Top Law Schools

Good afternoon everyone,

Longtime reader, first time poster. I just finished my 1L year at a top-25 school and finished with slightly below a 3.0. When I say slightly below I mean absurdly close, but nonetheless below 3.0. Now, I have a summer clerkship locked in at a solid firm, which I got through personal networks (don't want this to sound douchey). This GPA is driving me insane because I know it is going to hurt me when I search for a job in the next 2 years. I was wondering, however, how much this 1L summer clerkship will help me. I am realistic and realize that it will not offset my lower GPA, but how will this look on my resume, and can I hope for this clerkship to potentially lead to something longterm in the future or at least help me land a job in the future? Thank you for any info and suggestions.

If the firm gives you an offer to return as a 2L, and or straight-up give you a permanent offer, it can be a full time job, which is great. Otherwise just having it on your resume is really not much of a boost. It's a boost, but really just adds a little color / talking points to your resume and not much else.

Diesel123 wrote:Good afternoon everyone,

Longtime reader, first time poster. I just finished my 1L year at a top-25 school and finished with slightly below a 3.0. When I say slightly below I mean absurdly close, but nonetheless below 3.0. Now, I have a summer clerkship locked in at a solid firm, which I got through personal networks (don't want this to sound douchey). This GPA is driving me insane because I know it is going to hurt me when I search for a job in the next 2 years. I was wondering, however, how much this 1L summer clerkship will help me. I am realistic and realize that it will not offset my lower GPA, but how will this look on my resume, and can I hope for this clerkship to potentially lead to something longterm in the future or at least help me land a job in the future? Thank you for any info and suggestions.

Where does your GPA put you in the class? top 1/3? 1/2? If your school has a harsh curve it might not be so bad (but probably is )