Booked 3 classes. B in torts. Weird or just law school? Forum

[Germaine]

1L at school in T25. Not sure if I'm looking for pep talk, advice, or slap across face.

Torts was by far our easiest class, but somehow I got a B in it. Booked the other three, including A+ from a prof who said he hasn't given an A+ in 7 years. Went and looked at Torts final. Still completely lost on the grade. Seemed every bit as solid as the other three. (Torts prof doesn't reveal rubric.)

Basically I've convinced myself that either (a) the Torts prof literally did the staircase thing, or (b) Torts was so easy that almost everyone gave the same answer, and the splits btwn B's and A's were like one or two points.

Don't mean to whine about a good GPA. Grateful for the good grades. Just really frustrated b/c might have had a chance at a really special 1L rank and not sure what I could have done different.

Welcome to law school I guess, right?

[utahraptor]

You did well. Figure out what went wrong in torts. Don't strss about it too much.

[BigZuck]

Sounds like that's just law school being law school. Whole thing is dumb and arbitrary and stupid. See if you can figure out if anything needs fixing but you did well overall, I wouldn't sweat it.

[A. Nony Mouse]

(b) Torts was so easy that almost everyone gave the same answer, and the splits btwn B's and A's were like one or two points.

This happens a lot, I think. It's just law school.

[sambeber]

Got a B in torts my first exam of first semester. Never got another B in law school, finished top 10% at a T14. Weird shit happens.

[mvp99]

Same shit happened to me except I didn't book any class. Congrats on the A+s.

[Germaine]

Thanks guys I really do appreciate it.

I guess one of the reasons it's stressing me out is that I was hoping to go for a good fed clerkship, and since I'm not T14, I figured I need to be top 5 students, not top 5 percent. The torts grade basically makes top 5 students impossible.

Anyway, thanks again.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

Thanks guys I really do appreciate it.

I guess one of the reasons it's stressing me out is that I was hoping to go for a good fed clerkship, and since I'm not T14, I figured I need to be top 5 students, not top 5 percent. The torts grade basically makes top 5 students impossible.

Anyway, thanks again.

If it makes you feel better I was top ten students at a lower ranked school after 1L, and I got an Article III internship for the summer.

[chuckbass]

Thanks guys I really do appreciate it.

I guess one of the reasons it's stressing me out is that I was hoping to go for a good fed clerkship, and since I'm not T14, I figured I need to be top 5 students, not top 5 percent. The torts grade basically makes top 5 students impossible.

Anyway, thanks again.

If it makes you feel better I was top ten students at a lower ranked school after 1L, and I got an Article III internship for the summer.

That's not nearly the same thing tbh. And OP don't worry, clearly the torts grade was an anamoly so just try to repeat the success of your other classes this semester.

[sambeber]

Thanks guys I really do appreciate it.

I guess one of the reasons it's stressing me out is that I was hoping to go for a good fed clerkship, and since I'm not T14, I figured I need to be top 5 students, not top 5 percent. The torts grade basically makes top 5 students impossible.

Anyway, thanks again.

If it makes you feel better I was top ten students at a lower ranked school after 1L, and I got an Article III internship for the summer.

How in the world is this germane?

[MarkfromWI]

Thanks guys I really do appreciate it.

I guess one of the reasons it's stressing me out is that I was hoping to go for a good fed clerkship, and since I'm not T14, I figured I need to be top 5 students, not top 5 percent. The torts grade basically makes top 5 students impossible.

Anyway, thanks again.

If it makes you feel better I was top ten students at a lower ranked school after 1L, and I got an Article III internship for the summer.

Internship =/= clerkship

Just kill it in the spring and again next fall and you should be in solid shape

[jarofsoup]

Its all about rank. What do you have like a 4.0 right now?? I mean that is pretty amazing.I would review the exam with the professor to see what went wrong though.

An advice about clerking--focus Fall OCI first. Try to get a SA for your first year summer if you can and get a second year SA. Then worry about clerking.

[Germaine]

Thanks again. I guess what had me concerned was that the top GPA at my school is normally like 4.1, and when I did the rank estimator it put me at I think 5.5 percentile. Again, not meaning to sound ungrateful for the good GPA -- but I turned down some T6 offers for financial reasons, knowing that meant I didn't have a ton of margin for error on my GPA given the lower ranked school. So to "burn" my one and only allowable B right out of the gate is pretty frustrating.

