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Just got my fall 1L grades and ended up with a 3.1. I don't understand how this happened: I did all my reading, read the E+Es, did the Glannon Guides and CALI quizzes, and finished every practice exam. oh yeah--I also did LEEWS and read Getting to Maybe and Delaney. I really couldn't have done more.

Basically, I'm wondering what being in the bottom quarter-ish of my class at Duke means. I want NYC biglaw, and I will drop out if I can't get it. I'm not very confident about raising my GPA after all the fruitless work I did.

btw, I'm posting on a burner account because people at school know my real username.

working hard =/= working smart. Also some people are bound to be at the bottom. Doesnt mean youre not smart so don't let that bother you. Obviously your odds of getting nyc biglaw are greatly reduce once you go substantially below the median.

if they know your username and see your post saying you changed your username b/c ppl know it, aren't they likely to put 2 and 2 together and figure out your identity anyways?

I sort of think you know the answer to this. People in the bottom quarter of Duke's class to get NYC biglaw. But not very many. It's going to take some great interviewing skills and some serious luck. You need to do much better next semester.

CardozoLaw09 wrote:if they know your username and see your post saying you changed your username b/c ppl know it, aren't they likely to put 2 and 2 together and figure out your identity anyways?

new account!

If you can get median grades next semester, you'll be right in the hunt with a cumulative GPA of 3.2. That's in the middle area you need to be competitive.

Talk to your professors about your exams. I know a lot of people that did that and improved. Your profs will be happy to sit down with you to discuss.

Also, get outlines from 2Ls and 3Ls. That will be a lot more helpful than E&Es because they're tailored to your textbook and professor.

Post removed.

It's your call based on what exit options you have and how much money you'll be out staying vs. dropping, but I think it's too early to throw in the towel with that GPA. As someone else mentioned, even median next semester puts you in a fine position, and with the LARW grade being included, next semester actually has a bit more weight. Even if you can't do more, you may be better able to allocate your time to methods you believe were more useful than others, and there's always some random variation to count on (because despite how much weight employers may put on 3.3 vs. 3.1, it's certainly not a big gap in exam quality/points).

As a Duke 2L, I would really recommend not stressing much. I know of several people with grades lower than or equivalent to yours after first semester that got big law. I don't know how much some of them brought their grades up come second semester (remember that you currently have less than half your grades from 1L year given legal writing not coming out yet), but, regardless, they couldn't have brought them up that much. Reach out to 2Ls or 3Ls you feel comfortable talking to about your grades and ask them for advice when it comes to bidding firms next year since some firms care less about grades. Bid New York, network (seriously, do this. don't think you can't network or should just give up because of your grades; networking wisely and with the right people can make all the difference for someone in your position), do the casenote competition, and hone your interviewing skills with a solid narrative that explains away the weaknesses on your transcript. You will be fine. Grades aren't everything contrary to TLS wisdom, I promise.