How screwed am I? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Ended up first semester 1L with a 3.3 at T14. What can I do, am I totally screwed?

[brotherdarkness]

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[Anonymous User]

What's the school's median?

3.2

[20141023]

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[brotherdarkness]

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[Anonymous User]

I am at T14 and my first year GPA was 3.0 (school average is about 3.3). Still I had multiple SA offers from law firms and I am going to be an SA at a Big Law in a major city this summer. You could perform better than I at OCI this year. Cheers!

[UnderrateOverachieve]

The whole point of going to a quality school is to be able to get employed through just-better-than-median grades. Do a little bit better this semester and do not stress so much.

[Anonymous User]

I freaked out my 1L year at a T10 and ended up with top 25% grades or so after top 35-40% grades my first semester. I had 7 SA offers (2 V10, 3 V25, 2 specialty V50s that are excellent at what I want to do) and 14 CBs. Also, I go to a T6 now. Honestly, you can overcome medianish first semester grades if you really think carefully about how to improve and implement it. I would also recommend being as disciplined as possible (outlining every week, and reviewing your outline to date every weekend) so that you can sail through finals.

[Anonymous User]

OP here--thanks everyone, that's all encouraging advice. I definitely plan to try to boost my GPA this semester, I'm taking two uncurved classes too, so I think that'll help.

[daleearnhardt123]

OP here--thanks everyone, that's all encouraging advice. I definitely plan to try to boost my GPA this semester, I'm taking two uncurved classes too, so I think that'll help.

The two bolded items directly contradict each other. How are you going to increase your GPA by taking classes with no curve? I would assume this means that the class all just gets B+s. How is that going to increase your GPA?

user outed for anon abuse

[A. Nony Mouse]

OP here--thanks everyone, that's all encouraging advice. I definitely plan to try to boost my GPA this semester, I'm taking two uncurved classes too, so I think that'll help.

The two bolded items directly contradict each other. How are you going to increase your GPA by taking classes with no curve? I would assume this means that the class all just gets B+s. How is that going to increase your GPA?

I think at most schools that offer uncurved classes, that means no limit on the number of As given out, so you get higher grades.

[jbagelboy]

What's the school's median?

3.2

If you're above median, you might be okay. Obviously try to pull your grades up, but work on being a great interview and bid well.

This is pessimistic, isnt it? "Might be Okay" for above median at Cornell? If OP gets the same grades and they arent a shit interviewer, they should get a job

[gk101]

What's the school's median?

3.2

If you're above median, you might be okay. Obviously try to pull your grades up, but work on being a great interview and bid well.

This is pessimistic, isnt it? "Might be Okay" for above median at Cornell? If OP gets the same grades and they arent a shit interviewer, they should get a job

Not really pessimistic. Depends a lot on what OP wants to do. If NYC biglaw, I imagine "might be okay" is very realistic given the hiring environment

[Anonymous User]

I hate using anon, but I guess this is what it is for.

I ended up wayyy below median at a lower t14 after my first semester. I tried to pad my grades with uncurved classes semester two, and it didn't really work. I ended up scrapping one really good grade, and the rest were below median.

I went to OCI, did over 40 interviews, got two cbs and two offers. IMHO the keys are:

1. Try to get a few A's in classes, even if they are bs classes so that you can spin a narrative and so your transcript doesn't cause a visceral reaction. You would be suprised how many firms merely count grades, and don't care about classes (looking at you Gibbs and Dunn)

2. Interview far and wide. This includes a mass mail to EVERY firm in the city you want to practice in, and as many NYC firms as possible. With mail merge, NALP, and email, there is literally no excuse for not mailing everyone

3. Bid NY. Unless you absolutely could not stand living in NY, in which case look at apartments in Hoboken and bid NYC. Every single legal market in the country is minuscule compared to NYC. People with middling grades (Or, in my case, worse) got multiple NYC offers while people with top 30%--20% grades got locked out of other major markets, even with substantial ties. Not only are NYC classes often 10x bigger than classes in the same firm at other markets, but nearly every single biglaw firm has a NYC office, this is not true for any other city. Additionally, in my limited experience, NYC seems to be the only city that value geographic diversity of schools. I got to a non-East Coast school, and I got the feeling that there were a small number of class spots that were earmarked for my school in order to reinforce the firms national reach (i.e. so that I would be able to have contacts in other markets and so that clients from my neck of the woods, who have an inflated sense of worth of my LS could be placated.) Either way, there is no doubt in my mind that if I didn't focus nearly exclusively on NY, I would have been locked out.