[Mount Elbrus]

I got an A in torts, because my penis is a magnificent veiny bastard. Enjoy your small penis torty boy

[BigZuck]

Thanks again. I guess what had me concerned was that the top GPA at my school is normally like 4.1, and when I did the rank estimator it put me at I think 5.5 percentile. Again, not meaning to sound ungrateful for the good GPA -- but I turned down some T6 offers for financial reasons, knowing that meant I didn't have a ton of margin for error on my GPA given the lower ranked school. So to "burn" my one and only allowable B right out of the gate is pretty frustrating.

We already said welcome to law school. What do you want people to say now? Drop out?

[A. Nony Mouse]

Thanks again. I guess what had me concerned was that the top GPA at my school is normally like 4.1, and when I did the rank estimator it put me at I think 5.5 percentile. Again, not meaning to sound ungrateful for the good GPA -- but I turned down some T6 offers for financial reasons, knowing that meant I didn't have a ton of margin for error on my GPA given the lower ranked school. So to "burn" my one and only allowable B right out of the gate is pretty frustrating.

Unfortunately, that's what you have to deal with. Going in banking on being one of the top 5 students/having no margin of error is really putting your eggs in one basket. Which is a reasonable enough choice - it sounds like you're not going to have debt - but you have to recognize this was a possibility.

(Also, I don't think you need to be one of the top 5 students to get a federal clerkship, unless you're gunning exclusively for feeder COAs, which also seems to be putting all your eggs in one very small basket.)

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

Thanks guys I really do appreciate it.

I guess one of the reasons it's stressing me out is that I was hoping to go for a good fed clerkship, and since I'm not T14, I figured I need to be top 5 students, not top 5 percent. The torts grade basically makes top 5 students impossible.

Anyway, thanks again.

If it makes you feel better I was top ten students at a lower ranked school after 1L, and I got an Article III internship for the summer.

How in the world is this germane?

It isn't Germaine, it's Hutz_and_Goodman.

I'm just saying that if you book three classes and get a B in a fourth, you are still going to have a good rank and a good chance at Article III (which OP said was his goal).

[ManoftheHour]

Is a solid B at your school median?

Regardless, the fact that you booked 3 will probably get you places.

[A. Nony Mouse]

It isn't Germaine, it's Hutz_and_Goodman.

I'm just saying that if you book three classes and get a B in a fourth, you are still going to have a good rank and a good chance at Article III (which OP said was his goal).

I mean, this is true, but it doesn't have anything with getting an Article III internship as a law student. Tons of people do internships during law school who can't/won't get clerkships post-grad.

[Germaine]

Is a solid B at your school median?

I think it's like 3.3 actually.

Thanks again. I guess what had me concerned was that the top GPA at my school is normally like 4.1, and when I did the rank estimator it put me at I think 5.5 percentile. Again, not meaning to sound ungrateful for the good GPA -- but I turned down some T6 offers for financial reasons, knowing that meant I didn't have a ton of margin for error on my GPA given the lower ranked school. So to "burn" my one and only allowable B right out of the gate is pretty frustrating.

We already said welcome to law school. What do you want people to say now? Drop out?

Fair point. Was just venting.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

It isn't Germaine, it's Hutz_and_Goodman.

I'm just saying that if you book three classes and get a B in a fourth, you are still going to have a good rank and a good chance at Article III (which OP said was his goal).

I mean, this is true, but it doesn't have anything with getting an Article III internship as a law student. Tons of people do internships during law school who can't/won't get clerkships post-grad.

Oh, I misunderstood. I thought he was talking about this summer (grades in 4 classes do not really tell you what your overall law school grades will be).

[chuckbass]

If you booked 3 I'm sure you can book more next semester, and you should be schmoozing with all of the professors now, considering that's a pretty important aspect of getting what you want.

[ManoftheHour]

I think it's like 3.3 actually.

Man that's so weird. 3.3 would put you roughly top 3rd at my school.

[chuckbass]

I think it's like 3.3 actually.

Man that's so weird. 3.3 would put you roughly top 3rd at my school.

A 3.3 would put you at the bottom of the class at my school lol.

[jbagelboy]

some people got straight B's. congrats on your strong grades, keep up the good work.