think it sounds like you have a good setup right now ... Why give it up for LS? TLS ... LS ... tough tradeoff.

[jnorsky]

Terrible grades in elementary school. Great grades in middle school + great score on entrance exam -> great magnet HS. Mediocre grades in HS + great SAT -> T50 UG. Terrible grades in UG + great LSAT -> T14 LS.

Good grades in LS -> Mattalones is confused.

This makes me happy. Work ethic has always been a problem of mine......."should I study for my test, or go out drinking till 4? That blonde over there is cute, ill drink till 4."

[A'nold]

Top 2% of my high school. About exactly bottom 1/3 in college. Law school admissions are dumb, why am I going to a T13?

So, you go to Cornell then?

[09042014]

Top 2% of my high school. About exactly bottom 1/3 in college. Law school admissions are dumb, why am I going to a T13?

So, you go to Cornell then?

Haha no, T13 is an idea I'm pushing hard. Gtown only places as well as UT, UCLA, and Vandy so I exclude it from the T14.

[OperaSoprano]

Grade school -> High school: median student. Personal issues caused a couple of bad semesters, and I was rescued by a decent, though not amazing SAT score.

UG #1: left here with a 2.9, and I didn't even know it at the time. This is what happens when you get a semester's worth of medical withdrawals that turn into Fs. Not recommended.

UG #2: 3.6, but I was coasting. I interned and worked about 30 hours a week by my senior year. Of course I got LSAC pwn't, and had to send law schools a cumulative GPA that wasn't likely to impress anyone.

Law school: Definitely not coasting. I saw my classmates going to bars and having fun, but I was generally too terrified to join them. I still feel guilty for going out when I know I should be working. I wanted to do well, because I felt my background in fashion meant that I would need higher grades to have the same opportunities open to my classmates. I don't know whether this is sustainable; I only hope I can keep my grades up. (I can't post my estimated rank for reasons of non-anonymity. People already tried to ambush my grades out of me. I don't know why they want to know... GPA obsession is not fun at all. I wish I could stop worrying about them.)

[A'nold]

Grade school -> High school: median student. Personal issues caused a couple of bad semesters, and I was rescued by a decent, though not amazing SAT score.

UG #1: left here with a 2.9, and I didn't even know it at the time. This is what happens when you get a semester's worth of medical withdrawals that turn into Fs. Not recommended.

UG #2: 3.6, but I was coasting. I interned and worked about 30 hours a week by my senior year. Of course I got LSAC pwn't, and had to send law schools a cumulative GPA that wasn't likely to impress anyone.

Law school: Definitely not coasting. I saw my classmates going to bars and having fun, but I was generally too terrified to join them. I still feel guilty for going out when I know I should be working. I wanted to do well, because I felt my background in fashion meant that I would need higher grades to have the same opportunities open to my classmates. I don't know whether this is sustainable; I only hope I can keep my grades up. (I can't post my estimated rank for reasons of non-anonymity. People already tried to ambush my grades out of me. I don't know why they want to know... GPA obsession is not fun at all. I wish I could stop worrying about them.)

I'm pretty sure my grades are common news now. I kept getting into convo's w/ classmates that were ranting and raving about how they were screwed and flat out told me their grades. I have a very hard time being rude to people so I either answer honestly or end up feeling like crap if I don't b/c they just up and told me their GPA and rank. I always condition it with like, "oh, I got so lucky b/c I guess the right way to rack up checkmarks" or something like that and then try to encourage them. I'm just too much of a pushover I guess.

[OperaSoprano]

Grade school -> High school: median student. Personal issues caused a couple of bad semesters, and I was rescued by a decent, though not amazing SAT score.

UG #1: left here with a 2.9, and I didn't even know it at the time. This is what happens when you get a semester's worth of medical withdrawals that turn into Fs. Not recommended.

UG #2: 3.6, but I was coasting. I interned and worked about 30 hours a week by my senior year. Of course I got LSAC pwn't, and had to send law schools a cumulative GPA that wasn't likely to impress anyone.

Law school: Definitely not coasting. I saw my classmates going to bars and having fun, but I was generally too terrified to join them. I still feel guilty for going out when I know I should be working. I wanted to do well, because I felt my background in fashion meant that I would need higher grades to have the same opportunities open to my classmates. I don't know whether this is sustainable; I only hope I can keep my grades up. (I can't post my estimated rank for reasons of non-anonymity. People already tried to ambush my grades out of me. I don't know why they want to know... GPA obsession is not fun at all. I wish I could stop worrying about them.)

