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Hello,

I am anonymous because it would be fairly easy to out me based on my past post history here and the fact that I am a dual degree student at a CCNP (MBA). I am currently a 2L at at a non HYS T14 and I just bombed my fall semester due to a now resolved medical condition. I had a solid B+ GPA 1L year (B+s and Bs sprinked with A-s) and now it has dropped to a 3.2 (B-, B, B, A- were my fall grades). The median 1L GPA at my school is around 3.3 or slightly below and for 2L I believe it is slightly higher. Here is my situation. During interviews this past summer I did not have much luck getting a biglaw position because of my dual degree status. Most firms wanted me to interview next year so that I could do the summer associate thing right before I graduated instead of having a gap year (or so they said). I am pretty committed to becoming a lawyer despite my MBA so:

1.) Will these big law firms evaluate my based on my 1L grades like the other 1Ls or will they evaluate me based on my 1L and 2L grades?
2.) I did manage to get a boutique summer associate position that pays fairly well. Am I screwed out of getting an offer here based on my slide?

Thank you everyone.

Did you spend "2L" at the law school, or at the business school? If the grades are from the MBA program then firms will pretty much disregard them when thinking about GPA cutoffs. If they're from the law school then it's probably more of a problem. I would guess that 1L will carry more weight, but at the end of the day most people will probably concentrate on the cumulative GPA on your transcript. Make an effort to raise them up next semester if that is the case.

OP here,
Yes my 2L year was at the law school.

Anonymous User wrote:OP here,
Yes my 2L year was at the law school.

If you can get back into median territory you should have a good shot at some big law. The MBA credentials from Columbia/NYU and your work experience should get you a lot of credit with firms. At NU we generally think that the MBA adds a few tenths to the cumulative GPA when considering what firms you're competitive for (we don't have the whole 4 year issue though).

bdubs wrote:The MBA credentials from Columbia/NYU and your work experience should get you a lot of credit with firms.

Just hope you don't go to Booth or Wharton, those carry significantly less credit.

NJPitcher wrote:

bdubs wrote:The MBA credentials from Columbia/NYU and your work experience should get you a lot of credit with firms.

Just hope you don't go to Booth or Wharton, those carry significantly less credit.

Process of elimination says op doesn't go to either of those schools. Penn is a 3 year program and Chicago doesn't have the A-F grading scale.

ETA: Actually, Columbia now does a 3 year program too. OP is probably at NYU.

The only reason I can think of that someone who had a 3 year option would ever take 4 years is that they were rich and just wanted a longer break from the real world.

NJPitcher wrote:

bdubs wrote:The MBA credentials from Columbia/NYU and your work experience should get you a lot of credit with firms.

Just hope you don't go to Booth or Wharton, those carry significantly less credit.

I think is question was regarding whether or not his second year at the law school will weigh in the hiring partners' decision making process, not whether or not his MBA grades have any effect.

It can still be Wharton. Penn offers both a 3 year and a 4 year program