Top Law Schools

I'm at a tier 2 school (ranked between 50 and 60). I know that law school is supposed to be super competitive, and even more so at lower ranked schools, especially due to the economy, but I spoke to some 2 and 3L's who are paid to offer academic assistance, and they remarked that my class seems to be uniquely crazy-- studying much harder than their classmates did, and much less collegial (more cliquey, secretive with information, etc.).

Is this a trend?

Yes, just like the class of 2012 and 2011 were and 2014 will be

I think at my school our class might be studying more and working harder than previous classes, but everyone seems just as collegial and willing to help (at least I haven't heard anything to the contrary, in comparison with past classes).

M.M. wrote:Yes, just like the class of 2012 and 2011 were and 2014 will be

Actually, I don't think 1L year for c/o 2011 was all that competitive in the t14. I was a transfer so I can't say for sure, but I lurked around here for some time now, and I recall most people just hoping to be at median or better. I guess that makes sense, though, because c/o 2010 did pretty well in securing summer associateships during the fall of 2008 (obviously a ton of them didn't get offers and a ton of them got deferred after summer 2009 though).

yes-a crappy economy will do that

That's the feeling I'm getting. Of course it's difficult to gauge, but talking with 2L's and overhearing upperclassmen's conversations, they all seem to think us 1L's are abnormally insane. But we're still collegial and stuff.

Actually, I don't think 1L year for c/o 2011 was all that competitive in the t14. I was a transfer so I can't say for sure, but I lurked around here for some time now, and I recall most people just hoping to be at median or better. I guess that makes sense, though, because c/o 2010 did pretty well in securing summer associateships during the fall of 2008 (obviously a ton of them didn't get offers and a ton of them got deferred after summer 2009 though).

I was class of 2010 (GULC). Most people assumed that as long as they managed to avoid the bottom of the class, they would get biglaw offers. By OCI time, it was clear that only the top 40-50% were getting many bites without extenuating factors. The class of 2011 didn't really understand how bad things were getting, and I think a lot of them were blindsided by how bad 2009 OCI was compared to 2008. I met plenty of 2011 people in the top 1/3 who didn't get biglaw.

haha, in the library I heard someone ask his buddy why the library was always so packed this year compared to last

There's very little academic competition out in the open at Illinois. We're all trying to slaughter those around us, of course, but it's pretty congenial overall, with the exception of the few gunners. And my estimation of many (though not all) of them is that they are gunners because they're making up for a lack of actual ability to parse the material properly.

Yes.

Maybe your school changed scholly requirements or something.

As C/O 2012 at a T14, I heard from the upper classes that we seemed a lot more competitive than they did.

The economy is sure making people take law school more seriously, but I think part of it is just relative, and will always be commented on.

It's all group dynamics. At my school it varies by section. The A people are chill, the C people are intense. A gunners would blend into C, C's passive students would be our gunners.

At northwestern, my class is very chill.I'm the last one at the law library ok because I'm a huge slacker). Even my gunners don't seem that hard core.i guess if you are dumb enough to go to law school in this economy, you aren't that afraid

At UCD the class of 2012 was the worst. For the classes of 2010 and 2011, the cutoff for top-5% was something like a 3.55. For my class, the top-5% cutoff was above a 3.8. Fuck me for being curepwnt.

SBL wrote:At UCD the class of 2012 was the worst. For the classes of 2010 and 2011, the cutoff for top-5% was something like a 3.55. For my class, the top-5% cutoff was above a 3.8. Fuck me for being curepwnt.

Do you have no curve?

Desert Fox wrote:

SBL wrote:At UCD the class of 2012 was the worst. For the classes of 2010 and 2011, the cutoff for top-5% was something like a 3.55. For my class, the top-5% cutoff was above a 3.8. Fuck me for being curepwnt.

Do you have no curve?

There is a 20/60/20 curve enforced, but if fewer people get all the As, the top of the curve can get really narrow.

SBL wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:

SBL wrote:At UCD the class of 2012 was the worst. For the classes of 2010 and 2011, the cutoff for top-5% was something like a 3.55. For my class, the top-5% cutoff was above a 3.8. Fuck me for being curepwnt.

Do you have no curve?

There is a 20/60/20 curve enforced, but if fewer people get all the As, the top of the curve can get really narrow.

Are grades curved against the section or the whole class?

my professor gives the same practice midterm every year. After she graded ours, she mentioned they were the best quality midterms she can remember grading.

That might be an indicator that law students are becoming more competitive. I'm guessing c/o 2014 will be more so.

solotee wrote:my professor gives the same practice midterm every year. After she graded ours, she mentioned they were the best quality midterms she can remember grading.

That might be an indicator that law students are becoming more competitive. I'm guessing c/o 2014 will be more so.

i dunno how it is where you're at, but at uva c/o 2013 is supposed to be the most numerically qualified on record. could be a function of that rather than just increased competition. we all feel the heat from the bad economy, but i gotta imagine class of 2012 was even more worried about it than 2013 is.

I think Facebook's popularity has something to do with it.

Seriously.

Friends share stuff on Facebook, maybe TLS. More people know about sites like TLS. They then prepare for law school better.

dailygrind wrote:

solotee wrote:my professor gives the same practice midterm every year. After she graded ours, she mentioned they were the best quality midterms she can remember grading.

That might be an indicator that law students are becoming more competitive. I'm guessing c/o 2014 will be more so.

i dunno how it is where you're at, but at uva c/o 2013 is supposed to be the most numerically qualified on record. could be a function of that rather than just increased competition. we all feel the heat from the bad economy, but i gotta imagine class of 2012 was even more worried about it than 2013 is.

I think credentials only marginally affect the quality of work. Our schools average gpa actually fell by .1 pt, while the average LSAT score stayed the same. Class of 2012 might have been more worried, but I would argue that not as many had the opportunity to reach out to resources (such as TLS) in time to adequately prepare themselves for the challenge of 1L year

We have a mix of cutthroats and cool people in my class. The cutthroat stories are pretty lulzy (refusing to share information with your "law firm" groups for an OPEN memo assignment)