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Hi all,

So 1L grades are all out now and I ended up with a 3.20 cum - below the 3.3 median - at a T14. No Cs or anything but a semester of straight B+s, a B and B-. I had a pretty good GPA (3.5) my first semester. I have work experience in BigLaw prior to law school and am interested in the (hopefully less competitive) Chicago market. I am active in extracurriculars and got on Journal.

1. Resume: does anyone have suggestions for how to best present my GPA on my resume? Some have suggested to add my one semester of 3.5 along with my accumulative GPA and hope that they think my second semester was more of an anomaly. Or is it more normal to not include the GPA at all if you're below median?

2. Interviews: If I (fingers crossed) do get interviews, will I be asked to explain my lower GPA or what happened second semester? If so, what is the best way to approach this?

3. Mass mailings: When mass mailing firms, is it a good or bad idea to add an addendum-type note and acknowledge that my GPA isn't as high associates' typically hired but emphasize that I think my work experience and extracurriculars outweigh the one semester of bad grades and are more indicative of my abilities, or is it best not to draw more attention to it?

4. Other strategies: Are there any suggestions for other strategies in contacting firms and getting interviews? Should I eliminate the possibility of looking at BigLaw entirely? Can you ever contact firms after first or second semester of 2L year for summer associate positions?

Really would appreciate any input here.

fta12 wrote:Hi all,

So 1L grades are all out now and I ended up with a 3.20 cum - below the 3.3 median - at a T14. No Cs or anything but a semester of straight B+s, a B and B-. I had a pretty good GPA (3.5) my first semester. I have work experience in BigLaw prior to law school and am interested in the (hopefully less competitive) Chicago market. I am active in extracurriculars and got on Journal.

1. Resume: does anyone have suggestions for how to best present my GPA on my resume? Some have suggested to add my one semester of 3.5 along with my accumulative GPA and hope that they think my second semester was more of an anomaly. Or is it more normal to not include the GPA at all if you're below median?

2. Interviews: If I (fingers crossed) do get interviews, will I be asked to explain my lower GPA or what happened second semester? If so, what is the best way to approach this?

3. Mass mailings: When mass mailing firms, is it a good or bad idea to add an addendum-type note and acknowledge that my GPA isn't as high associates' typically hired but emphasize that I think my work experience and extracurriculars outweigh the one semester of bad grades and are more indicative of my abilities, or is it best not to draw more attention to it?

4. Other strategies: Are there any suggestions for other strategies in contacting firms and getting interviews? Should I eliminate the possibility of looking at BigLaw entirely? Can you ever contact firms after first or second semester of 2L year for summer associate positions?

Really would appreciate any input here.

What do you mean you got "on journal?" (I assume you don't mean that you wrote onto law review, which is the only one that really matters)

Absolutely do not acknowledge your weaker GPA in your mass mailings. If they are going to ding you for that, fine. Don't ding yourself and highlight your weaknesses.

You probably won't be asked to explain your second semester grades. They really just care about the cumulative GPA

Chicago is not a less selective market. (is this where you're from?)

fta12 wrote:Hi all,

So 1L grades are all out now and I ended up with a 3.20 cum - below the 3.3 median - at a T14. No Cs or anything but a semester of straight B+s, a B and B-. I had a pretty good GPA (3.5) my first semester. I have work experience in BigLaw prior to law school and am interested in the (hopefully less competitive) Chicago market. I am active in extracurriculars and got on Journal.

1. Resume: does anyone have suggestions for how to best present my GPA on my resume? Some have suggested to add my one semester of 3.5 along with my accumulative GPA and hope that they think my second semester was more of an anomaly. Or is it more normal to not include the GPA at all if you're below median?

2. Interviews: If I (fingers crossed) do get interviews, will I be asked to explain my lower GPA or what happened second semester? If so, what is the best way to approach this?

3. Mass mailings: When mass mailing firms, is it a good or bad idea to add an addendum-type note and acknowledge that my GPA isn't as high associates' typically hired but emphasize that I think my work experience and extracurriculars outweigh the one semester of bad grades and are more indicative of my abilities, or is it best not to draw more attention to it?

4. Other strategies: Are there any suggestions for other strategies in contacting firms and getting interviews? Should I eliminate the possibility of looking at BigLaw entirely? Can you ever contact firms after first or second semester of 2L year for summer associate positions?

Really would appreciate any input here.

The only journal that matters is law review. And Chicago is a terrible, terrible market. It's incredibly hard to break into. What are your ties to it? Even if they're strong, apply broadly. Apply to NYC.

1. I don't even know if I'd put the GPA on your resume at all. If you're sending a transcript, they'll see it. No need to remind them.

2. Firms won't generally ask about your grade drop. One or two might. If they do, you say that you messed up, feed them some bullshit about how you plan to improve on what you messed up, and move on quickly. Don't focus on it.

3. Stop thinking of ways to draw attention to your GPA. And mass mail early. Like last two weeks of July early. Mass mail everywhere you plausibly have a tie to + NYC.

4. Start looking for non-BigLaw options, but make sure you do your due diligence with OCI and mass mail. You're not out of the game yet. Non-BigLaw stuff won't be firing up for a little bit yet anyway.