[Nelson]

Gibbs and Dunn

[Anonymous User]

Yeah I'm taking the uncurved classes because the professors are known for giving a lot of A's. I want to work in CA, but would be okay with SF/Silicon Valley Area, or anywhere in SoCal, is this at all relevant? I have lots of ties there from past legal work and family members.

[Anonymous User]

OP: I posted above and got good grades to end up top 25%. I forgot to mention, but need to repeat this (b/c my grades fell quite a bit this semester and I didn't follow this advice): take as many practice exams as possible. Use E&E's throughout the semester and take those damn exams. I mean seven or more of them per class — ideally from your professor, but even if not. That's the only way to score at the top of the curve. (Also, if your school doesn't post model answers for you to review and learn techniques from, or they are just so few you can't really glean much, I highly recommend asking your friends at other law schools to send some top answers to you.)

[brotherdarkness]

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[Anonymous User]

Yeah I'm taking the uncurved classes because the professors are known for giving a lot of A's. I want to work in CA, but would be okay with SF/Silicon Valley Area, or anywhere in SoCal, is this at all relevant? I have lots of ties there from past legal work and family members.

This might be a problem. CA is a tight market, and SF is especially brutal. SF/SV isn't something you "settle" for. You need to heed the advice of the poster who told you to bid NYC.

Yes, this is true. I got locked out of CA (SF/SV/LA) with strong ties to both regions. I was above the top 25% at a T10 and, I thought, a pretty decent interviewer. NYC is really a necessity. I ended up with a few offers in NYC through mass-mailing (thank god) and was dinged by pretty much literally every biglaw office in CA with a summer class.

[jbagelboy]

Yeah I'm taking the uncurved classes because the professors are known for giving a lot of A's. I want to work in CA, but would be okay with SF/Silicon Valley Area, or anywhere in SoCal, is this at all relevant? I have lots of ties there from past legal work and family members.

This might be a problem. CA is a tight market, and SF is especially brutal. SF/SV isn't something you "settle" for. You need to heed the advice of the poster who told you to bid NYC.

Yes, this is true. I got locked out of CA (SF/SV/LA) with strong ties to both regions. I was above the top 25% at a T10 and, I thought, a pretty decent interviewer. NYC is really a necessity. I ended up with a few offers in NYC through mass-mailing (thank god) and was dinged by pretty much literally every biglaw office in CA with a summer class.

For SF Ive heard similar, but LA is a bigger market. I has friends who got 2L SA work in LA and OC w/ strong ties and median/below-median at top schools.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah I'm taking the uncurved classes because the professors are known for giving a lot of A's. I want to work in CA, but would be okay with SF/Silicon Valley Area, or anywhere in SoCal, is this at all relevant? I have lots of ties there from past legal work and family members.

This might be a problem. CA is a tight market, and SF is especially brutal. SF/SV isn't something you "settle" for. You need to heed the advice of the poster who told you to bid NYC.

Yes, this is true. I got locked out of CA (SF/SV/LA) with strong ties to both regions. I was above the top 25% at a T10 and, I thought, a pretty decent interviewer. NYC is really a necessity. I ended up with a few offers in NYC through mass-mailing (thank god) and was dinged by pretty much literally every biglaw office in CA with a summer class.

All true. I was born and raised in SF and got locked out of CA through OCI. Luckily I scored an SF SA through mass mail. OTOH, several NYC offers, and I've barely been there twice for vacation.

Bid NYC, hope for SF/SV.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I know NYC is easier to get but I have no desire to work in NY; I exclusively want to be in CA because my family and SO are there. So where does that leave me?

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I know NYC is easier to get but I have no desire to work in NY; I exclusively want to be in CA because my family and SO are there. So where does that leave me?

It leaves you possibly jobless. I'm the above poster. My whole family is in CA too (though my SO is with me where I go to school). I'd rather be employed anywhere than unemployed or barely employed in CA. Your family situation may differ, of course, but my family is able bodied and will do without me for a few years. On the other hand, if I was near them and but could barely pay my bills and make ends meet, I would be close but of no use and maybe even a burden to them.

[OutCold]

I think you'd be foolish to risk your future livelihood to avoid NYC. I was once told that you can start in NYC and end up in any legal market eventually, but the reverse is not true. If you have no debt, that's one thing, but if you need biglaw to pay off your debt, maximizing your chances is the responsible thing to do. The fact of the matter is that it will be much easier to lateral to the West Coast after two or three years in NYC biglaw (especially with ties) than it will be to miss the biglaw boat out west initially and then try to break into the market. Anecdotally, I know a number of California natives in my class that couldn't land a California firm, even with good grades.

[Anonymous User]

My BFF at HLS got locked out of SF/SV with mostly H's during his/her 1L. Got a V15 in NYC instead. Take from that what you will.