Top Law Schools

I have a friend with great numbers, 3.9/170, good softs. His game plan is to try for a full ride at a lower T1, then go to work as a prosecutor. He says "I don't need to go to a top school, I'll get amazing grades in law school so it'll be fine". I tried to tell him that you can't assume you'll get top grades just because you're smart and you work hard, because everyone in law school is smart and works hard. He didn't think that was a satisfactory reason.

What I'm asking for are specific reasons I can give him regarding why he can't assume he'll get top grades. Any ideas from the infinite wisdom of TLS?

No advice, but you should see if you can securitize his 1L grades, and then short them.

FunkyJD wrote:No advice, but you should see if you can securitize his 1L grades, and then short them.

this is the infinite wisdom i was talking about. i love tls hahaha

Do they give out A+ at his school? 3.9 isn't really "amazing", it guarantees nothing.

Let him go. More spots at top schools for us.

r6_philly wrote:Do they give out A+ at his school? 3.9 isn't really "amazing", it guarantees nothing.

No A+'s. I never said amazing though. I'm just trying to help him avoid regretting his decision.

EDIT: I guess I did say amazing, but in reference to the grades he's assuming he'll get in LS

Well, given that he wants to do PI work, taking a full ride somewhere is a good idea, tbh. Yeah yeah, IBR, blah blah, but PI is PI. However, he should realized that even if he's top 1% in his class, getting a DOJ gig may be out of reach.

As far as the grade thing - law school grading is a largely arbitrary exercise; it tests skills unrelated to anything used anywhere else in life, a lot of it comes to chance, etc. He's being a moron.

I thought I would get top grades going in and I got top grades. Am I lucky? Maybe a little but had the very real goal of being at the top of my class from day 1 and worked towards it everyday.

It is safe to assume you will get good grades if your willing to put in the ACTUAL effort required. This means prepped for class every day, outlining in advance, office hours, etc etc.

You are graded on a curve, so you just need to beat out everyone else. Pretty simple, you either are going to work harder and smarter than everyone or your not. If you do the former, you will get top grades. If you do the latter, you won't.

EDIT - to respond to TToN's point about arbitrary grading, you can prep for that my doing practice exams and going over them with profs in office hours to get a feel for how they grade. Again, it comes down to the effort you put in.

Lawl Shcool wrote:I thought I would get top grades going in and I got top grades. Am I lucky? Maybe a little but had the very real goal of being at the top of my class from day 1 and worked towards it everyday.

It is safe to assume you will get good grades if your willing to put in the ACTUAL effort required. This means prepped for class every day, outlining in advance, office hours, etc etc.

You are graded on a curve, so you just need to beat out everyone else. Pretty simple, you either are going to work harder and smarter than everyone or your not. If you do the former, you will get top grades. If you do the latter, you won't.

lol. No. I know plenty of people who did all the right things and ended up median. I also know people (myself included) who did all of the "wrong" things (I never read, went to class sporadically, and outlined less than a week before exams) who end up in the top 1%.

So... yeah.

cortnf wrote:I have a friend with great numbers, 3.9/170, good softs. His game plan is to try for a full ride at a lower T1, then go to work as a prosecutor. He says "I don't need to go to a top school, I'll get amazing grades in law school so it'll be fine". I tried to tell him that you can't assume you'll get top grades just because you're smart and you work hard, because everyone in law school is smart and works hard. He didn't think that was a satisfactory reason.

What I'm asking for are specific reasons I can give him regarding why he can't assume he'll get top grades. Any ideas from the infinite wisdom of TLS?

The real problem here is that Americans all think they're such special snowflakes. If your friend has an accurate self-image, he's probably right. It's just statistically unlikely.

ToTransferOrNot wrote:
lol. No. I know plenty of people who did all the right things and ended up median. I also know people (myself included) who did all of the "wrong" things (I never read, went to class sporadically, and outlined less than a week before exams) who end up in the top 1%.

So... yeah.

You may be the exception to the rule but clearly the people you knew were not doing all the right things if they ended up at median.

