Bottom 7% how is this possible? Forum

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Nelson

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Re: Bottom 7% how is this possible?

Post by Nelson » Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:38 pm

rpupkin wrote:
Nelson wrote:
rpupkin wrote: If anything, I'd say that law school academic success is negatively correlated with good networking skills.
Rationalize much?
Sometimes. But you know what that's like. When you're alone and thinking about the pain of not getting into HLS or CLS, you can rationalize how Penn was better for you anyway because you got to go to school in beautiful Philadelphia and still managed to land that sweet V50 gig in NYC.
I do plan to enjoy Willkie.

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brotherdarkness

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Re: Bottom 7% how is this possible?

Post by brotherdarkness » Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:41 pm

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Last edited by brotherdarkness on Sat Jun 28, 2014 1:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Nelson

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Re: Bottom 7% how is this possible?

Post by Nelson » Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:44 pm

brotherdarkness wrote:It's getting personal in here.
Yeah, we do take our superior job placement and low cost of living personally.

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soj

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Re: Bottom 7% how is this possible?

Post by soj » Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:31 am

Just let it go, people. Let the internet warriors on the other side have this one and move on.

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PepperJack

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Re: Bottom 7% how is this possible?

Post by PepperJack » Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:57 am

Well, the smartest people are always the smartest. However, for people with average intelligence for their class who always pull above average grades there may be a degree of social skills that come into play. Just having multiple perspectives on an area of law is crucial in coming up with argument, conargument, argument, conargument and peeling off more than doing so alone. That said, having good social skills with people you see every day isn't necessarily the same as giving good first impressions. I'm sure there are many a-holes who outperform their numbers in interviews. Also, I think it's the connections people make before law school or through something personal that tend to do more. I'm inclined to think people may react differently when someone approaches them just to try to get a foot in the door.

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sparty99

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Re: Bottom 7% how is this possible?

Post by sparty99 » Tue Jan 14, 2014 1:09 am

PepperJack wrote:
sparty99 wrote:
NYstate wrote:
minnbills wrote:These people saying you can't be successful as a lawyer are full of shit. Don't let anyone on here tell you what you can or can't do.

That said, the job search is going to be really tough, and dropping out is the safe choice. If you do decide to stay, load up on as much practical experience as possible, and try to game the curve to make your grades more respectable.

Since you have no debt, it is NBD to walk away now.
[And Sparty99 and anyone else as well]
That was me. What type of job is OP looking at and what will the search be like? Honest question, i assumed the bottom 10% is going to have an almost impossible time finding anything. Your opinion and experience is much more valuable than mine.

I see OP struggling to get through school and struggling to find any job. My advice is based on that view. I'm willing to admit to being wrong that OP will never have a career.
I'm bottom 20-30% or so. I have received interviews at Attorney General offices. One federal government honors agency. Also got a JAG interview. I had a firm interview as well. But they did not see my transcript. It was one of those career fair/cattle calls. My transcript doesn't list my gpa/class rank. OP's search will be no different then any other law student who didn't get big law. You can't be picky, must stay in contact with people you meet, etc. If you go to a Top 20%, perhaps consider getting a JD/MBA. It appears you do well on standarized tests if you had a high LSAT.
With all due respect, I think everyone gets an interview with JAG. I think many government and attorney general job positions are more resume centered, but do not know. However, assuming you didn't land anything, has law school been a good bet so far? Not if you're not paying sticker. Clearly you could counteract that, but not knowing OP, all we can assume is he is RANDOM LAW STUDENT A. For him, your situation is not really enviable. If debt is low, he really wants to be a lawyer and the other alternatives aren't great it may be worth sticking around.

50k is not that much debt to have a t-20 law degree. Big law is probably out, but not 100%. OP can graduate with a respectable GPA. Different people "get it" at different stages. If OP had six figure debt, I would say definitely walk away because the options are so limited. However, 500/month repayment if OP can find a viable way to use the degree isn't the end of the world.

But nobody should be stunned by poor grades at a top school. If someone is smart enough to break 165 on the LSAT, graduate college with a strong GPA and be told much of their future livelihood will be based on your performance on a few exams, you have to bet many of those exams will be damn good.
There were only six spots available for the JAG interview. I landed the spot. I haven't finished law school nor do I have a job. Whether law school is worth it will be dependent on the type of job I receive. I'm on a scholarship, just like OP. The OP is bottom 5%. The chances that he gets all As are probably slim to none.

macbookfan

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Re: Bottom 7% how is this possible?

Post by macbookfan » Fri Jan 17, 2014 6:16 pm

yeslekkkk wrote:The first thing you need to do is TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. My guess is that the issues that were affecting you, as a person and as a law student, are still there. Two or three weeks over Christmas was probably not enough to work through everything. Maybe taking a leave of absence or dropping out for a semester would be worthwhile. You could start again in Fall or come back next Spring. (I'm not sure how this works) I bet you need some time though. Maybe when you're back on track, your efforts as a law student will be more fruitful.
your health must come first.

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