PSA: don't brag about law review or job shit on facebook Forum

[dresden doll]

Credited. Note that the stance I am taking on this thread right now is especially hilarious b/c I suffer from being far too humble and have been told since I was a child to actually take some pride in my accomplishments. It's a hard thing to do. If you have to try not to be an arrogant douche, chances are you are an arrogant douche and that's just who you are. No one will like you regardless.

Yeah, sorry I gotta call bullshit on that, not just on your posts in this thread (which would be enough alone), but also because of the fact that since I started reading these boards I think I've seen you mention around ten different times that you won an award for writing the best brief in your state for legal writing.

Don't be jelly, bro, his grandma reads TLS.

[A'nold]

Great argument technique. Calling people names and writing "eff-you" really drives the point home and makes people respect your opinions. Your anonymous post (while revealing no personal information that needs to be hidden) does not come across as vile and filled with hatred at all.

I apologize. I just get very aggravated with how socially inept and oblivious some people are. Then again, if somebody still hasn't grasped why they shouldn't do stuff like posting about law review offers on Facebook, they are far too gone to talk common sense into. So my rant probably is wasted.

Guy, I am about the least socially oblivious person you could ever meet. I can spot socially oblivious people a mile away. Trust me, with your comment just now I can tell that you are an overly sensitive, overly PC person that has his/her own social problems to deal with.

The sad thing about this thread is that it shows me how people really think about accomplishments, etc. I want to share with people and help them. I am the first person to congratulate somebody up and down for even the tiniest personal accomplishments. That most of you take the cynical view that these people are just rubbing your nose in their success goes to show what you would want to do in the same situation. Either that or many of you have SERIOUS inferiority complexes about your ls performances thus far. Most of these bragging bastards that you talk about are probably decent human beings and you guys have built up this bitter, jealous castle in your heads where everyone is looking down on you. Might be time to breathe and take in some perspective.

Look.. there are two viewpoints on this... looking at it from the viewpoint of the people that crashed and burned or looking at it from the viewpoint of people that did really well. From the viewpoint of people that did well, your points are all valid. People can and should be happy for their friends that do well. It isn't necessarily a "haha, I am better than you" post when someone is excited about something and posts it online, and it shouldn't be assumed as such. However, from the viewpoint of the people that crashed and burned, it simply serves as a reminder that they did not achieve as they had wanted to, and neither did about 85% of the entire class. Either viewpoint is valid. But here's why you shouldn't post on facebook anyway:

If you've just done really well... why are you arguing to do really well AND have everyone adopt your (minority) point of view. Be satisfied with your performance, and adopt the point of view of the other side. Sacrifice a little, considering you've just acheived what 85% percent of your classmated wanted, but didn't get. The inability to do this is why people start throwing around the term "douche."

Totally, which is why I don't post anything ls related on FB. Just b/c I think being offended by such a thing is unbelievably childish and self-absorbed, I still wouldn't do it b/c I do care about people's feelings regardless of the reason.

Desert Fox- lol. How many times does it have to be shown that transfer students often outperform most students at their new schools regardless of the schools they come from? I doubt my rank would be much different even if I went to Columbia. LSAT and GPA are a rough gestimation of ls potential. Regardless, I am no better than the bottom 10% student when it comes to actual life just b/c I am a top 10% student.

[A'nold]

Credited. Note that the stance I am taking on this thread right now is especially hilarious b/c I suffer from being far too humble and have been told since I was a child to actually take some pride in my accomplishments. It's a hard thing to do. If you have to try not to be an arrogant douche, chances are you are an arrogant douche and that's just who you are. No one will like you regardless.

Yeah, sorry I gotta call bullshit on that, not just on your posts in this thread (which would be enough alone), but also because of the fact that since I started reading these boards I think I've seen you mention around ten different times that you won an award for writing the best brief in your state for legal writing.

