Employed 3L at UM: Q&A
Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:24 pm
I logged into TLS about 8 months before I began my applications to LS. I dreamed of getting into UM since before I could have known this is what I wanted to do. I was told since childhood about the reputation that UM Law has within the immediate area.
UM is no T14, but there are plenty of elitists there with a T14 background or, at minimum, the noxious elitist attitude . Getting a job IS possible through backdoor approaches. Professors will email a whole class with a job offer at, say, a boutique firm that recognizes and respects students of the Professor.
NOTE: YOU CANNOT GIVE UP WHEN SHIT LOOKS DAUNTING.
My first year GPA was 1.68. I cried very hard. I've never been academically "successful". B's C's and the occasional A in a class that was bullshit or incredibly interesting was the norm for me since high school. For the first time I was truly destroyed after seeing that my Instinctual approach was an utter failure. I was infuriated with myself and simply disappointed.
They called me in to advise me that continuing is extremely risky and successful recovery is a statistical anomaly. Of course I thanked them for the kind suggestion and pushed on through.
I changed my study plan and buckled down for the second semester. I went HAM during spring and improved very little: 1.8 GPA.
I was mortified that I still couldn't break 2.0.
By this time I received my spring grades, I had already enrolled in summer classes. This permitted me to plead and appeal to the administration to let me stay and prove my worth.
My response to them: "the only way I'm leaving school is when you kick me out".
I believe that it was this attitude and my ability to highlight my disposition to improve that saved me from dismissal.
Long story short, my grades improved that summer and throughout my 2L year. I even nailed my first interview and got a clerkship at a boutique Law firm for the summer.
No, neither of my parents have connections for me to exploit. I'd be the first attorney in the Family.
No, I didn't discuss my grades in the interview. Nor did I excuse myself for poor performance.
I just looked my boss in the eye and said "I want to learn as much as possible and I intend to work as hard and as often as you permit me."
Basically, I just discussed why I was interested in the job and why I want to find a long term position in that particular area of law.
I'm no fucking prize, but I know this website helped me get to the position I am currently in. For that reason, I'm extending myself to the interwebz and happy to take questions about the UM grind.
UM is no T14, but there are plenty of elitists there with a T14 background or, at minimum, the noxious elitist attitude . Getting a job IS possible through backdoor approaches. Professors will email a whole class with a job offer at, say, a boutique firm that recognizes and respects students of the Professor.
NOTE: YOU CANNOT GIVE UP WHEN SHIT LOOKS DAUNTING.
My first year GPA was 1.68. I cried very hard. I've never been academically "successful". B's C's and the occasional A in a class that was bullshit or incredibly interesting was the norm for me since high school. For the first time I was truly destroyed after seeing that my Instinctual approach was an utter failure. I was infuriated with myself and simply disappointed.
They called me in to advise me that continuing is extremely risky and successful recovery is a statistical anomaly. Of course I thanked them for the kind suggestion and pushed on through.
I changed my study plan and buckled down for the second semester. I went HAM during spring and improved very little: 1.8 GPA.
I was mortified that I still couldn't break 2.0.
By this time I received my spring grades, I had already enrolled in summer classes. This permitted me to plead and appeal to the administration to let me stay and prove my worth.
My response to them: "the only way I'm leaving school is when you kick me out".
I believe that it was this attitude and my ability to highlight my disposition to improve that saved me from dismissal.
Long story short, my grades improved that summer and throughout my 2L year. I even nailed my first interview and got a clerkship at a boutique Law firm for the summer.
No, neither of my parents have connections for me to exploit. I'd be the first attorney in the Family.
No, I didn't discuss my grades in the interview. Nor did I excuse myself for poor performance.
I just looked my boss in the eye and said "I want to learn as much as possible and I intend to work as hard and as often as you permit me."
Basically, I just discussed why I was interested in the job and why I want to find a long term position in that particular area of law.
I'm no fucking prize, but I know this website helped me get to the position I am currently in. For that reason, I'm extending myself to the interwebz and happy to take questions about the UM grind.