Lawl Shcool wrote:I thought I would get top grades going in and I got top grades. Am I lucky? Maybe a little but had the very real goal of being at the top of my class from day 1 and worked towards it everyday.

It is safe to assume you will get good grades if your willing to put in the ACTUAL effort required. This means prepped for class every day, outlining in advance, office hours, etc etc.

You are graded on a curve, so you just need to beat out everyone else. Pretty simple, you either are going to work harder and smarter than everyone or your not. If you do the former, you will get top grades. If you do the latter, you won't.

EDIT - to respond to TToN's point about arbitrary grading, you can prep for that my doing practice exams and going over them with profs in office hours to get a feel for how they grade. Again, it comes down to the effort you put in.

Which school (or rank range) are you at?

you cant assume your future performance. In order to get into the school you have to do well academically as well as on the LSAT. THere has to be someone who is last in the class. Just like there has to be someone at the top. While everyone wants to be number 1, one bad day, one remark on a test that the professor doesnt agree with can negatively affect your performance. You are not being graded on what you know, you are being graded based on how well you explain what you know compared to everyone else in the class.

bdubs wrote:

Lawl Shcool wrote:I thought I would get top grades going in and I got top grades. Am I lucky? Maybe a little but had the very real goal of being at the top of my class from day 1 and worked towards it everyday.

It is safe to assume you will get good grades if your willing to put in the ACTUAL effort required. This means prepped for class every day, outlining in advance, office hours, etc etc.

You are graded on a curve, so you just need to beat out everyone else. Pretty simple, you either are going to work harder and smarter than everyone or your not. If you do the former, you will get top grades. If you do the latter, you won't.

EDIT - to respond to TToN's point about arbitrary grading, you can prep for that my doing practice exams and going over them with profs in office hours to get a feel for how they grade. Again, it comes down to the effort you put in.

Which school (or rank range) are you at?

Top 1% at a T40, transfered to a T6, top 1% here, may graduate as the #1 person in the class depending on what happens this year.

And, to the person above: I know exactly what those other people were doing. They were my friends, and I knew their study habits in and out. The grading is arbitrary - the end. I know more than one person in the top 10% at my current school who do just about the same thing I do, and I know more than one person in the top 10% here who do the same things my friends did. This includes going through practice exams (which the majority of people do - I'm not sure why people think this is some innovation that no one has ever thought of).

bdubs wrote:
Which school (or rank range) are you at?

Was at a tier 4, top 3%, transferred to t10, about to have my first round of finals.

Lawl Shcool wrote:

bdubs wrote:
Which school (or rank range) are you at?

Was at a tier 4, top 3%, transferred to t10, about to have my first round of finals.

Are you a unicorn?

^ What's the name of the woman in your avatar?

FunkyJD wrote:Christina Hendricks

Joan's a babe...I'm more of a Betty fan myself though - you can't beat a name like January Jones either.

Dex wrote:

FunkyJD wrote:Christina Hendricks

Joan's a babe...I'm more of a Betty fan myself though - you can't beat a name like January Jones either.

january jones is hands down one of the most beautiful women on the planet. betty is a fucking cunt though.

Damn this Christina Hendricks woman is one of the thickest White woman I've ever seen; she's got more ass than Beyonce.

Both of you have spoken heresy. But to each his own.

ToTransferOrNot wrote:Well, given that he wants to do PI work, taking a full ride somewhere is a good idea, tbh. Yeah yeah, IBR, blah blah, but PI is PI. However, he should realized that even if he's top 1% in his class, getting a DOJ gig may be out of reach.

As far as the grade thing - law school grading is a largely arbitrary exercise; it tests skills unrelated to anything used anywhere else in life, a lot of it comes to chance, etc. He's being a moron.

http://www.justice.gov/oarm/arm/hp/lawschools.htm
According to this link even T3 and T4 grads get in.

BruceWayne wrote:Damn this Christina Hendricks woman is one of the thickest White woman I've ever seen; she's got more ass than Beyonce.

This I have no comment on.

FunkyJD wrote: Are you a unicorn?

Umm no?