Legal Grades are Bullshit Forum

[09042014]

I know a guy who FAILED out of his T1 after 3 years. They let him start over and he graded onto law review.

[A. Nony Mouse]

No, but seriously, why is that bullshit? Could he not, you know, have learned from his mistakes/got his shit straight and actually done better the second time around?

[anyriotgirl]

that sounds expensive

[Holly Golightly]

I wonder how well I'd do if I could start law school over...

[09042014]

No, but seriously, why is that bullshit? Could he not, you know, have learned from his mistakes/got his shit straight and actually done better the second time around?

Cause he failed out after doing okay 1L and shitting the bed 2-3L.

[Pokemon]

So six years of law school? Unless this guy transfers to Yale, I have no idea how he can explain that to employers.

[A. Nony Mouse]

No, but seriously, why is that bullshit? Could he not, you know, have learned from his mistakes/got his shit straight and actually done better the second time around?

Cause he failed out after doing okay 1L and shitting the bed 2-3L.

So do you mean it's bullshit for employers to rely so heavily on 1L grades in hiring? Otherwise I'm still confused. He could have earned grades he deserved every single semester of law school - some semesters he deserved crappy ones, some semesters he deserved great ones.

[jd20132013]

i agree that legal grades are bullshit but not sure how this demonstrates it

[rpupkin]

No, but seriously, why is that bullshit? Could he not, you know, have learned from his mistakes/got his shit straight and actually done better the second time around?

Cause he failed out after doing okay 1L and shitting the bed 2-3L.

What does this have to do with legal grades? I know a guy who did well 1L and then dropped out at the end of 2L after having failed two classes. He had serious mental health issues. If he were to start over and get good grades somewhere, I wouldn't take it as a sign that legal grades are bullshit.

[Holly Golightly]

I'll bet I could pwn the curve if I got three shots at 1L. Is it really fair to grade everyone else against that?

[objctnyrhnr]

yeah this whole thing seems ridiculous. it's theoretically possible, from a purely financial standpoint, that it actually makes sense to go to a TTTT for a year on a full ride, "learn" the law school "thing," and then use your same LSAT/GPA stats to crush 1L the following year at a legitimate school (so you're applying as you are doing 1L at the TTT). I swear I asked this somewhere because this concept has already occurred to me and the response was a resounding "this is not allowed anywhere." I mean maybe that handful of people were wrong, but the notion of this being allowed anywhere does seem pretty intuitively absurd.

(yes i did reread what I wrote and realize that I implied that TTTT's are not legitimate institutions...but i certainly wouldn't be the first one to do that on TLS, and I consciously decided not to delete it)

[A. Nony Mouse]

I think DF meant this person flunked out and returned to the same school to start over (going back to somewhere to erase Fs you earned seems different from trying to start over after you got credit for 1L). I can see that being possible, and I can see that legal grades are bullshit, I'm just not sure how the two things here are connected.

[Pokemon]

Maybe the idea of the post is that, grades = some sort of an academic ability is fake, since it requires more learning the rules of the game. As such, even an "idiot" that fails it the first time can now ace it, since he knows the rules of the game. LS grades are thus bs, because some people might already know the rules of the game or may have learned them before others. Thus, their crushing is not necessarily a result of superior academic ability.

I am doing just an interpretation here... this is not necessarily what I think.

[09042014]

Maybe the idea of the post is that, grades = some sort of an academic ability is fake, since it requires more learning the rules of the game. As such, even an "idiot" that fails it the first time can now ace it, since he knows the rules of the game. LS grades are thus bs, because some people might already know the rules of the game or may have learned them before others. Thus, their crushing is not necessarily a result of superior academic ability.

I am doing just an interpretation here... this is not necessarily what I think.

pretty much

[Big Dog]

Maybe the idea of the post is that, grades = some sort of an academic ability is fake, since it requires more learning the rules of the game.

How is this any different than undergrad? We all know the drinker/stoner/party person who skated by with minimal academic effort but still pulled gentle person's C's/B's. Heck, I had a brilliant housemate who spent most days stoned and still graduated with a degree in STEM, where the undergrads have actual curves. (Even copped a few A's -- the guy was brilliant, but never cared to apply himself.)

"Studies" majors just need to regurgitate the professor's pov ("rules").

[wingding]

Maybe the idea of the post is that, grades = some sort of an academic ability is fake, since it requires more learning the rules of the game.

How is this any different than undergrad? We all know the drinker/stoner/party person who skated by with minimal academic effort but still pulled gentle person's C's/B's. Heck, I had a brilliant housemate who spent most days stoned and still graduated with a degree in STEM, where the undergrads have actual curves. (Even copped a few A's -- the guy was brilliant, but never cared to apply himself.)

"Studies" majors just need to regurgitate the professor's pov ("rules").

Because a lot of UG courses are such that a really smart person can get excellent grades with no effort.

edit: as you yourself point out in your post

[northwood]

why would you want to re do law school??

[rivermaker]

Pretty sure this is a troll job.

[El Pollito]

Pretty sure this is a troll job.

nope

[OutCold]

I took a 1L elective class last semester of 3L. Aced it with minimal effort. Even a 1L that works his ass off can't beat someone who flat out knows how to write an exam.

Edit to add that the elective was Admin, not international humanitarian and chinese law.

[shock259]

i agree that legal grades are bullshit but not sure how this demonstrates it

[Lacepiece23]

I took a 1L elective class last semester of 3L. Aced it with minimal effort. Even a 1L that works his ass off can't beat someone who flat out knows how to write an exam.

Edit to add that the elective was Admin, not international humanitarian and chinese law.

cool story bro.

[First Offense]

I took a 1L elective class last semester of 3L. Aced it with minimal effort. Even a 1L that works his ass off can't beat someone who flat out knows how to write an exam.

Edit to add that the elective was Admin, not international humanitarian and chinese law.

You mean after three years of law school you are better at law school?

SHOCKING STUFF.

[arklaw13]

I took a 1L elective class last semester of 3L. Aced it with minimal effort. Even a 1L that works his ass off can't beat someone who flat out knows how to write an exam.

Edit to add that the elective was Admin, not international humanitarian and chinese law.

Not sure what the point of this is.

[Pokemon]

Did all of you wake five days later to discover this comment. The point is to show that legal grades might be bs cause some people may know how to write exams before others. Read the entire thread.