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Okay, without getting too into details, how screwed am I? First semester 1L year nearly 4.0, second semester 1L 3.5. (1L cumulative = 3.6-3.7 (top 10-15%)) Grade inflation is prevalent at my school. This semester, I have a feeling I may drop outside of the top 20%. I had an SA at a firm last summer and am locked in for next summer, though I have a strong feeling they will not hire anyone out of my class. It is a fairly small firm. I'm at a rural T3 school with a deadlock on the state in which I have strong ties. All aspirations at bigger firms are pretty much gone at this point. I'm just hoping to get any type of employment. Is there any possibility of explaining this to employers? I still have sometime to make it up, but am limited as we obviously apply before graduation. Thanks.

(anon. not to out myself with any classmates)

Isn't that just what happens at TTT's? A bunch of people flunk out first semester and many poor performers drop out after second semester, so the curve normalizes with a more competitive pool than started?