That's weird that you would say that.......that's one of the things I don't ever really mention b/c it is a pretty dang specific fact that could easily out me. You must either be an alt or are mistaken. I think the last time I mentioned anything about that was during the transfer process last year.

Edit to add: the more I think about it this is actually a really funny example of my apparently large ego. I was not the one to enter my brief (the professor approached me) and I didn't even go to the award ceremony. I didn't want the attention or a gunner label OR the "HE won the award?! I am way smarter than that dumbass!" thoughts that (as clearly evidenced by this thread) come with something like that. Man I'm arrogant.

[Bronte]

At least one truth has come out of this thread: a significant chunk of law students don't like it when people post their grades, law review membership, etc., on Facebook. As is the case with most social norms, whether you agree with it or whether its the way it should be doesn't change the fact that it can have a negative impact on you if you flout it. So it's probably in your interest to forgo posting grades and LR on FB (a.k.a. being a "herpderp").

Serious question then: are we comfortable with full resumes, including GPA and LR, on LinkedIn? Seems like at least LR would be acceptable, since that's the purpose of the site. Or should one just wait until they're out of law school?

[dresden doll]

At least one truth has come out of this thread: a significant chunk of law students don't like it when people post their grades, law review membership, etc., on Facebook. As is the case with most social norms, whether you agree with it or whether its the way it should be doesn't change the fact that it can have a negative impact on you if you flout it. So it's probably in your interest to forgo posting grades and LR on FB (a.k.a. being a "herpderp").

Serious question then: are we comfortable with full resumes, including GPA and LR, on LinkedIn? Seems like at least LR would be acceptable, since that's what the sites for. Or should one just wait until they're out of law school?

LinkedIn serves an entirely specific purpose in the context of which it is generally appropriate to post your credentials.

[A'nold]

And while we're at it, I am completely bewildered by the stances certain posters are taking here.

For example, here is dresden's moral stance on the subject:

It is perfectly acceptable, moral, and not socially unacceptable to berate those that could "only" get into the 85% percentile or whatever and have to attend, say, a t2 school.

On the other hand, it is obviously socially awkward and cruel to post "Wohoo, I just made law review!" as a facebook update to inform your family and friends that you have achieved something they have seen you working towards for years........

Now, I might not be brilliant enough to get into the University of Chicago, but even I see something wrong with this picture.

[bk1]

And while we're at it, I am completely bewildered by the stances certain posters are taking here.

For example, here is dresden's moral stance on the subject:

It is perfectly acceptable, moral, and not socially unacceptable to berate those that could "only" get into the 85% percentile or whatever and have to attend, say, a t2 school.

On the other hand, it is obviously socially awkward and cruel to post "Wohoo, I just made law review!" as a facebook update to inform your family and friends that you have achieved something they have seen you working towards for years........

Now, I might not be brilliant enough to get into the University of Chicago, but even I see something wrong with this picture.

tls != fb.com
forum posts != status updates

[dresden doll]

And while we're at it, I am completely bewildered by the stances certain posters are taking here.

For example, here is dresden's moral stance on the subject:

It is perfectly acceptable, moral, and not socially unacceptable to berate those that could "only" get into the 85% percentile or whatever and have to attend, say, a t2 school.

On the other hand, it is obviously socially awkward and cruel to post "Wohoo, I just made law review!" as a facebook update to inform your family and friends that you have achieved something they have seen you working towards for years........

Now, I might not be brilliant enough to get into the University of Chicago, but even I see something wrong with this picture.

Will you please stop derping? There's an obvious difference between making a comment about the rank of someone's LS (and I don't even recall particularly berating your school - I certainly don't think I ever pointed it out as sharply as DF has done ITT) on a site like TLS and bragging about grades on FB to classmates who just lost out on the zero sum game that is 1L.

On the most superficial level, you can always retake LSAT and shoot higher assuming you haven't started LS (which generally tends to be the case with people who get grief for the rank of the school they decide to attend). You can never repeat 1L. Once you've messed up, you're pretty much done.