I'm pretty sure my grades are common news now. I kept getting into convo's w/ classmates that were ranting and raving about how they were screwed and flat out told me their grades. I have a very hard time being rude to people so I either answer honestly or end up feeling like crap if I don't b/c they just up and told me their GPA and rank. I always condition it with like, "oh, I got so lucky b/c I guess the right way to rack up checkmarks" or something like that and then try to encourage them. I'm just too much of a pushover I guess.

People bought me drinks to try to get me to talk. I didn't want my grades to be common knowledge, because I was happy, but also vaguely uncomfortable. My first instinct was to run to self deprecation, and that earned me a lecture from Ray in grade management etiquette. He told me the less I said, the happier I would be in the long run. He's usually right, but that didn't stop the numbers from turning over in my mind on an endless loop. I told myself it was 100% luck, because I really didn't feel that I deserved it. I'm not #1 in my section or anything, though.

[BobSacamano]

I go to a school in that meaty 50-75 range, and I definitely can't pick out the top people. I'm pretty sure nobody would guess that I finished the first semester near the top 5%, mostly because I didn't say a word in any of my classes except when I was cold called. Despite not being a T14, my classmates are quite smart (at least on the surface). Novel concept, I know...

Anyways, as to the ranking thing:

Grade school - seriously? There are grade school rankings?
High school - just out of the top 10% at a crappy high school (didn't study for one test outside of a math class my entire four years!)
UG - no idea, I think top 30% roughly.
Law school - somewhere in the top 10%, school doesn't rank.

[Mattalones]

I go to a school in that meaty 50-75 range, and I definitely can't pick out the top people. I'm pretty sure nobody would guess that I finished the first semester near the top 5%, mostly because I didn't say a word in any of my classes except when I was cold called. Despite not being a T14, my classmates are quite smart (at least on the surface). Novel concept, I know...

Anyways, as to the ranking thing:

Grade school - seriously? There are grade school rankings?
High school - just out of the top 10% at a crappy high school (didn't study for one test outside of a math class my entire four years!)
UG - no idea, I think top 30% roughly.
Law school - somewhere in the top 10%, school doesn't rank.

Which schools outside the T14 are in the 50-75 range (If you were talking about NLJ250+Clerkship placement). Unless you are talking about school rankings ... can't tell.

[rayiner]

Top 2% of my high school. About exactly bottom 1/3 in college. Law school admissions are dumb, why am I going to a T13?

... What I am wondering is how you have over 6,200 posts in only a few months

That same work ethic that I had in undergrad applies to my job. They pretend to pay me, I pretend to work. Somehow I still do better work than my coworkers. I think my company must be an elaborate drug front or something.

+1.

[rayiner]

Terrible grades in elementary school. Great grades in middle school + great score on entrance exam -> great magnet HS. Mediocre grades in HS + great SAT -> T50 UG. Terrible grades in UG + great LSAT -> T14 LS.

Good grades in LS -> Mattalones is confused.

This makes me happy. Work ethic has always been a problem of mine......."should I study for my test, or go out drinking till 4? That blonde over there is cute, ill drink till 4."

You don't have to stop drinking till 4...

[mac.empress]

Prep school - Top 2% to Top 5% the whole time (actual ranking)

High School - Top 10% (estimate)

UG1 - Top 10% (actual ranking)

Law School - Top 20% (estimate so far, damn it, I'm gonna freaking improve!)

But the work it takes make Top 20 is brutal!



Edit: I'm realizing I'm getting older and dumber. Hmmn...

What curve does your school have? I could have sworn your first grades were like a B and a C or something like that? Maybe I have you confused with somebody else?

No, that was me.

Br./Commonwealth Law schools don't curve at all. Combine that with a brilliant "teacher" that couldn't teach and a weird "revised" Crim paper and I'm not doing badly. Only two courses affected our G.P.A. last semester that's why I ranked decently. I just have to learn to write exams better now.

Btw, it's a B+ .

Edit 2: After consultation with a friend, I may not be top 20% but certainly top 50%. But I go to the #1 ranked school here. So I'm not panicked...yet.