Clerkships & low undergrad grades Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm getting my application materials ready for clerkships, and I'm very nervous about how many judges (at least on OSCAR) are requesting undergraduate grades. My undergrad grades are terrible (3.2, but with extremely low grades senior year due to health reasons) and I can't see how the grades wouldn't be an automatic ding, especially for COA. How worried should I be? Or, can I just...not submit undergrad grades?

My law school profile is better (top 15%, EIC of law review, T1 school ranked in the 30s), and I have two professors who are willing to make phone calls on my behalf.

[nixy]

If the judge asks for UG grades I think you need to suck it up and provide them. There are 2 possible scenarios: first, the judge doesn’t really care but asks because they just think they’re supposed to. Low grades won’t ding you in that situation, but not providing them will most likely make your application show up as incomplete and possibly be ditched for that reason alone. Second, the judge asks for undergrad grades bc they care and will weed people out for it. Not providing grades won’t help you with that judge bc they won’t move forward without being able to look at your UG grades.

You can try just not providing them, but I think you definitely run the risk of your app being tossed as incomplete.

I don’t think you should worry too much that UG grades will ding you, though.

[Anonymous User]

I'm getting my application materials ready for clerkships, and I'm very nervous about how many judges (at least on OSCAR) are requesting undergraduate grades. My undergrad grades are terrible (3.2, but with extremely low grades senior year due to health reasons) and I can't see how the grades wouldn't be an automatic ding, especially for COA. How worried should I be? Or, can I just...not submit undergrad grades?

My law school profile is better (top 15%, EIC of law review, T1 school ranked in the 30s), and I have two professors who are willing to make phone calls on my behalf.

I had similar UG grades and a legit non-punitive F on my transcript, and I self-selected out of applying to judges who asked for UG grades. I regret that. Ultimately, I ended up interviewing with a CoA clerkship Judge on one of “fancy” circuits who asked me for my ug transcript the day before the interview. Still got the job. Also clerked for a D.Ct. judge on the “fanciest” D.Ct., but s/he didn’t ask for UG transcript.

Your grades are what they are. I suggest shooting your shot, and that goes with post-clerkship employers who ask for UG transcripts too. If your LS credentials are good enough and your resume is polished enough, they likely won’t care. Some will. But many won’t, notwithstanding that they ask for your UG transcript.

Hope this anecdote helps. Also, BIG TIP: Mail applications to judges who don’t use Oscar or who allow paper apps if you are THAT concerned. The standard LS clerkship package is without UG grades, so most judges (even the ones who require UG transcripts) won’t be weirded out by receiving a package in the mail w/o UG transcripts. If your app is strong enough, they’ll call and ask for a UG transcript or just bring you in for an interview

[lavarman84]

If they ask for them, provide them. It is what it is. Don't bring attention to a negative when it's questionable how many judges actually care. Frankly, with your credentials, you're going to need to apply as broadly as possible for COA clerkships. Don't be worried about applying to judges who ask for UG grades. Worst case scenario is a no. If you don't apply, you're preemptively giving yourself a no.