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Hey all, I assume this is relevant for a number of people, and here's to hoping everyone gets that job they've been looking for!

I'm a transfer into a T10, and was fortunate to land a V5 job...how much do grades matter from here on out? Are they expecting me to get top 1/3 at least? Assuming my work product is good, will they give me the hook? Firm has a high offer rate, but I'm hoping there are some transfers on here who can attest to this.

Thanks!

(I'd really appreciate advice if you were actually a transfer, or has a close friend who went through this, not just hearsay or random unsupported anecdotes)

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I mean you might not need to try as hard, but it still matters some. Your current firm might not care, but firms will look at your transcript when you lateral.

I transferred and went to a v5. I was worried about this too. First semester I didn't do well (below median) and decided that's a bad look so tried harder and did better second semester. I made honors for the year of top ~30% at my school.

Honestly the decision has nothing to do with grades and I wouldn't stress it too much. I also don't suggest shitting the bed as hard as I did during first semester since that's just generally not good to do imo.

1. Your SA firm will almost certainly give you an offer regardless of your grades (within a wide range of reasonable).
2. Your grades could still matter for reasons you aren't currently anticipating. If you want to clerk or switch jobs in your first few years, your grades will still matter.

The moral is don't blow off school. It's really not that much work, anyway.

dixiecupdrinking wrote:1. Your SA firm will almost certainly give you an offer regardless of your grades (within a wide range of reasonable).
2. Your grades could still matter for reasons you aren't currently anticipating. If you want to clerk or switch jobs in your first few years, your grades will still matter.

The moral is don't blow off school. It's really not that much work, anyway.

I don't think OP was looking to see if he could blow off school, but rather he/she expects competition to me considerably harder than from where they transferred. So working as hard as you can to achieve something like Top 10% at a T1 might not equal achieving top 25% at a T10.

I for one think the concern is legitimate, and was more along the lines of "if i try my hardest and don't do well am I screwed" as opposed to "can I party for the next two years"....someone who transferred then accepted an offer at a V5 is unlikely to completely take their foot off the gas

Also wondering about this

SowhatsNU wrote:

dixiecupdrinking wrote:1. Your SA firm will almost certainly give you an offer regardless of your grades (within a wide range of reasonable).
2. Your grades could still matter for reasons you aren't currently anticipating. If you want to clerk or switch jobs in your first few years, your grades will still matter.

The moral is don't blow off school. It's really not that much work, anyway.

I don't think OP was looking to see if he could blow off school, but rather he/she expects competition to me considerably harder than from where they transferred. So working as hard as you can to achieve something like Top 10% at a T1 might not equal achieving top 25% at a T10.

I for one think the concern is legitimate, and was more along the lines of "if i try my hardest and don't do well am I screwed" as opposed to "can I party for the next two years"....someone who transferred then accepted an offer at a V5 is unlikely to completely take their foot off the gas

It is a legitimate concern, which I addressed: the firm will almost certainly give an offer irrespective of grades, assuming they are not atrocious. My point, which I think was clear, is that OP should rest assured that s/he will not get no-offered due to a grade drop within reasonable limits, but that grades can still matter for other reasons.

Really no need to be a white knight for OP here, I don't know or care what his/her motivations are for asking this question. But plenty of people do let their foot off the gas 2L and 3L year under the mistaken notion that those grades are completely irrelevant.

OP here, wouldn't a firm/ company (for in-house position) care about your work quality and reviews in your 3 years at the firm, and not how you performed three years ago in classes like "jurisprudence of Michael Strahan"? That was just my assumption, although I guess I could be wrong...

Also, not looking to take the foot off the gas, just concerned about how working as hard as I did 1L will translate to grades in a much more competitive environment...

Some firms can afford to care about both based on the candidates they see. To be sure, I'm sure some firms won't care about grades down the line. But there have been a number of people posting here who have said that either 1) firms looked at their grades when they lateraled or 2) their firm looks at laterals' grades. (I don't think I've seen anyone say that about in-house jobs, though.)

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Some firms can afford to care about both based on the candidates they see. To be sure, I'm sure some firms won't care about grades down the line. But there have been a number of people posting here who have said that either 1) firms looked at their grades when they lateraled or 2) their firm looks at laterals' grades. (I don't think I've seen anyone say that about in-house jobs, though.)

Yeah, this is right. Many lateral positions ask for transcripts. And many of the recruiter blurbs you'll get say things like "excellent academic credentials required," though "excellent" is obviously relative.

Basically, it's a real misnomer than once you're out of school, your academic record doesn't matter. I'm sure that becomes truer as you gain more experience, but for your first several years it continues to matter (and many, if not most, people will want to move jobs at least once during that period).