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I got into a really great law school. I unfortunately didn't do well my first semester due to environmental stress (1.4 GPA) and took a leave of absence. I resumed my second semester but I'm really anxious about meeting the minimum GPA requirements. Honestly, what do you think my chances are and what do I need to do to improve?

alting?

mvp99 wrote:alting?

I don't understand?

No school in the US would allow you to even continue w/ a GPA below 2.0. Flame.

This is not a flame. I think you're misunderstanding me. My GPA for the fall semester is 1.4. After a leave of absence, I was permitted to finish my second semester, and I need a 3.0 to proceed to the second year.

What can I reasonably do to improve?

panda595 wrote:This is not a flame. I think you're misunderstanding me. My GPA for the fall semester is 1.4. After a leave of absence, I was permitted to finish my second semester, and I need a 3.0 to proceed to the second year.

What can I reasonably do to improve?

Get better grades. Read the E&E's.

unless you're on a full ride and someone's subsidizing your cost of living

or, you're just on a full ride attending Columbia (since I'm under the impression that HYS don't give out letter grades)

I think you should definitely drop out. The odds of you landing a job after a D+ average first semester will be incredibly hard, OP. Anything lower than a B- basically asks as a scarlet letter to employers, and you have a GPA lower than a C- average (and just a tad bit higher than a D+ average).

Assuming you 4.0 all your classes this year, that would still leave you with a 2.7, at which point (unless you're at a T10 on a substantial scholarship) I would still advise you to drop out.

Environmental Pressures/ illnesses / unforeseen circumstances really do and if not flame, I'm sorry to hear that OP. But your legal career is over

actually, this has to be flame

even if you 4.0, you'd still be under a 3.0 for the year

If you have below a 2.0 in a class, you fail. It's not a matter of raising your grades in other classes to get a cumulative of 3.0+. You would've *failed* classes.

You can't, for instance, get a 1.7 in civ pro and contracts but move on to 2L because you got a 3.6 in property.

Bad flame

derp.

best of luck, random troll guy!

you failed math too if you paid tuition for a second semester hoping to get a 3.0 cumulative average.

Are you retaking the courses you failed to replace those grades?

As mentioned, a 1.4 cannot turn into a 3.0 in one semester unless you take some absurd number of courses.

Rather than flame, have the naysayers in this thread considered that perhaps OP meant that he/she needs to get a 3.0 for the second SEMESTER gpa? That's entirely different than averaging a second semester with a bad first semester. The OP may have suffered from some type of traumatic experience, personal loss, or attributable experience to his/her grade drop in 1st semester and the school may have set a floor on his/her second try to ensure that they can truly succeed in later years at law school. Seriously guys, so much negativity from the get-go.

Assuming that this isn't some troll, but a genuine appeal to the TLS community for some guidance, I would suggest getting back to basics. Meet with the professors from your fall semester who gave you bad grades and identify where you went wrong on exams. Be honest with yourself, assess your prior study habits and determine where you failed yourself. Read over the myriad of great posts on TLS that offer advice on how to do well, and mimic the strategies that are most compatible with your study habits. Law school is a marathon, and like any marathon your biggest adversary is yourself. Make sure you pace yourself, hold yourself accountable to the readings and studying, and seek clarification where needed.

Best of luck.

flame, and if not the dude is toast

panda595 wrote:This is not a flame. I think you're misunderstanding me. My GPA for the fall semester is 1.4. After a leave of absence, I was permitted to finish my second semester, and I need a 3.0 to proceed to the second year.

What can I reasonably do to improve?

While OP could clarify, I think z0rk is right - OP might have been saying the school told them they had to get a 3.0 that semester to continue. That's reasonable.

OP - asking "what can I do to improve" is a HUGE QUESTION impossible to answer concisely, mainly because no one here knows how you study, what stresses you were facing, or whether you are smart to begin with.

Read z0rks advice. I say ignore your past semester grade, treat this semester as your first. Search the forums for threads advising 0Ls on how to succeed in law school. To me, you're a blank slate so start from square one. Good luck.

I do not understand why I am being called a flame. I believe my post was misread. I need to get a 3.0 this semester to avoid academic dismissal, raising my average to 2.2.

Will you then have to retake the classes you got below a 2.0?

To be blunt, I'd guess you have little to no chance. You need a B average. Have you ever gotten even a single B? Does your school have a curve? I'd drop out now. Don't waste your time or money.

I did get one B. I seem to be understanding the material better so far. I'm just worried.

Why does the poster above believe my legal career is over? Is one semester's worth of grades enough to destroy a legal career if I did well in every other semester? I'm trying my best.

.

I thought this was supposed to be a forum for law school students seeking advice/questions. Every other response has been an attack. I dealt with terrible anxiety the first semester.

I can think of very few "very good law schools" that would even hand out grades that low absent not showing up to the final, writing on a wholly-unrelated subject, or failing to answer 3/4 of the exam. I graduated from a T20 (which many on TLS would probably tell you isn't a very good law school) and the lowest possible grade anyone (and by anyone, a really bad exam that was the absolute worst in the class) MIGHT get is a C-.

I suspect users here are uncomfortable with acknowledging the reality that someone can actually go to a good school and be in danger of flunking out.

And given the importance of grades in getting a lot of kinds of legal jobs, starting from such a deficit takes you out of the running for many legal positions - thus the "drop out/your career is over" comments.

If you want specific advice on how to improve you need to provide some information about how you actually studied and what you were doing wrong the first semester. Otherwise no one can help you in a vacuum.

Thank you for your response. May I pm you? There are certain things I wouldn't want to put "out there". Realistically, what jobs does my grade deficit take me "out of the running"? (I'm not being argumentative, I'm trying to understand this situation).

I would not hire someone who got that kind of GPA during their first semester. Period. It sets off too many red flags regarding aptitude, work ethic, and ability to handle stress / real life.

panda595 wrote:Thank you for your response. May I pm you? There are certain things I wouldn't want to put "out there". Realistically, what jobs does my grade deficit take me "out of the running"? (I'm not being argumentative, I'm trying to understand this situation).

PM away.

Big law firms and and the federal government are notoriously grades-sensitive. PD/DA are more interested in commitment/your experience. Networking and experience might get you in at small firms, too. The problem is that there's an oversupply of applicants, most of whom won't have that first semester experience weighing them down.

I wouldn't per se rule out someone who struggled their first semester, but 1) it would depend heavily on their subsequent performance and what else they brought to the table - they'd need to have something else to catch my attention, and 2) I don't actually hire anyone, so...