What happens to students who are in the bottom half of the class? Forum

[studyingeveryday]

I've read a lot on tls about needing to be in the top 5%/10%/15% etc. for the best jobs/for biglaw. Obviously, not everyone can be the best and be in the top 5%/10%/15% etc of their class. For students who end up in the bottom half of the class, or even towards the very bottom of the class, does that just eliminate chances for biglaw? How does that affect their getting any job?

Curious about this for t14 but also t2 schools too.

[bacillusanthracis]

They're erased from all the pictures and memories of those who knew them, doomed to wander as ghosts between this world and the next, wailing out forever, "Woe is me to have never worked in the corporate world!" Their chains rattle at the tragic lost opportunity of never experiencing the paradise of billable hours and mountains of documents.

It's really quite sad.

Or maybe that's not true and they just go on to find jobs in the vast field of legal work.

[TLSModBot]

They get mulched into a nutritional paste and fed to the stronger and more successful members of the law school herd.

[cavalier1138]

To provide a slightly more serious answer than you've gotten so far...

In T14 schools, you'll still end up with a good job. At HYSCCN, you can basically sleepwalk into a biglaw job if you want it.

But once you get into the T20, you start needing to be in the top third of the class to have a shot at biglaw. And after that, it's a pretty steep drop off, meaning that biglaw will only be available to the top 10% of the class. Once you get into T2 territory, the bottom half of the class will be doing small to mid-sized local firms, maybe some local PI, ADA work, etc. When you get into third and fourth-tier territory, a large chunk of the bottom half of the class will have been kicked out to protect bar passage rates, and the remainder will not be working as lawyers. At those schools, even being above median doesn't guarantee a decent job as a lawyer, and you have to be at the tippy-top of your class to be considered for biglaw.

[studyingeveryday]

To provide a slightly more serious answer than you've gotten so far...

In T14 schools, you'll still end up with a good job. At HYSCCN, you can basically sleepwalk into a biglaw job if you want it.

But once you get into the T20, you start needing to be in the top third of the class to have a shot at biglaw. And after that, it's a pretty steep drop off, meaning that biglaw will only be available to the top 10% of the class. Once you get into T2 territory, the bottom half of the class will be doing small to mid-sized local firms, maybe some local PI, ADA work, etc. When you get into third and fourth-tier territory, a large chunk of the bottom half of the class will have been kicked out to protect bar passage rates, and the remainder will not be working as lawyers. At those schools, even being above median doesn't guarantee a decent job as a lawyer, and you have to be at the tippy-top of your class to be considered for biglaw.

thank you for the thorough answer! (other answers were quite entertaining though lol)

[AZ123]

To provide a slightly more serious answer than you've gotten so far...

In T14 schools, you'll still end up with a good job. At HYSCCN, you can basically sleepwalk into a biglaw job if you want it.

But once you get into the T20, you start needing to be in the top third of the class to have a shot at biglaw. And after that, it's a pretty steep drop off, meaning that biglaw will only be available to the top 10% of the class. Once you get into T2 territory, the bottom half of the class will be doing small to mid-sized local firms, maybe some local PI, ADA work, etc. When you get into third and fourth-tier territory, a large chunk of the bottom half of the class will have been kicked out to protect bar passage rates, and the remainder will not be working as lawyers. At those schools, even being above median doesn't guarantee a decent job as a lawyer, and you have to be at the tippy-top of your class to be considered for biglaw.

This seems pretty accurate. I would add that bottom-half students at t-14 can still get great jobs, it will just require more hustling. An above median student can sometimes just go to oci and be pretty successful, while someone below average will probably need to network and apply to more jobs outside of just oci.

[Barack O'Drama]

They're erased from all the pictures and memories of those who knew them, doomed to wander as ghosts between this world and the next, wailing out forever, "Woe is me to have never worked in the corporate world!" Their chains rattle at the tragic lost opportunity of never experiencing the paradise of billable hours and mountains of documents.

It's really quite sad.

Or maybe that's not true and they just go on to find jobs in the vast field of legal work.

lmao. I love TLS sometimes, haha.

[Apsara]

They get mulched into a nutritional paste and fed to the stronger and more successful members of the law school herd.

[Wolfie91]

I've read a lot on tls about needing to be in the top 5%/10%/15% etc. for the best jobs/for biglaw. Obviously, not everyone can be the best and be in the top 5%/10%/15% etc of their class. For students who end up in the bottom half of the class, or even towards the very bottom of the class, does that just eliminate chances for biglaw? How does that affect their getting any job?

Curious about this for t14 but also t2 schools too.

I had a friend at a T2 school who had ties to someone at a Houston big law firm. Got offered a job.

Other than that, usually they just settle for small-mid sized private firms, public work, or they get a job that doesn't require a degree (had a friend get a pretty solid gig in the athletic department at a big university).

Life goes on. Honestly, if they don't have that much debt, their quality of life is probably much better. Don't stress out about it.

[zot1]

I've read a lot on tls about needing to be in the top 5%/10%/15% etc. for the best jobs/for biglaw. Obviously, not everyone can be the best and be in the top 5%/10%/15% etc of their class. For students who end up in the bottom half of the class, or even towards the very bottom of the class, does that just eliminate chances for biglaw? How does that affect their getting any job?

Curious about this for t14 but also t2 schools too.

I had a friend at a T2 school who had ties to someone at a Houston big law firm. Got offered a job.

Other than that, usually they just settle for small-mid sized private firms, public work, or they get a job that doesn't require a degree (had a friend get a pretty solid gig in the athletic department at a big university).

Life goes on. Honestly, if they don't have that much debt, their quality of life is probably much better. Don't stress out about it.

Would kill to do this. Not sure why it never occurred to me before going to law school.

[AvatarMeelo]

On a lighter note, Joe Biden was ranked second to last at Syracuse Law and he became VP.

[zot1]

On a lighter note, Joe Biden was ranked second to last at Syracuse Law and he became VP.

I mean, you could not go to law school and be president.