[Army2Law]

ITT: Trolls trolling trolls trolling proles

[Bronte]

And while we're at it, I am completely bewildered by the stances certain posters are taking here.

For example, here is dresden's moral stance on the subject:

It is perfectly acceptable, moral, and not socially unacceptable to berate those that could "only" get into the 85% percentile or whatever and have to attend, say, a t2 school.

On the other hand, it is obviously socially awkward and cruel to post "Wohoo, I just made law review!" as a facebook update to inform your family and friends that you have achieved something they have seen you working towards for years........

Now, I might not be brilliant enough to get into the University of Chicago, but even I see something wrong with this picture.

tls != fb.com
forum posts != status updates

I agree that FB does not have the same norms as TLS. It's much more appropriate to discuss credentials on TLS and generally be more frank on TLS. This is in part because part of the purpose of TLS is to have candid discussions about law school, in part because TLS is (semi) anonymous, and in part because TLS just has that culture. However, there's still a real person on the other end of a TLS handle (at least when it's not a troll) and being really harsh on here can have a negative effect on other similar to being a douche on FB.

[A'nold]

And while we're at it, I am completely bewildered by the stances certain posters are taking here.

For example, here is dresden's moral stance on the subject:

It is perfectly acceptable, moral, and not socially unacceptable to berate those that could "only" get into the 85% percentile or whatever and have to attend, say, a t2 school.

On the other hand, it is obviously socially awkward and cruel to post "Wohoo, I just made law review!" as a facebook update to inform your family and friends that you have achieved something they have seen you working towards for years........

Now, I might not be brilliant enough to get into the University of Chicago, but even I see something wrong with this picture.

Will you please stop derping? There's an obvious difference between making a comment about the rank of someone's LS (and I don't even recall particularly berating your school - I certainly don't think I ever pointed it out as sharply as DF has done ITT) on a site like TLS and bragging about grades on FB to classmates who just lost out on the zero sum game that is 1L.

On the most superficial level, you can always retake LSAT and shoot higher assuming you haven't started LS (which generally tends to be the case with people who get grief for the rank of the school they decide to attend). You can never repeat 1L. Once you've messed up, you're pretty much done.

I'm sorry if I made it look like I was talking about me. I only cited that thread as one example of how you try to belittle those you deem beneath you.

I'm sure you won't believe this, but you have no idea how much damage control I have undertaken b/c of the remarks you have made to posters on this site over the years, including numerous pm's from posters that feel like absolute shit after you make some kind of one-liner to them about their future prospects or their intelligence level solely based on their damn LSAT score and law school options.

There is absolutely no difference b/w somebody hitting their personal ceiling on the LSAT and somebody that can only achieve median or below in law school. Just b/c you make it into the t6 or whatever law schools doesn't suddenly give you this shield against others making you feel badly b/c of their success at the expense of the curve. Just like in ls where there is a curve and only a select few can be on top, so it is with the LSAT. I could study for an entire year and probably never score above a 170 on the LSAT yet I can consistently outperform my peers on the law school curve. Why do you feel that it is okay to make fun of the dude trying to choose b/w William Mitchell or the University of Oregon but that posting a well-intentioned update on facebook is akin to a socially inept action?

[dresden doll]

I'm sure you won't believe this, but you have no idea how much damage control I have undertaken b/c of the remarks you have made to posters on this site over the years, including numerous pm's from posters that feel like absolute shit after you make some kind of one-liner to them about their future prospects or their intelligence level solely based on their damn LSAT score and law school options.

I would love to know what kind of damage control you have done, who for and why those mysterious posters turned to you in particular for guidance on how to deal with my supposedly harsh comments.

[npe]

Will you please stop derping?

Makings of an epic .gif

[dresden doll]

Will you please stop derping?

Makings of an epic .gif

Good point. Someone should summon 13 for the task.

