Median at low T1. Do I.... Forum

[BNA]

A. Augment game plan and get straight As in spring
B. Accept the fact that I won't have a job 1L summer
C. Start considering non-legal professions
D. Drop out
E. Hack into school database and change grades
F. Identify a prominent professor, beg for opportunities
G. Seppuku

In all seriousness, how does a student in my position make the best out of a terrible situation like this? Are there any viable opportunities for my kind, or are we generally fckd?

[GreenEggs]

Don't have an answer, but curious to know what you thought was going to happen? Literally half the class is in your position...

[Germaine]

(1) Can you identify any clear places where you could improve (e.g., did not bother preparing an outline for one of your classes)? Or do you really feel as though you did the best you know how to do and still got median?

(2) How low T1 are we talking here?

[A. Nony Mouse]

Being median doesn't keep you from getting a 1L summer job. Anyone who wants to can find a legal job for 1L summer. 1L biglaw SA, no, but that was never going to be likely from a low T1.

And outside of biglaw, most people get legal jobs through getting experience and networking. You intern/extern/do clinics/work for local firms/whatever. It's way too early to declare your legal career over (unless you were biglaw or bust, which, again, was never going to be likely from a low T1).

[BNA]

I know, I wasn't (but should have been) expecting it. I did everything tls told me and am now looking up from the place I was told I would probably be. Just trying to get some advice on attacking the job market from a weak position.

[bk1]

Agree with nony. To reinforce the substantive advice:

Network as much as you can in the region where your school is strongest. Take as many internships as you can load up on, preferably ones that could parlay into a post-grad job. But the reality is that this advice is true across the board and would have applied even if your grades were strong.

[BigZuck]

Whatever happened to:

I'm going to work for the family business, which will be a "professional" position, but will pay equal if not better than a Nashville associate position

Just stick with the plan, sounds like you're fine. Grades were never going to matter for someone in your shoes.

[CFC1524]

Debt?

[BNA]

Whatever happened to:

I'm going to work for the family business, which will be a "professional" position, but will pay equal if not better than a Nashville associate position

Just stick with the plan, sounds like you're fine. Grades were never going to matter for someone in your shoes.

Divorce

[BNA]

Debt?

Will be around 50k including undergrad at graduation

[Good Guy Gaud]

Agree with nony. To reinforce the substantive advice:

Network as much as you can in the region where your school is strongest. Take as many internships as you can load up on, preferably ones that could parlay into a post-grad job. But the reality is that this advice is true across the board and would have applied even if your grades were strong.

+1


I was median-ish after 1L, networked my ass off and ended up with a super legit gig post law school. That being said, my grades did improve as time went on but being median isn't going to prevent you from getting a gig.

[treeey86]

If you want to be a lawyer you stay.

Im a 4th year attorney now from a T-20. Was Median after 1st semester, got it up to top 1/3rd by end of 1L. Grades hovered between top 1/3rd to top 1/4th for rest of law school. Got an in-house gig coming out of law school. Others around my ranking ended up with jobs in big law, government, small and medium law, etc. Those with small and medium law were able to move to big law within a year or two after graduation if they wanted it.

So if you want to be a lawyer stick it out and keeping working. Keep your chin up. $50k total debt is great and not a burden. There are more jobs out there then people on this board think

[twenty]

This is silly. You weren't going to get a job contingent upon grades from a low T1 anyway unless you were top 15% or so.

Don't even look at your spring semester grades; they don't really matter. Go do what you'd normally do from a T1 - hustle in your region, show dedication to a specific field, and be prepared to volunteer a lot.

Also holy shit 50k is nothing.

[RaceJudicata]

Half of 1L is still a very small sample of grades. Plenty of folks in Top 20% will screw up the second semester due to overconfidence or dumb luck in first semester. Kick ass and you might still be okay. Another potential bonus - a decent amount of people in the top 0-20% are going to transfer, and will move you up in rank. While this rank (at least at my school) wouldnt be in place by OCI, the applicant pool will definitely shave shrunk.

Good luck!

ETA: This is why schools shouldn't (and I know many that don't) give ranks after 1 semester of grades. A whole lot can change between semester 1 and 2.

[BNA]

This is silly. You weren't going to get a job contingent upon grades from a low T1 anyway unless you were top 15% or so.

Don't even look at your spring semester grades; they don't really matter. Go do what you'd normally do from a T1 - hustle in your region, show dedication to a specific field, and be prepared to volunteer a lot.

Also holy shit 50k is nothing.

This makes sense. I guess my butt just hurts because I'm not at the line where jobs come to me. I am definitely able to network

[BigZuck]

If you want to be a lawyer you stay.

Im a 4th year attorney now from a T-20. Was Median after 1st semester, got it up to top 1/3rd by end of 1L. Grades hovered between top 1/3rd to top 1/4th for rest of law school. Got an in-house gig coming out of law school. Others around my ranking ended up with jobs in big law, government, small and medium law, etc. Those with small and medium law were able to move to big law within a year or two after graduation if they wanted it.

So if you want to be a lawyer stick it out and keeping working. Keep your chin up. $50k total debt is great and not a burden. There are more jobs out there then people on this board think

Come on dude don't tell people they can just will themselves into big law

Just because you and some other people you know got lucky doesn't mean you can make such sweeping generalizations about the market as a whole

[RaceJudicata]

This is silly. You weren't going to get a job contingent upon grades from a low T1 anyway unless you were top 15% or so.

Don't even look at your spring semester grades; they don't really matter. Go do what you'd normally do from a T1 - hustle in your region, show dedication to a specific field, and be prepared to volunteer a lot.

Also holy shit 50k is nothing.

This makes sense. I guess my butt just hurts because I'm not at the line where jobs come to me. I am definitely able to network

At a low tier one, or most T1 for that matter, no jobs are going to "come to you" regardless of your rank. Unless you are number 1-5ish in your class (even then, depending on size of your class), you are going to have to bust your hump networking/mailing/etc. Coming from a similarly ranked school, many in top 5% of class made these assumptions and were handily out performed by those ranked 20-25% at OCI

[ManoftheHour]

Being median doesn't keep you from getting a 1L summer job. Anyone who wants to can find a legal job for 1L summer. 1L biglaw SA, no, but that was never going to be likely from a low T1.

[TheSpanishMain]

Yeah, not sure why you're stressing getting a 1L job. Most people work for free their 1L summer. Most places aren't terribly selective when you're offering free labor.