1L first semester grades. 3 good, 1 outlier. Please advise! Forum

[elliotc]

I am a 1L at columbia. Just finished first semester and got A, A-, A-, B-. The B- looks terrible and I am just wondering how this will impact my prospects for OCI. I am aiming to get into a top 10 NYC firm. I would appreciate anyone's view on the potential impact of my grades and any advices in explaining them to employers. Thanks so much for your help!

[CCA]

I think you are overreacting to one grade. The grades are strong overall, and you don't have to explain anything.

[apper123]

This OP can't be real. Sorry.

[Big Shrimpin]

lolz

[reasonable_man]

If you are kidding: Kill self, Not funny. If you're real and you HAVE to work at a T10 firm, Kill self, you're awful at life.

That is all.

[apper123]

This OP can't be real. Sorry.

Care to elaborate? I know of at least two situations where this exact type of thing happened. Outliers, in some cases, may be due in part to the exam format and grading style of a professor. In those cases, the students got almost the highest grades in your typical issue-spotter essay exams and one low grade in an exam that had extremely concise word limits/peculiar exam instructions (read, not the stock exam instructions on your exam cover sheet). That exam was also graded by a professor with a teaching style/grading method unlike any of the other professors. Not to shift responsibility off the students for the lower grade, I believe that this type of thing can very easily happen and probably often does occur.

Failed issue spot on why it's fake.

[Big Shrimpin]

Good point. I'm exhausted. But the grade thing sucks.

[eth3n]

This OP can't be real. Sorry.

I believe that this type of thing can very easily happen and probably often does occur.

Sorry for hijacking, but I think this thread should talk about techniques for dealing with outlier grades, it can't just be me and OP that have this 1L splitter issue. (yes this is selfish hijack but at least some people may be able to benefit from it now)

Firstly, In regard to interviews, any ideas for dealing with one below-median grade when you have all A/A-'s for your first semester?

Secondly, are there any 2L/3L's that have already had to deal with this issue? Interview stories/tips?

[BunkMoreland]

There's nothing you can do besides use the exam review wisely to talk to your Professor about it. I know it's human nature to put the blame on the professor because the rest of your grades are good, but it might just be a different professor grading style that worked for other classes but not for this one. A policy professor vs. BLL professor, etc..

FYI, I'm one of you guys. I Had an A+ (booked), A, A-, and then a friggin B-. It's just weird. Confirms for me that luck is a part of school.

[Cavalier]

I am a 1L at columbia. Just finished first semester and got A, A-, A-, B-. The B- looks terrible and I am just wondering how this will impact my prospects for OCI. I am aiming to get into a top 10 NYC firm. I would appreciate anyone's view on the potential impact of my grades and any advices in explaining them to employers. Thanks so much for your help!

I wouldn't worry about it, those grades are still top 25% at UVA.

[Unemployed]

1L's at CLS only have three letter grades.

[LuvTheWNBA]

If your B- is in LRW it might be a problem.

[Dick Whitman]

There's nothing you can do besides use the exam review wisely to talk to your Professor about it. I know it's human nature to put the blame on the professor because the rest of your grades are good, but it might just be a different professor grading style that worked for other classes but not for this one. A policy professor vs. BLL professor, etc..

FYI, I'm one of you guys. I Had an A+ (booked), A, A-, and then a friggin B-. It's just weird. Confirms for me that luck is a part of school.

Or maybe the exam you wrote in that class was poorer relative to your classmates.

I went through a season of interviewing without being asked about my outlier grade, but one of my classmates was asked about his lowest grade, so it would probably be wise to have an answer prepared just in case.

[stjaba]

This OP can't be real. Sorry.

Care to elaborate? I know of at least two situations where this exact type of thing happened. Outliers, in some cases, may be due in part to the exam format and grading style of a professor. In those cases, the students got almost the highest grades in your typical issue-spotter essay exams and one low grade in an exam that had extremely concise word limits/peculiar exam instructions (read, not the stock exam instructions on your exam cover sheet). That exam was also graded by a professor with a teaching style/grading method unlike any of the other professors. Not to shift responsibility off the students for the lower grade, I believe that this type of thing can very easily happen and probably often does occur.

That's exactly what happened to me. I booked contracts, got the second highest grade in torts, but got a B- in Crim Law. After talking to the professor, I found out what got me my grade was writing too much on my answers, especially the short answer part of the exam. There were a few questions where I wrote exactly want the prof wanted to see, but then I added additional analysis that was incorrect, and was penalized points for it. The same exact strategy is what got me the high grades in my other classes. The takeaway is simple: Know your professor's grading style. Most of them aren't too shy about it.

[vanwinkle]

The takeaway is simple: Know your professor's grading style. Most of them aren't too shy about it.

Last semester I had one professor who was extremely shy about giving information about anything, and he was the one professor to give me a below-median grade. Knowing your professor's style is apparently really important.

[HugerThanSoup]

CLS 1L here.

THERE ARE ONLY THREE GRADES DURING FALL SEMESTER.

This is obviously fake.

[Cavalier]

CLS 1L here.

THERE ARE ONLY THREE GRADES DURING FALL SEMESTER.

This is obviously fake.

It clearly is. And I think I know exactly who is behind this...

[imchuckbass58]

Fake because:

1) As other people have mentioned, CLS only gives 3 letter grades first semester

2) I don't know a single 1L with all their grades

[MeTalkPrettyOneDay]

+1 to all the flame calls, for the reasons mentioned above. We only take 3 graded classes in our first term, and most (all?) CLS 1Ls are still waiting on one or two grades.