[Helmholtz]

At least one truth has come out of this thread: a significant chunk of law students don't like it when people post their grades, law review membership, etc., on Facebook. As is the case with most social norms, whether you agree with it or whether its the way it should be doesn't change the fact that it can have a negative impact on you if you flout it. So it's probably in your interest to forgo posting grades and LR on FB (a.k.a. being a "herpderp").

Serious question then: are we comfortable with full resumes, including GPA and LR, on LinkedIn? Seems like at least LR would be acceptable, since that's the purpose of the site. Or should one just wait until they're out of law school?

I laughed out loud when I imagined you in real life accusing somebody of "being a 'herpderp.'"

[A'nold]

And while we're at it, I am completely bewildered by the stances certain posters are taking here.

For example, here is dresden's moral stance on the subject:

It is perfectly acceptable, moral, and not socially unacceptable to berate those that could "only" get into the 85% percentile or whatever and have to attend, say, a t2 school.

On the other hand, it is obviously socially awkward and cruel to post "Wohoo, I just made law review!" as a facebook update to inform your family and friends that you have achieved something they have seen you working towards for years........

Now, I might not be brilliant enough to get into the University of Chicago, but even I see something wrong with this picture.

tls != fb.com
forum posts != status updates

I agree that FB does not have the same norms as TLS. It's much more appropriate to discuss credentials on TLS and generally be more frank on TLS. This is in part because part of the purpose of TLS is to have candid discussions about law school, in part because TLS is (semi) anonymous, and in part because TLS just has that culture. However, there's still a real person on the other end of a TLS handle (at least when it's not a troll) and being really harsh on here can have a negative effect on other similar to being a douche on FB.

Oh, you are completely right and I agree fully that we can be more frank on here. However, there is a big difference b/w telling somebody that it is completely unrealistic to expect biglaw from Thomas Jefferson and shitting on that person and making sport out of them for your own amusement. My point is that it appears that since the law school curve has hit closer to home for some people on here such as dresden who got a fantastic LSAT score and earned her good grades in UG but consequently did not outperform her classmates in law school. I'm saying that dresden should be proud that she did well enough pre-law school to get into such an awesome school and that her performance on law school exams does not define her as a person. So what if someone does better than her and posts a well-intentioned update on facebook? Such is the same with the student with a 3.5 GPA and a 155, 156, 161 LSAT score that got into Arizona or some similar school. Believe it or not, I remember when dresden and I were going through the application process and I was thrilled for her and congratulated her on her acceptance to a t6. I had no animosity towards her and was instead genuinely happy for her when she posted her acceptance even though I was guaranteed to never attend a t6 kind of school.

[Bronte]

Will you please stop derping?

Makings of an epic .gif

Good point. Someone should summon thirteen for the task.

If he's like most top posters, you probably just did. I helped you out a little bit though.

[IAFG]

Oh, you are completely right and I agree fully that we can be more frank on here. However, there is a big difference b/w telling somebody that it is completely unrealistic to expect biglaw from Thomas Jefferson and shitting on that person and making sport out of them for your own amusement. My point is that it appears that since the law school curve has hit closer to home for some people on here such as dresden who got a fantastic LSAT score and earned her good grades in UG but consequently did not outperform her classmates in law school. I'm saying that dresden should be proud that she did well enough pre-law school to get into such an awesome school and that her performance on law school exams does not define her as a person. So what if someone does better than her and posts a well-intentioned update on facebook? Such is the same with the student with a 3.5 GPA and a 155, 156, 161 LSAT score that got into Arizona or some similar school. Believe it or not, I remember when dresden and I were going through the application process and I was thrilled for her and congratulated her on her acceptance to a t6. I had no animosity towards her and was instead genuinely happy for her when she posted her acceptance even though I was guaranteed to never attend a t6 kind of school.

