UVA Law Students Taking Questions Forum

[Br3v]

Do you feel like you went all out? Most law students make the mistake of trying to work crazy hard (brute force method) but some slack probably a little too much. If you tended to slack more than your classmates last semester, then by getting it into gear a little more next semester you could really improve your OGI opportunities.

[Wahoowa18]

Do you feel like you went all out? Most law students make the mistake of trying to work crazy hard (brute force method) but some slack probably a little too much. If you tended to slack more than your classmates last semester, then by getting it into gear a little more next semester you could really improve your OGI opportunities.

I didn't go all out but I'm still surprised I ended up where I did. I'll try to kick it up a few notches next semester, I just hope that it's not too little, too late.

[sprezz]

i wouldn't drop out. you can turn it around. talk to your teachers. get exam feedback. and embrace the fact that it's not going to be a cakewalk from here, because it's not and you're just going to have to own that since the alternative is you letting it get to you.

how big & far away is your hometown market? our magical inflating curve can make you look better to recruiters who don't deal with uva grads often. might be more of a factor for 3L recruiting than 2L, but take what you can get.

did you do well in like LRW or something? maybe try transferring into a professional skills type class this semester.

[bpolley0]

.

[jimmythecatdied6]

If you can improve next semester and bring your GPA around median, then I would say you have a decent shot at biglaw. Employers know that 1L is a difficult adjustment, and if you can show that you figured shit out, I'd think you can make it work. This is especially true if you come across as down to earth and personable in your interviews.

[5ky]

Did anyone here do a tour of the school before attending and if so did you find it beneficial? I am going to be in D.C. for a few days for a dental conference this spring for my SO and I was going to try to make a day of it and head down to Charlottesville as I have never been.

if you're still trying to decide on schools, sure. if you've already decided on uva, then probably no need. the law school is just one building, you can walk around it real quick, but not much to see.

on the other hand, cville is awesome and makes for a great day trip regardless.

[Trout et al]

Do you feel like you went all out? Most law students make the mistake of trying to work crazy hard (brute force method) but some slack probably a little too much. If you tended to slack more than your classmates last semester, then by getting it into gear a little more next semester you could really improve your OGI opportunities.

I didn't go all out but I'm still surprised I ended up where I did. I'll try to kick it up a few notches next semester, I just hope that it's not too little, too late.

The Philly 76ers could win the rest of their games and make the playoffs this season, but they likely won't. Similarly, you could turn it around and get all A's, get to median, then traverse the uphill battle of getting biglaw with median grades, but it's not prudent to expect you will. Law school is costly endeavor is many ways and you should evaluate your continued investment carefully.

All of your classmates, even those who did much better than you, will also try kicking it up a few notches. Getting all A's is not a realistic plan when everything is relative to your classmates, who have already proven they are better at exams than you.

2L OGI will be brutal with a "C" and 3.0. Grades are an easy initial filter for firms, and you will have 270 job candidates at this law school alone who have performed better than you. You should consider if you are otherwise a very strong candidate such as:

Target market and ties
Full-time job experience
Strong undergrad institution and grades
Undergrad degree that you sell as related to a biglaw practice like finance
Strong professional network
Diversity opportunities

[albanach]

The Philly 76ers could win the rest of their games and make the playoffs this season, but they likely won't. Similarly, you could turn it around and get all A's, get to median, then traverse the uphill battle of getting biglaw with median grades, but it's not prudent to expect you will. Law school is costly endeavor is many ways and you should evaluate your continued investment carefully.

All of your classmates, even those who did much better than you, will also try kicking it up a few notches. Getting all A's is not a realistic plan when everything is relative to your classmates, who have already proven they are better at exams than you.

2L OGI will be brutal with a "C" and 3.0. Grades are an easy initial filter for firms, and you will have 270 job candidates at this law school alone who have performed better than you. You should consider if you are otherwise a very strong candidate such as:

Target market and ties
Full-time job experience
Strong undergrad institution and grades
Undergrad degree that you sell as related to a biglaw practice like finance
Strong professional network
Diversity opportunities

This is good advise. It is absolutely not realistic to anticipate going from 3.0 to 3.7 in your second semester. You need to prioritize speaking to professors and learning what you did wrong, than doing everything in your power to get to a B+ range in all your exams next semester. Also, as Trout mentions, start looking at your options for graduation - BigLaw is hard to break into if you don't get an OGI offer.

Secondary markets could be really important. Do you have ties to any that don't have good law schools nearby?

Do you really hate the thought of public interest law? Offers there come much later - usually well into 3L and so give much more time to improve your grades.

