How to Handle Upcoming Interviews with Poor 1L Grades Forum

[Anonymous User]

So I did poorly gradewise in my 1L first semester. I was significantly below median. Regardless, I was able to acquire several interviews for summer 1L positions ranging from large firms to government work. I imagine the only reason why I got these interviews is because my grades were not released at the time I applied for the positions.

There's slightly more to the story though. I did excellent in my legal writing course, and the types of positions I am interviewing for consist of similar memo writing that I did so well on. They also have my writing sample from that course, which may have been a big reason why I got the interviews too. In addition, I didn't do poorly in my other courses because I was lazy or because I didn't understand the law. I did nearly perfect on all multiple choice sections and spotted the issues just fine (already went over the exams with all my professors). It was very obvious that I knew it better than some of my close peers that performed better than me too. My issue was that I couldn't sit down and organize my thoughts coherently on the essay portions (once again though, this wasn't an issue of poor writing skills; I did well in my legal writing course). I was so concerned with my performance on these essay portions that I decided to get a psychological evaluation to see if something else was up. Turns out I have pretty severe ADHD and am now on a treatment plan as a result (no need to judge based on this, I can already tell people will have strong opinions on this subject).

How should I approach these interviews though? Obviously if they don't ask for an updated transcript, then I have nothing to worry about. But if they do, should I attach an addendum or somehow explain what happened first semester? Or would my reasons sound like poor excuses? I strongly believe I am capable of doing the work assigned to me at these positions and can do it well, but conveying that to them seems like it may be a challenge. Do I just bite the bullet on this one and make no mention of why my grades were poor?

[rpupkin]

Many employers don't really care about grades for 1L summer jobs. In any event, there's nothing you can do about your first semester grades; they are what they are. Under no circumstances should you write an addendum

[lavarman84]

Don't point your weaknesses out to people looking to hire you. Expect the question to come, have an answer prepared (that doesn't seem like an excuse or shifting of the blame), and do your best to keep the interview moving.