This is also pretty distinguishable. Unlike grades, it's inevitable that my whole social network will know where I will be living and attending school for 3 years. Unlike grades, almost none of my facebook friends were competing with me for the same outcomes. Unlike grades, the one Facebook friend who was going the same cycle as me had the option to re-cycle and re-take the LSAT. Most importantly though, unlike grades, the overwhelming expectation does not disfavor my decision to post the school I ultimately attended.

[Bronte]

This is also pretty distinguishable. Unlike grades, it's inevitable that my whole social network will know where I will be living and attending school for 3 years. Unlike grades, almost none of my facebook friends were competing with me for the same outcomes. Unlike grades, the one Facebook friend who was going the same cycle as me had the option to re-cycle and re-take the LSAT. Most importantly though, unlike grades, the overwhelming expectation does not disfavor my decision to post the school I ultimately attended.

Yeah I thinks it's unnecessary to distinguish updating your school status. That's obviously kosher. (Posting your admittances in real-time on the other hand...)

[Anonymous User]

I assume this is a long-winded troll thread?

Why do you care what someone posts on their facebook? If they want to gloat, let them. You reap what you sow, if it turns out to bite them in the ass I fail to see how this has any effect on any of you who may possibly stumble upon it. If it doesn't, good for them.

Under what conditions do you dictate to others what they should and shouldn't do? Let them make their own actions and deal with any possible consequences or rewards as a result.

Ridiculous thread.

[Bronte]

Ridiculous thread.

I don't know, I've found it massively entertaining. And not trying to be insensitive--really not trying to hurt any feelings here--but please learn not to accidentally click the anon button.

Edit: Here's one vote for starting a fund to hire a programmer to switch the positions of the "reply" and "anon reply" buttons. All in favor?

[dresden doll]

Oh, you are completely right and I agree fully that we can be more frank on here. However, there is a big difference b/w telling somebody that it is completely unrealistic to expect biglaw from Thomas Jefferson and shitting on that person and making sport out of them for your own amusement. My point is that it appears that since the law school curve has hit closer to home for some people on here such as dresden who got a fantastic LSAT score and earned her good grades in UG but consequently did not outperform her classmates in law school. I'm saying that dresden should be proud that she did well enough pre-law school to get into such an awesome school and that her performance on law school exams does not define her as a person. So what if someone does better than her and posts a well-intentioned update on facebook? Such is the same with the student with a 3.5 GPA and a 155, 156, 161 LSAT score that got into Arizona or some similar school. Believe it or not, I remember when dresden and I were going through the application process and I was thrilled for her and congratulated her on her acceptance to a t6. I had no animosity towards her and was instead genuinely happy for her when she posted her acceptance even though I was guaranteed to never attend a t6 kind of school.

I find it fairly ironic that you think I define myself or others by the caliber of the school attended considering that people who take offense at the 'retake or don't go advice' are exactly the people who define themselves by their options on their own. If they didn't, they wouldn't care if I called Tj or whatever other school might be in play a festering cesspool because they'd understand it's a commentary on the school, not themselves personally.

As an aside, as a general rule, I'm typically only harsh on people who start threads soliciting positive reinforcement for crappy life choices and insist their schools are worth going to at full price or w/e even when the whole forum tells them otherwise. I don't like validation-seeking and feel like you're wasting everyone's time unless you're ready to consider the possibility that you're making an egregious mistake.

I went to a festering cesspool in UG and I always refer to it as such because it's factually accurate and because I don't think less of myself for the fact that I didn't attend an Ivy. I also don't think that going to a T6 makes me special and have clearly said so before (and been mocked by a guy who used to post here, Cleareyes, for referring to myself as a fairly average individual). I don't particularly parrot school pride around here, call myself a T6-er or scream to high heavens about the caliber of my LS. Why you think I'm excessively proud of my prelaw achievements in the face of many posts where i've mocked my UG, my majors and my general lack of serious softs is beyond me.

With all that said, TLS advice giving is not the meaningful equivalent of bragging FB statuses and you're doing awfully little to prove your point by insisting on drawing a parallel between the two.