[Wahoowa18]

The Philly 76ers could win the rest of their games and make the playoffs this season, but they likely won't. Similarly, you could turn it around and get all A's, get to median, then traverse the uphill battle of getting biglaw with median grades, but it's not prudent to expect you will. Law school is costly endeavor is many ways and you should evaluate your continued investment carefully.

All of your classmates, even those who did much better than you, will also try kicking it up a few notches. Getting all A's is not a realistic plan when everything is relative to your classmates, who have already proven they are better at exams than you.

2L OGI will be brutal with a "C" and 3.0. Grades are an easy initial filter for firms, and you will have 270 job candidates at this law school alone who have performed better than you. You should consider if you are otherwise a very strong candidate such as:

Target market and ties
Full-time job experience
Strong undergrad institution and grades
Undergrad degree that you sell as related to a biglaw practice like finance
Strong professional network
Diversity opportunities

This is good advise. It is absolutely not realistic to anticipate going from 3.0 to 3.7 in your second semester. You need to prioritize speaking to professors and learning what you did wrong, than doing everything in your power to get to a B+ range in all your exams next semester. Also, as Trout mentions, start looking at your options for graduation - BigLaw is hard to break into if you don't get an OGI offer.

Secondary markets could be really important. Do you have ties to any that don't have good law schools nearby?

Do you really hate the thought of public interest law? Offers there come much later - usually well into 3L and so give much more time to improve your grades.

I don't have any ties to secondary markets or markets that don't have good law schools nearby. I don't hate the thought of public interest law. I'm just going to focus on trying to get my grades as high as I possibly can spring semester and trying to show that 1L fall was not representative of my actual capabilities. I know it may be a long shot but I want to at least try and turn this around and think that I still can. If 1L spring doesn't work out either than that will be a different matter altogether.

[Br3v]

The Philly 76ers could win the rest of their games and make the playoffs this season, but they likely won't. Similarly, you could turn it around and get all A's, get to median, then traverse the uphill battle of getting biglaw with median grades, but it's not prudent to expect you will. Law school is costly endeavor is many ways and you should evaluate your continued investment carefully.

All of your classmates, even those who did much better than you, will also try kicking it up a few notches. Getting all A's is not a realistic plan when everything is relative to your classmates, who have already proven they are better at exams than you.

2L OGI will be brutal with a "C" and 3.0. Grades are an easy initial filter for firms, and you will have 270 job candidates at this law school alone who have performed better than you. You should consider if you are otherwise a very strong candidate such as:

Target market and ties
Full-time job experience
Strong undergrad institution and grades
Undergrad degree that you sell as related to a biglaw practice like finance
Strong professional network
Diversity opportunities

This is good advise. It is absolutely not realistic to anticipate going from 3.0 to 3.7 in your second semester. You need to prioritize speaking to professors and learning what you did wrong, than doing everything in your power to get to a B+ range in all your exams next semester. Also, as Trout mentions, start looking at your options for graduation - BigLaw is hard to break into if you don't get an OGI offer.

Secondary markets could be really important. Do you have ties to any that don't have good law schools nearby?

Do you really hate the thought of public interest law? Offers there come much later - usually well into 3L and so give much more time to improve your grades.

I don't have any ties to secondary markets or markets that don't have good law schools nearby. I don't hate the thought of public interest law. I'm just going to focus on trying to get my grades as high as I possibly can spring semester and trying to show that 1L fall was not representative of my actual capabilities. I know it may be a long shot but I want to at least try and turn this around and think that I still can. If 1L spring doesn't work out either than that will be a different matter altogether.

This sounds like a good plan. See how much you can raise your grades, and how well OGi is going until it's time to pay tuition for 2L fall.

[WahooAreYou]

Another housing post for anyone looking to leave Pavilion or Ivy Gardens: consider Cedars Court. I'm graduating this year and my landlady is looking to keep renting the apartment to law students.

It's a one-bedroom apartment, right off Barracks Rd., about a 15-min walk to the law school. It's on the top (4th) floor corner with two balconies. Rent is $825 a month, and the complex does have washers and dryers.

PM me if you're interested and I will put you in touch with her.

[potatoes]

Random - was just looking at the 2014 Ruth Payne email debacle..and it looks like 1 student had higher than a 4.0. How is that possible?

[Trout et al]

Random - was just looking at the 2014 Ruth Payne email debacle..and it looks like 1 student had higher than a 4.0. How is that possible?

must have scored some "A+" grades

[sprezz]

lots of 4.3's

[potatoes]

Random - was just looking at the 2014 Ruth Payne email debacle..and it looks like 1 student had higher than a 4.0. How is that possible?

must have scored some "A+" grades

Oh that makes sense. Didn't realize A+ was higher than 4.0.

