Worried 1L Needs Advice... This is NEW Forum

[LadyMary]

Here's my situation...

I'm a 1L at MVP. Grades were well below median. 3 B's and 1 B-
I already have 2 SA positions lined up at big law firms for the summer. That happened through good connections.
I plan on working a lot harder this semester, but obviously I can't predict where my GPA will be. I'm confident I can at least raise it to above a 3.0 though.

1. What are the chances of landing big law during OCI?
2. I've heard that some firms won't offer you a 2L SA if your GPA isn't up to par with what they want... even if you do a really good job there during 1L summer. What are the chances that not receiving an offer from either firm will be detrimental during OCI?
3. Who thinks I should drop out? (I'm only paying half my expenses, but will still be in debt around 100k if I don't drop out)

I appreciate any feedback. Thank you, seriously.

[KD35]

Here's my situation...

I'm a 1L at MVP. Grades were well below median. 3 B's and 1 B-
I already have 2 SA positions lined up at big law firms for the summer. That happened through good connections.
I plan on working a lot harder this semester, but obviously I can't predict where my GPA will be. I'm confident I can at least raise it to above a 3.0 though.

1. What are the chances of landing big law during OCI?
2. I've heard that some firms won't offer you a 2L SA if your GPA isn't up to par with what they want... even if you do a really good job there during 1L summer. What are the chances that not receiving an offer from either firm will be detrimental during OCI?
3. Who thinks I should drop out? (I'm only paying half my expenses, but will still be in debt around 100k if I don't drop out)

I appreciate any feedback. Thank you, seriously.

Are the 2 SA chances at V100 firms? If so, where about do they fall?

[LadyMary]

Yes. One of the firms is ranked 1-10. The other firm is ranked 90-100

Also, I don't know if you misunderstood or if you made a typo, but I just want to confirm that I actually have those jobs already

[09042014]

Here's my situation...

I'm a 1L at MVP. Grades were well below median. 3 B's and 1 B-
I already have 2 SA positions lined up at big law firms for the summer. That happened through good connections.
I plan on working a lot harder this semester, but obviously I can't predict where my GPA will be. I'm confident I can at least raise it to above a 3.0 though.

1. What are the chances of landing big law during OCI?
2. I've heard that some firms won't offer you a 2L SA if your GPA isn't up to par with what they want... even if you do a really good job there during 1L summer. What are the chances that not receiving an offer from either firm will be detrimental during OCI?
3. Who thinks I should drop out? (I'm only paying half my expenses, but will still be in debt around 100k if I don't drop out)

I appreciate any feedback. Thank you, seriously.

1) Pretty low. You'll have to network, massmail, pray, and get lucky

2) Not all firms have that policy. But getting no offered will hurt, but not as bad as getting 2L no offered.

3) I wouldn't drop out. You've got two SA's that might lead to offers. And they pay well, so that mitigates some of the risk of staying.

[dsn32]

If you believe you have a solid chance at getting an eventual offer from one of the two firms you're already offered for 1L summer at, and you want to be a lawyer, you should stick it out. It's one thing for bad grades to prevent you from achieving your goals, but its quite another to let the echo chamber of law school tell you your grades are preventing you from achieving your goals despite hard evidence (offers) to the contrary.

[daleearnhardt123]

you're in a unique position in that there's no reason for you to not see how Spring semester goes. If you drop out now, you forfeit your SAs, and they basically cover the cost of tuition for the spring. So why not take a chance on Spring?

If Spring goes equally poorly, then youll most likely wanna drop out unless your firm offers you. OCI will not be pretty sub 3.0

[rad lulz]

Here's my situation...

I'm a 1L at MVP. Grades were well below median. 3 B's and 1 B-
I already have 2 SA positions lined up at big law firms for the summer. That happened through good connections.
I plan on working a lot harder this semester, but obviously I can't predict where my GPA will be. I'm confident I can at least raise it to above a 3.0 though.

1. What are the chances of landing big law during OCI?
2. I've heard that some firms won't offer you a 2L SA if your GPA isn't up to par with what they want... even if you do a really good job there during 1L summer. What are the chances that not receiving an offer from either firm will be detrimental during OCI?
3. Who thinks I should drop out? (I'm only paying half my expenses, but will still be in debt around 100k if I don't drop out)

I appreciate any feedback. Thank you, seriously.

1) Pretty low. You'll have to network, massmail, pray, and get lucky

2) Not all firms have that policy. But getting no offered will hurt, but not as bad as getting 2L no offered.

3) I wouldn't drop out. You've got two SA's that might lead to offers. And they pay well, so that mitigates some of the risk of staying.

TCR

[thegrayman]

I would ride it out one more semester. If your SA can lead to a fulltime offer, I would bust my ass to make that happen.

If you cannot get your cumulative above a 3.0 before OCI, that is a bad spot to be in and I would likely drop out.

[LadyMary]

If you believe you have a solid chance at getting an eventual offer from one of the two firms you're already offered for 1L summer at, and you want to be a lawyer, you should stick it out. It's one thing for bad grades to prevent you from achieving your goals, but its quite another to let the echo chamber of law school tell you your grades are preventing you from achieving your goals despite hard evidence (offers) to the contrary.

Is there any way to know how good of a chance I have of getting an eventual offer from one of the firms?

[LadyMary]

I would ride it out one more semester. If your SA can lead to a fulltime offer, I would bust my ass to make that happen.

If you cannot get your cumulative above a 3.0 before OCI, that is a bad spot to be in and I would likely drop out.

How far above a 3.0 do you think would be good? I mean I know as high as I can get it is best, but what is the minimum do you think?

[rad lulz]

m

[20141023]

.

[LadyMary]

Thanks for all the responses.

Does anyone have any experience with going from B's to A's the second semester?

[KD35]

Thanks for all the responses.

Does anyone have any experience with going from B's to A's the second semester?

(Still in my first semester, so this was a friend's experience and not mine):
He went fromjust above median grades (was around 3.3ish) to a 3.9 GPA the next semester of his 1L year. You learn a lot (hopefully) after the first semester of exams and how to do better. But so does everyone else. So you can go from B's to A's, it just takes doing substantially better because everyone else will test better second semester as well.

[LadyMary]

Noted. Thanks for the replies. Anyone else?

[crit_racer]

Yeah I think everyone else is right here. Wait till end of summer, see how spring grades go and whether or not you get an offer, then decide.

Another benefit to this plan is it gives you a good excuse if you do drop out. You can tell other employers that you tried law firm work and realized you didn't want to do that and then decided to drop out.