[A'nold]

This is also pretty distinguishable. Unlike grades, it's inevitable that my whole social network will know where I will be living and attending school for 3 years. Unlike grades, almost none of my facebook friends were competing with me for the same outcomes. Unlike grades, the one Facebook friend who was going the same cycle as me had the option to re-cycle and re-take the LSAT. Most importantly though, unlike grades, the overwhelming expectation does not disfavor my decision to post the school I ultimately attended.

Yeah I thinks it's unnecessary to distinguish updating your school status. That's obviously kosher. (Posting your admittances in real-time on the other hand...)

Yeah I definitely wasn't trying to make those argument IAFG. I am just using LSAT scores and schools as an example of where not everyone can get 99%ile and go to a t14. That doesn't mean lower scorers should be jealous or think badly of those that talk about scoring that highly and attend the most prestigious schools. Conversely, those at the bottom 50% of the class are akin to those that necessarily score sub 95 percentile on the LSAT and in both situations it is cruel and uncalled for to ridicule them.

[TheFriendlyBarber]

The hell with Facebook! Why don't you turn it up a notch and create a website to help mold the future slaves and bitches of America (i.e., lawyers), and then turn around and use that platform to boast about how much money you've got coming out yo ass as a result of being a glorified Remax ballooner.

I am definitely proud of my accomplishments and I woudl not have achieved these heights of success without my legal education. Young, white and famous, I got money coming out of my ...

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 7#p4564291

[A'nold]

Oh, you are completely right and I agree fully that we can be more frank on here. However, there is a big difference b/w telling somebody that it is completely unrealistic to expect biglaw from Thomas Jefferson and shitting on that person and making sport out of them for your own amusement. My point is that it appears that since the law school curve has hit closer to home for some people on here such as dresden who got a fantastic LSAT score and earned her good grades in UG but consequently did not outperform her classmates in law school. I'm saying that dresden should be proud that she did well enough pre-law school to get into such an awesome school and that her performance on law school exams does not define her as a person. So what if someone does better than her and posts a well-intentioned update on facebook? Such is the same with the student with a 3.5 GPA and a 155, 156, 161 LSAT score that got into Arizona or some similar school. Believe it or not, I remember when dresden and I were going through the application process and I was thrilled for her and congratulated her on her acceptance to a t6. I had no animosity towards her and was instead genuinely happy for her when she posted her acceptance even though I was guaranteed to never attend a t6 kind of school.

I find it fairly ironic that you think I define myself or others by the caliber of the school attended considering that people who take offense at the 'retake or don't go advice' are exactly the people who define themselves by their options on their own. If they didn't, they wouldn't care if I called Tj or whatever other school might be in play a festering cesspool because they'd understand it's a commentary on the school, not themselves personally.

As an aside, as a general rule, I'm typically only harsh on people who start threads soliciting positive reinforcement for crappy life choices and insist their schools are worth going to at full price or w/e even when the whole forum tells them otherwise. I don't like validation-seeking and feel like you're wasting everyone's time unless you're ready to consider the possibility that you're making an egregious mistake.

I went to a festering cesspool in UG and I always refer to it as such because it's factually accurate and because I don't think less of myself for the fact that I didn't attend an Ivy. I also don't think that going to a T6 makes me special and have clearly said so before (and been mocked by a guy who used to post here, Cleareyes, for referring to myself as a fairly average individual). I don't particularly parrot school pride around here, call myself a T6-er or scream to high heavens about the caliber of my LS. Why you think I'm excessively proud of my prelaw achievements in the face of many posts where i've mocked my UG, my majors and my general lack of serious softs is beyond me.

With all that said, TLS advice giving is not the meaningful equivalent of bragging FB statuses and you're doing awfully little to prove your point by insisting on drawing a parallel between the two.

Not trying to split hairs here but I didn't say you are cocky about your pre-law stats. I said that you SHOULD be proud. You achieved something great.