[North]

[t14green]

Does anyone know of any Spring classes that have a wide curve with a good likelihood of being able to grind out and get an A?

[whats an updog]

Duffy drops As. Administrative Law might be doable if you're good at issue spotter type exams and can handle admin-material.

It's probably a crapshoot tbh

[albanach]

Does anyone know of any Spring classes that have a wide curve with a good likelihood of being able to grind out and get an A?

Wide curves work both ways and professors who give As attract students who already have As.

Paper classes can be a good place to find A- grades if you spend time with your professor establishing what he/she wants. Just make sure there are enough students enrolled that the prof will have room to hand out a few A-'s. In seminars with ten or fewer students it can easily be a case of a single student getting one, and there's often folk in the seminar with a particularly strong interest in the subject matter.

[sprezz]

professional sports and the law

[cornerstone]

UVA 2L here with a question about VLR grade on. I've heard about a 2L grade on but I haven't found much about it. Is it just the 5 highest GPAs that have beat the original 1L grade on, but were not there before? Is passing this common enough that simply beating the grade on threshold is normally not enough (i.e. would I have to shoot higher?)? Currently sitting at a 3.73 and wondering whether it's worth the effort to try to push my GPA even higher.

[Br3v]

UVA 2L here with a question about VLR grade on. I've heard about a 2L grade on but I haven't found much about it. Is it just the 5 highest GPAs that have beat the original 1L grade on, but were not there before? Is passing this common enough that simply beating the grade on threshold is normally not enough (i.e. would I have to shoot higher?)? Currently sitting at a 3.73 and wondering whether it's worth the effort to try to push my GPA even higher.

It's in the VLR policies online. You have to be at whatever the grade on was at the end of 1L, assuming you have X number of graded credits. 3.73 will certainly put you in the running and if you can raise it even more i'd say you are close to a lock.

Also, if there are more than 5(?) students that reach that GPA at the end of 2L then it's the 5(?) highest I think.

[cornerstone]

UVA 2L here with a question about VLR grade on. I've heard about a 2L grade on but I haven't found much about it. Is it just the 5 highest GPAs that have beat the original 1L grade on, but were not there before? Is passing this common enough that simply beating the grade on threshold is normally not enough (i.e. would I have to shoot higher?)? Currently sitting at a 3.73 and wondering whether it's worth the effort to try to push my GPA even higher.

It's in the VLR policies online. You have to be at whatever the grade on was at the end of 1L, assuming you have X number of graded credits. 3.73 will certainly put you in the running and if you can raise it even more i'd say you are close to a lock.

Also, if there are more than 5(?) students that reach that GPA at the end of 2L then it's the 5(?) highest I think.

Do you (or does anybody) know if it's common for there to be more than 5 who reach that level?

[Br3v]

UVA 2L here with a question about VLR grade on. I've heard about a 2L grade on but I haven't found much about it. Is it just the 5 highest GPAs that have beat the original 1L grade on, but were not there before? Is passing this common enough that simply beating the grade on threshold is normally not enough (i.e. would I have to shoot higher?)? Currently sitting at a 3.73 and wondering whether it's worth the effort to try to push my GPA even higher.

It's in the VLR policies online. You have to be at whatever the grade on was at the end of 1L, assuming you have X number of graded credits. 3.73 will certainly put you in the running and if you can raise it even more i'd say you are close to a lock.

Also, if there are more than 5(?) students that reach that GPA at the end of 2L then it's the 5(?) highest I think.

Do you (or does anybody) know if it's common for there to be more than 5 who reach that level?

It's public, just look at the website announcements of who VLR took. This year I think it was like 3 rising 3Ls so no, I don't think it's common.

[cornerstone]

UVA 2L here with a question about VLR grade on. I've heard about a 2L grade on but I haven't found much about it. Is it just the 5 highest GPAs that have beat the original 1L grade on, but were not there before? Is passing this common enough that simply beating the grade on threshold is normally not enough (i.e. would I have to shoot higher?)? Currently sitting at a 3.73 and wondering whether it's worth the effort to try to push my GPA even higher.

It's in the VLR policies online. You have to be at whatever the grade on was at the end of 1L, assuming you have X number of graded credits. 3.73 will certainly put you in the running and if you can raise it even more i'd say you are close to a lock.

Also, if there are more than 5(?) students that reach that GPA at the end of 2L then it's the 5(?) highest I think.

Do you (or does anybody) know if it's common for there to be more than 5 who reach that level?

It's public, just look at the website announcements of who VLR took. This year I think it was like 3 rising 3Ls so no, I don't think it's common.

Great idea - thanks for all the information!