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So far I have taken the approach of focusing exclusively on studying. Would employers for summer SA's care about lack of involvement in the fall? I of course plan to try for law review/moot court in the spring. My thinking was to dedicate my time completely to studying this semester, and then beefing up resume booster stuff if I don't do as well as I hope to. Thoughts?

I think you have 100% the right approach. Employers will absolutely not care about having student orgs on your resume 1L. Grades > anything and then try and land law review/moot court

I'd say it's totally fine to not do much extracurricular-wise in the fall. Definitely do something not strictly academic in the spring though (pro bono, student group, etc). When you list in on your resume you don't list what semester you did it, so employers won't know it was only for half the year. Plus doing something outside of just class will make you seem like a more normal person/give you something more interesting to talk about at OCI.

Grades >>>>> Extracurriculars (unless we're talking journal/moot court). You aren't applying to undergrad where padding your application with "captain of x club" carries weight.

ugh i joined this pro bono thing that is very important to me (it's a huge part of the reason why i chose my school), but it's pretty difficult and is taking up a lot of time. not really sure what to do about it

chandhi wrote:ugh i joined this pro bono thing that is very important to me (it's a huge part of the reason why i chose my school), but it's pretty difficult and is taking up a lot of time. not really sure what to do about it

Scale back your involvement until you're comfortable with your class load. Or if you plan on going in to this field for a career, then just make sure you pass your classes and gun for internships with similar orgs. PI employers (that aren't the government) aren't as grade-conscious as private sector employers. They tend to be much more interested in your experience and dedication to the field.

cavalier1138 wrote:

chandhi wrote:ugh i joined this pro bono thing that is very important to me (it's a huge part of the reason why i chose my school), but it's pretty difficult and is taking up a lot of time. not really sure what to do about it

Scale back your involvement until you're comfortable with your class load. Or if you plan on going in to this field for a career, then just make sure you pass your classes and gun for internships with similar orgs. PI employers (that aren't the government) aren't as grade-conscious as private sector employers. They tend to be much more interested in your experience and dedication to the field.

thank you! it is exactly what i want to do for my career, so that's good to hear re ~experience and dedication~. i am actually pretty comfortable with my class load, but i think this project has a steep learning curve. i'm hoping it will take up less time as i get better at it

Giro423 wrote:So far I have taken the approach of focusing exclusively on studying. Would employers for summer SA's care about lack of involvement in the fall? I of course plan to try for law review/moot court in the spring. My thinking was to dedicate my time completely to studying this semester, and then beefing up resume booster stuff if I don't do as well as I hope to. Thoughts?

Nah, they don't give a shit about your extracurriculars, period. They'll want to ask you about your past jobs, not Video Game Law Club. Only do that stuff if it actually interests you.

I didn't get into moot court; kinda bummed since I want to litigate. 1L is the only opportunity to join the team. How big of a deal is this? Do I need to have killer grades to make up for not making the team?

carsondalywashere wrote:I didn't get into moot court; kinda bummed since I want to litigate. 1L is the only opportunity to join the team. How big of a deal is this? Do I need to have killer grades to make up for not making the team?

not even a deal bro.

as far as talking points in interviews go, if ya'll really have the time to be thinking about extracurriculars, you should put in a few hours at a pro bono instead.

pancakes3 wrote:

carsondalywashere wrote:I didn't get into moot court; kinda bummed since I want to litigate. 1L is the only opportunity to join the team. How big of a deal is this? Do I need to have killer grades to make up for not making the team?

not even a deal bro.

as far as talking points in interviews go, if ya'll really have the time to be thinking about extracurriculars, you should put in a few hours at a pro bono instead.

I'll look into that. I really don't have time for moot court (don't know how my peers do!), so it's probably a blessing in disguise

Edit - apparently I can try out next year, so I feel a lot better now

I didn't participate in any extra curricular activities during all of 1L and it deterred neither summer biglaw employer nor T6 transfer school.

That said, I think if you have no employment history, extra curricular stuff can be helpful/give you something to talk about. If you worked, disregard. And even if you didn't, I don't think it's essential.

chandhi wrote:ugh i joined this pro bono thing that is very important to me (it's a huge part of the reason why i chose my school), but it's pretty difficult and is taking up a lot of time. not really sure what to do about it

Hey, not sure what you have at your school but I've been happily doing some court advocacy as a 1L. I'm pretty much all about getting practical experience and it's been good to have some impact on real people. There's two clubs at my school that I'm in that allow me to advocate for domestic violence victims and children facing suspension. There's also another for unemployment. Been able to connect and meet other 1Ls from nearby schools, and it's been fun.

It depends ultimately on what you want to do and type of experience(s) you can get out of your pro bono opportunities.

If you're interested in biglaw/midlaw, just don't forget this:

Grades>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>law review>>>>>>>>>>>>>secondary journal/mock/moot>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>everything else.

carsondalywashere wrote:I didn't get into moot court; kinda bummed since I want to litigate. 1L is the only opportunity to join the team. How big of a deal is this? Do I need to have killer grades to make up for not making the team?

I did moot court and it’s really fun and I recommend it, but it literally never came up in interviews. And not making the team isn’t something you need to make up for in any way, since doing moot court is way less expected/de facto required than law review. In fact it’s more the other way around - doing moot court won’t make up for not having good grades (to employers who care about grades).

Competed in a few intramural competitions first semester, and was asked to join a interscholastic team for 2nd semester. I think it helped, but at the end of the day it was grades over everything.

carsondalywashere wrote:

pancakes3 wrote:

carsondalywashere wrote:I didn't get into moot court; kinda bummed since I want to litigate. 1L is the only opportunity to join the team. How big of a deal is this? Do I need to have killer grades to make up for not making the team?

not even a deal bro.

as far as talking points in interviews go, if ya'll really have the time to be thinking about extracurriculars, you should put in a few hours at a pro bono instead.

I'll look into that. I really don't have time for moot court (don't know how my peers do!), so it's probably a blessing in disguise

Edit - apparently I can try out next year, so I feel a lot better now

If you go to northwestern then you can def tryout again next year

I did no extra curriculars - aside from law review (and I was a shitty law review member) - all of law school. Went to t2 school and was fine. Grades are what matters. Focus on those and don’t feel bad about not doing extra curriculars - particularly this fall.

I think I'm in the minority, but I would encourage doing extracurriculars as long as they don't interfere with your ability to prepare for class. I think some extracurriculars can be a helpful experience in seeing what different lawyers do or give you sense of what type of work you like. I get that employers don't care, but at some point you have to figure out what you want to do and what makes sense for you.

I also don't know if you're including social clubs (affinity groups, drinking clubs, whatever) but I would also join at least one of those, if only to meet other people at your law school. Again, employers don't care how many friends you made in law school, but that doesn't mean its unimportant.