below median 1l grades-any shot at biglaw? Forum

[Anonymous User]

from lower tier1?

[stuffnuff]

ITE, definitely no. Sorry.

[Anonymous User]

Most unlikely, sorry. BigLaw is overrated anyways.

[savesthedayajb]

Dont worry, there are many rewarding and high paying legal jobs outside biglaw. You'll be fine.

[Anonymous User]

Really

[stuffnuff]

Really

To what?

[savesthedayajb]

depending on your definition of high paying.

[Anonymous User]

Really

really. below median at a lower tier 1 ITE = slim to no chance of landing a biglaw job

[stuffnuff]

Really

really. below median at a lower tier 1 ITE = slim to no chance of landing a biglaw job

Yes. Really. Really really.

[RVP11]

When people at MVPBDCNG with sub-median grades are not getting (major market, at least) BigLaw, I find it hard to believe OP is asking a serious question.

[98234872348]

Dont worry, there are many rewarding and high paying legal jobs outside biglaw. You'll be fine.

Naive optimism; the opposite is actually true. There are few jobs in general, those that are "high paying" outside of biglaw aren't going to materialize for a person below median at a T1.

Really

really. below median at a lower tier 1 ITE = slim to no chance of landing a biglaw job

Outside of the T10, ITE one has almost no chance of landing a BigLaw job with below median grades...

Right now, it seems that those students in schools outside the T30 need to have stellar grades (read: top 5%) to land a job at a BigLaw firm.

[rayiner]

Really

really. below median at a lower tier 1 ITE = slim to no chance of landing a biglaw job

Below median was extremely marginal for biglaw below Vandy/Texas/UCLA even during the boom.

[Anonymous User]

the bad grades are from 1L--after 1L, I reduced my class load and bumped my gpa/class rank up. Right now I am in the top 30%, but I am in year 5 of law school. Do the big firms only look at 1l grades?

[RVP11]

Okay, someone just lock-ban this shit.

[chadwick218]

From a lower tier 1, you are pretty much screwed. Even for the lower t-14, only half the 2L class landed a big law job for next summer ...

[Anonymous User]

The pessimism in this post is definitely credited. I'm a 2L at Columbia, comfortably above median, who went into this years OCI confident about my BigLaw prospects. I mean, I knew the economy was bad, and I knew it wouldn't be as easy this year as in the past, but I don't think my optimism was unwarranted - I was at CLS, did decently well, went to a well-regarded UG, had a solid non-liberal arts background and professional work experience.

I did 30+ screeners at EIP, mass mailed my home market and various other secondary markets, did callbacks, and when all was said and done, got nothing.

I can think of at least 10 or 15 people at CLS who also have nothing, and this is just within my circle of friends/acquaintances. So in summary: below median at a tier 1 will almost certainly not cut it.

[06072010]

None of this needs to be anonymous.

[RVP11]

The pessimism in this post is definitely credited. I'm a 2L at Columbia, comfortably above median, who went into this years OCI confident about my BigLaw prospects. I mean, I knew the economy was bad, and I knew it wouldn't be as easy this year as in the past, but I don't think my optimism was unwarranted - I was at CLS, did decently well, went to a well-regarded UG, had a solid non-liberal arts background and professional work experience.

I did 30+ screeners at EIP, mass mailed my home market and various other secondary markets, did callbacks, and when all was said and done, got nothing.

I can think of at least 10 or 15 people at CLS who also have nothing, and this is just within my circle of friends/acquaintances. So in summary: below median at a tier 1 will almost certainly not cut it.

TBF, you probably weren't exactly killing it in interviews, were you?

[Drake014]

the bad grades are from 1L--after 1L, I reduced my class load and bumped my gpa/class rank up. Right now I am in the top 30%, but I am in year 5 of law school. Do the big firms only look at 1l grades?

Don't worry, by the time you're a 7L or 9L you'll probably be in teh top 5% of your class and have a really good shot at biglaw.

[Anonymous User]

The pessimism in this post is definitely credited. I'm a 2L at Columbia, comfortably above median, who went into this years OCI confident about my BigLaw prospects. I mean, I knew the economy was bad, and I knew it wouldn't be as easy this year as in the past, but I don't think my optimism was unwarranted - I was at CLS, did decently well, went to a well-regarded UG, had a solid non-liberal arts background and professional work experience.

I did 30+ screeners at EIP, mass mailed my home market and various other secondary markets, did callbacks, and when all was said and done, got nothing.

I can think of at least 10 or 15 people at CLS who also have nothing, and this is just within my circle of friends/acquaintances. So in summary: below median at a tier 1 will almost certainly not cut it.

TBF, you probably weren't exactly killing it in interviews, were you?

I wouldn't say I'm a a great interviewer, but I'd put myself at least average or above average. As I mentioned, I've had past professional experience (think finance/consulting) and have been through many, many job interviews in my life before law school, both as an interviewee and as an interviewer, so I've seen both sides of the table. It has never been an issue for me - I'm not nervous, speak clearly, don't stutter, etc. I'm also naturally a friendly, generally upbeat person, although everyone acts this way in interviews, so I'm not sure if it came across or mattered.

If I had to guess, I would say that I probably hinted too much in my interviews that I would prefer to do corporate work, when that's really not something I should have stuck with given the economy.

[digitalcntrl]

the bad grades are from 1L--after 1L, I reduced my class load and bumped my gpa/class rank up. Right now I am in the top 30%, but I am in year 5 of law school. Do the big firms only look at 1l grades?

You have virtually no chance. 1L grades are usually only relevant in getting 2L summer posistion since they are the only grades available at recruitment in the fall of your 2L year. However for low tier 1 even before the recession you needed to be in the top 10-15% to even have a shot at Big Law. Furthermore the fact that you are taking 5 or more years to complete a 3 year degree looks bad to employers. Most employers will feel that they cannot compare you to your fellow classmates since they are taking a significantly higher load then you (it would be apples to oranges comparison). If I were you in this economy I would focus on finding any employment then focusing on Big Law.

[Anonymous User]

the bad grades are from 1L--after 1L, I reduced my class load and bumped my gpa/class rank up. Right now I am in the top 30%, but I am in year 5 of law school. Do the big firms only look at 1l grades?

You might be able to get into a decent LLM program since you are top 30%. If you can get into Georgetown's tax LLM, you should have a shot at biglaw.

[Anonymous User]

the bad grades are from 1L--after 1L, I reduced my class load and bumped my gpa/class rank up. Right now I am in the top 30%, but I am in year 5 of law school. Do the big firms only look at 1l grades?

You might be able to get into a decent LLM program since you are top 30%. If you can get into Georgetown's tax LLM, you should have a shot at biglaw.

This is not true at all, =biglaw firms know LLMs are just a backdoor way in trying to compensate for shitty 1L grades. Getting a LLM is just a huge waste of money unless you are international.

[GeePee]

the bad grades are from 1L--after 1L, I reduced my class load and bumped my gpa/class rank up. Right now I am in the top 30%, but I am in year 5 of law school. Do the big firms only look at 1l grades?

Don't worry, by the time you're a 7L or 9L you'll probably be in teh top 5% of your class and have a really good shot at biglaw.

Just posting a copy of your avatar would have been a sufficient response...