. Forum

[nmg5211]

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[mephistopheles]

well, a bit of good news is that everyone else did not get As.

[nmg5211]

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[BuckinghamB]

Talk to your professors to see what you did wrong and do your best to fix it. There are far worse places to be than median at GULC after first semester, though admittedly that's not the most desirable place to be. You still have a whole semester to go and it's early. Buck up, you can do this.

[Robespierre]

Wouldn't you have THREE semesters to go b4 OCI as a part time student? Loads of time to get up into the top third, which'll put you in pretty good shape.

[ClubberLang]

Talk to professors, find out where you went wrong. One thing that worked for me and might work for you based on what you wrote is to consciously spend less time on LRW and more on your substantive classes, particularly if they are worth more credit. If you objectively analyze your time per credit hour you'll probably find you are spending too much time on LRW.

Also, it's easy to cruise through the substantive classes. Focus on keeping your outlines up to date through the semester, and prewrite analysis on both sides. When learning a new issue, focus on how it would be argued on both sides.

Most people will know the law. The best students are those who can argue it both ways and type fast. Other than that chill out. There's nothing wrong with being median and you are only 1 semester in.

[alpa chino]

I'm also lower T14, and have friends AT MEDIAN who copped NY V10 (and friends in the top 20% who struck out), and lots more median-ish classmates who got market-paying jobs.

Their results were largely a product of their preparation (or lack thereof) for OCI. So even if you finish median @ GULC, you can get a great job if you prep for OCI over the summer like it's a second job, mass mail early, and don't exclusively target DC like some of your misguided classmates will.

So talk to profs, read Getting to Maybe, and do whatever else you need to do if you wind up median. But just be aware that, even at median, you're in much better shape than you believe.

[cinephile]

Most people are in this situation. It doesn't mean you necessarily did anything wrong, you just didn't write as well as some of your peers.

[Tom Joad]

T14 law schools are tough. One exam, I thought I destroyed. I was convinced it was better than any model answer I had read. B+

[BruceWayne]

Median at GULC is not a horrible place to be assuming you aren't dreaming of DC biglaw. And even if you are, as others have said, you have time to pull up your GPA.

[AC Vegas]

Wouldn't you have THREE semesters to go b4 OCI as a part time student? Loads of time to get up into the top third, which'll put you in pretty good shape.

Yea, chill out. You finished 2 classes. Keep your LRW grade up.

[manofjustice]

well, a bit of good news is that everyone else did not get As.

170

[nmg5211]

Wouldn't you have THREE semesters to go b4 OCI as a part time student? Loads of time to get up into the top third, which'll put you in pretty good shape.

Yea, chill out. You finished 2 classes. Keep your LRW grade up.

I'm glad you guys brought this up...I was thinking about transferring to FT, so I would be doing OCI this summer. I haven't requested a transfer yet...Is this now a terrible idea?

[20130312]

Median at GULC is not a horrible place to be assuming you aren't dreaming of DC biglaw. And even if you are, as others have said, you have time to pull up your GPA.

This is the most positivity I've ever seen in a BriceWayne post. OP, you're in good hands.

[shepdawg]

B+ is median? That doesn't sound right. B+ lands top 5% at my school.

[musicfor18]

I'm fucked. Fucking median. I literally did every possible thing. I don't know what to do differently.

What is median at GULC?

[ninereal]

I'm fucked. Fucking median. I literally did every possible thing. I don't know what to do differently.

What is median at GULC?

B+, pretty much.

[manofjustice]

B+ is median? That doesn't sound right. B+ lands top 5% at my school.

Lower-ranked schools tend to have a lower median. Higher-ranked schools tend to have a higher median.

[reasonable_man]

Law school grading is arbitrary. Sadly, your paper didn't travel far enough down the stairs to earn you an A.

[09042014]

Well you shouldn't have thought you were special.

[mr.hands]

Median at T14 after the first semester isn't a bad place to be. Still in striking distance to the top of the class. More importantly, you don't have to make up ground next semester

Go over your exams and read a ton of model answers.

[nmg5211]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I need tips on how to be a better test taker. And I think one of my biggest problems is I got way too bogged down in trying to know every little thing and worked really hard but not smart.

[Robespierre]

Wouldn't you have THREE semesters to go b4 OCI as a part time student? Loads of time to get up into the top third, which'll put you in pretty good shape.

Yea, chill out. You finished 2 classes. Keep your LRW grade up.

I'm glad you guys brought this up...I was thinking about transferring to FT, so I would be doing OCI this summer. I haven't requested a transfer yet...Is this now a terrible idea?

They're allowing very few transfers to FT so you probably wouldn't get it. In any event, yeah, it's probably not a good idea because it would give you less time to get a higher class ranking.

Again, you're in good shape and need to stay calm. You're just above median at a T14 with three whole semesters to move up further. Lots of people would kill for that.

[3|ink]

Wouldn't you have THREE semesters to go b4 OCI as a part time student? Loads of time to get up into the top third, which'll put you in pretty good shape.

Yea, chill out. You finished 2 classes. Keep your LRW grade up.

I'm glad you guys brought this up...I was thinking about transferring to FT, so I would be doing OCI this summer. I haven't requested a transfer yet...Is this now a terrible idea?

You're PT at GULC? I might know you.

[clerker]

I'm also lower T14, and have friends AT MEDIAN who copped NY V10 (and friends in the top 20% who struck out), and lots more median-ish classmates who got market-paying jobs.

Their results were largely a product of their preparation (or lack thereof) for OCI. So even if you finish median @ GULC, you can get a great job if you prep for OCI over the summer like it's a second job, mass mail early, and don't exclusively target DC like some of your misguided classmates will.

So talk to profs, read Getting to Maybe, and do whatever else you need to do if you wind up median. But just be aware that, even at median, you're in much better shape than you believe.

This. When I was in law school, I made the same exact observation: being median made it an uphill climb during OCI, but it did not, by any means, rule you out from some of the top firms (especially the top vault lawyer factories in NYC). On the other hand, I saw others who were on law review who failed to secure any summer associate position. Performance at OCI accounts for a huge portion of your job search success, and being median at GULC keeps you in the running for lots of positions.

That being said, not everyone improves their grades after their first semester. To avoid getting worse grades in the future, make sure you work just as hard as you did that first semester. But you should also do whatever you can to find out what your shortcomings are. I busted my ass my first semester (at my T14) and ended up at median as well. It was massively depressing since I worked harder than all my friends yet they all had better grades.

So I took my old exams and went to professors and had them walk through with me why my exam answers were shit. I figured out that I spent too much time outlining and briefing and not enough time doing practice exams. I kept working just as hard as I did the first semester, but I also tried to load up my effort towards the end of the semester, so I wouldn't be burned out when it was time for practice exams. (This was one of my biggest mistakes my first semester). I kept working hard at LRW, even though I felt it was an impossible class.

That second semester my grades went up, although not as much as I'd hoped. I went from median to somewhere between median and top 1/3. All the effort I poured into figuring out my weaknesses and all the time I spent on LRW paid off in a huge way, though, when I somehow miraculously wrote on to law review. I took nothing for granted and busted my ass preparing for OCI and ended up at a top vault firm.

In conclusion, chill out, because being median isn't such a bad place to be, even though it might seem that way at the moment. Just be prepared to do what it takes to move up.