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Grades took a hit 2L year so far. Wasn't slacking off or anything, tried my best and things just didn't work out as they usually do. Dropped about .1, but I had a really high gpa. Advice?

EDIT: not at GDC.

Anonymous User wrote:Advice?

Raise your GPA.

rad lulz wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Advice?

Raise your GPA.

I'm obviously going to try my hardest to next semester. But I cannot get .1 back next semester even if I get a 4.0. I was wondering if firms generally care about this sort of thing. Just to be clear, it was an unintentional grade drop. I studied as much as I could through the craziness of fall semester.

Advice: it's going to be fine. First, .1 points is not much, particularly if your GPA was high to begin with. Firms have to expect variation in grades from 1L to 2L. Second, your performance during the summer will matter far more than a minor GPA swing. Third, you have this semester to go back up if you're really still worried.

To answer your question: someone might look at your transcript at some point before extending a permanent offer. My SA firm claims to, although associates insist they don't care.

Anonymous User wrote:Grades took a hit 2L year so far. Wasn't slacking off or anything, tried my best and things just didn't work out as they usually do. Dropped about .1, but I had a really high gpa. Advice?

EDIT: not at GDC.

Exact same thing happened to me. The firm will want your updated transcript by the end of the summer. They will not give a shit if you only drop .1.

Oh, and you ought to do better in the Spring.


e: Your bigger problem is clerkship opportunities, if you were going to pursue that. A .1 drop can really kick you down the rankings when you're near the top.

I am at one of the biggest firms in a fourth-tier market, so take it FWIW, but nobody here asked to see my grades before I got a permanent offer. That means they say 1 semester's worth of grades and ignored the next three before offering me a job 3L fall.

Green Crayons wrote:

e: Your bigger problem is clerkship opportunities, if you were going to pursue that. A .1 drop can really kick you down the rankings when you're near the top.

I understand that. They appear to be out the window now, but what is, is. I tried my best and things didn't work out. I can live with not doing a clerkship. More important, is the biglaw job -- my future.

Anonymous User wrote:I understand that. They appear to be out the window now, but what is, is. I tried my best and things didn't work out. I can live with not doing a clerkship. More important, is the biglaw job -- my future.

Amazingly, this is not necessarily true depending upon your post-Fall 2L GPA/rank, your school ranking, and your LORs. COAs are probably out of the picture, but DCs and SSCs are still ripe to pursue.

Green Crayons wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I understand that. They appear to be out the window now, but what is, is. I tried my best and things didn't work out. I can live with not doing a clerkship. More important, is the biglaw job -- my future.

Amazingly, this is not necessarily true depending upon your post-Fall 2L GPA/rank, your school ranking, and your LORs. COAs are probably out of the picture, but DCs and SSCs are still ripe to pursue.

Firms don't give clerkship bonuses for SSCs, correct? Is there some kind of negative stigma attached to them?

SSC clerks are generally given bonuses (though check with the individual firm to determine); either on par or just below DC bonuses. If a firm is at the upper echelons of the V100, they might not hand out bonuses to a SSC clerk -- but then again, if you're getting accepted by those firms, you can probably get a COA/DC clerkship anyways.

No negative stigma that I am aware of, but SSC clerkships are not as prestigious as federal clerkships because <REASONS>. But that is what it is.

Green Crayons wrote:SSC clerks are generally given bonuses (though check with the individual firm to determine); either on par or just below DC bonuses. If a firm is at the upper echelons of the V100, they might not hand out bonuses to a SSC clerk -- but then again, if you're getting accepted by those firms, you can probably get a COA/DC clerkship anyways.

No negative stigma that I am aware of, but SSC clerkships are not as prestigious as federal clerkships because <REASONS>. But that is what it is.

Thanks.

Anonymous User wrote:Grades took a hit 2L year so far. Wasn't slacking off or anything, tried my best and things just didn't work out as they usually do. Dropped about .1, but I had a really high gpa. Advice?

EDIT: not at GDC.

I go to a T20 school and worked 1L summer in a V50 in NYC/DC. I got the job with a 3.9 after 1L fall. But then my grades took a hit 1L Spring (dropped to just below 3.7 cumulative). They asked for my transcript over the summer and I still got a 2L offer at the end of the summer.

Aside from all the good advice you've gotten so far, I think one important factor is whether your new (lower) GPA falls below the firm's cutoff for your school. I'm not saying that if it does you're screwed; but if your lower GPA is still above the cutoff, I can't imagine there would be a problem.

As someone who IS going to GDC, does anyone actually know how grade sensitive they are once you have an offer for 2L summer? I know they are highly selective during OCI but former summers keep telling me that they won't care unless it's some significant drop, like >.2 or .3. Since the firm cares so much about fit, you just need to have a good summer in order to get a permanent offer.

I only worry because this site is so hyped on GDC being crazy about grades, but anecdotal evidence from former summers tells me otherwise. I am close to their cutoff (and dropped a few hundredths this semester so now I am even closer) and this just stresses me out.

So is it bad form not to proactively provide 2L transcript to biglaw SA employer?

Have nothing to hide - GPA is higher after second year - but I’m at a 100% offer rate firm that hired for a specific group and really just want my work product and fit to do the talking.

Obviously no downside to sending but curious.

Anonymous User wrote:So is it bad form not to proactively provide 2L transcript to biglaw SA employer?

Have nothing to hide - GPA is higher after second year - but I’m at a 100% offer rate firm that hired for a specific group and really just want my work product and fit to do the talking.

Obviously no downside to sending but curious.

What do you mean by "proactively provide"? If they haven't asked for a new transcript, don't send one in "proactively." Why would you want to spend $ on a transcript when you don't need to?

If/when they ask you for a transcript, certainly send one in without undue delay. Don't try to ignore the request.

And unless you're specifically asked about your grades by the lawyers at the firm, don't mention your grades/GPA at all. Of course, if they ask, answer; but most definitely don't proactively bring up your grades. There is zero benefit to proactively "dropping" the fact that you got an A in Corps.

QContinuum wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:So is it bad form not to proactively provide 2L transcript to biglaw SA employer?

Have nothing to hide - GPA is higher after second year - but I’m at a 100% offer rate firm that hired for a specific group and really just want my work product and fit to do the talking.

Obviously no downside to sending but curious.

What do you mean by "proactively provide"? If they haven't asked for a new transcript, don't send one in "proactively." Why would you want to spend $ on a transcript when you don't need to?

If/when they ask you for a transcript, certainly send one in without undue delay. Don't try to ignore the request.

And unless you're specifically asked about your grades by the lawyers at the firm, don't mention your grades/GPA at all. Of course, if they ask, answer; but most definitely don't proactively bring up your grades. There is zero benefit to proactively "dropping" the fact that you got an A in Corps.

Question was simply whether to email the recruiter an updated unofficial (free) transcript to add to the file for completeness when 2L grades are in. Wasn’t sure if there was an unwritten expectation to do so.

Anonymous User wrote:Question was simply whether to email the recruiter an updated unofficial (free) transcript to add to the file for completeness when 2L grades are in. Wasn’t sure if there was an unwritten expectation to do so.

No. There is never an unwritten expectation to provide paperwork. If HR hasn't asked for it, don't send it.