students at the bottom of the grading curve Forum

[HarlandBassett]

is there a formal or slang term for these students? (Students that you look for and wish enrolled in your class to fill out the bottom of the curve)

[Grizz]

unemployable

[Aberzombie1892]

is there a formal or slang term for these students? (Students that you look for and wish enrolled in your class to fill out the bottom of the curve)

Are you asking from the aspect of a student or from the aspect of an administrator?

And I wouldn't say they are unemployable. You would be surprised.

[typ3]

is there a formal or slang term for these students? (Students that you look for and wish enrolled in your class to fill out the bottom of the curve)

Are you asking from the aspect of a student or from the aspect of an administrator?

And I wouldn't say they are unemployable. You would be surprised.

Someone is obviously one of these aforementioned people.
Mc Donald's responding to your resume with a part time position doesn't qualify as employable.

[Grizz]

And I wouldn't say they are unemployable. You would be surprised.

Yeah you're right. Sorry I was drunk.

[LockBox]

And I wouldn't say they are unemployable. You would be surprised.

Yeah you're right. Sorry I was drunk.

Sometimes I can't tell when people are being facetious on this board or not. Are the current job prospects for people in, let's say, the bottom 25% or even the bottom 50% dire? Does anyone have any anecdotal experience?

[rayiner]

And I wouldn't say they are unemployable. You would be surprised.

Yeah you're right. Sorry I was drunk.

Sometimes I can't tell when people are being facetious on this board or not. Are the current job prospects for people in, let's say, the bottom 25% or even the bottom 50% dire? Does anyone have any anecdotal experience?

At the T14, just below median seems to be okay, but bottom 25% is a tough road to hoe. Once you get out of biglaw range it's not that you're unemployable, it's just that you lose access to the most straightforward way of getting a job. You go through 2L without a job, then scramble 3L looking for something. At that point it becomes pretty random - some people work connections or get lucky and other people don't.

[jtemp320]

And I wouldn't say they are unemployable. You would be surprised.

Yeah you're right. Sorry I was drunk.

Sometimes I can't tell when people are being facetious on this board or not. Are the current job prospects for people in, let's say, the bottom 25% or even the bottom 50% dire? Does anyone have any anecdotal experience?

From what I gather generally yes its rough down there at the bottom but which schools we are talking about probably matters a lot...

Are we talking HYS or CCN?

(Havard, Yale, Stanford...or Cooley, California Western, Nova)

[typ3]

Top 14 bottom 50 and 25 have it way better off than non t-14 bottom half.

I would even argue that bottom 25% at T-14 > job prospects than someone just out of the top 1/3rd at 30-100 regionals.

You can snag a small law / midlaw job with your T-14 degree that will pay 6 figures. Good luck doing so if you come out of a T2 school not being top 1/3rd. You're looking at setting up your own shop or working a non lawyer position.

[HarlandBassett]

the type gunners would love in their section/class. slackers? bucket fillers?

[BackToTheOldHouse]

the type gunners would love in their section/class. slackers? bucket fillers?

[Alex-Trof]

I would call them "shit out of luck".

[FalafelWaffle]

One has to wonder though, if you're at a school that has both 1) a higher than average curve and 2) does not release the rank of its students (such as, say, Michigan, from what I've heard), I would imagine this is less important.

Most finance majors I know of that got their "elite" jobs got them through their internships, which I imagine is an interesting parallel to 2L OCI and summer--->full time offer. Almost every i-banker I know got a full-time offer the August/September after their junior year summer internship. There are some exceptions, but there are plenty of people who hunted, hunted, hunted and got great jobs. Not i-bank level jobs, but still at companies that would look great on one's resume. I think on-campus recruiting/internships leading to a full-time offer are a godsend to those who qualify but, I lost my train of thought just take from that what you will.

[BackToTheOldHouse]

I would call them "shit out of luck".

As kids we're not taught how to deal with success; we're taught how to deal with failure. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. If at first you succeed, then what?

[3ThrowAway99]

is there a formal or slang term for these students? (Students that you look for and wish enrolled in your class to fill out the bottom of the curve)

I don't know the answer to your question, but I do know that people who pick on others to feel better about themselves are generally called "bullies."

EDIT: I realized this may have come off kind of strong; it's not my intention to indicate that OP necessarily has the mindset of a bully if that is how the post came off. I am just rather averse to diminutive names in general (though admittedly I used one myself), so it kind of struck me the wrong way to see someone wondering if there was a slang term for under-performers in the law school context. I suppose that if the under-performance is due to lack of proper effort then 'slacker' probably is the right term. I did find 'curvebait' pretty funny. The whole idea of looking for under-performers to fill classes seems odd to me, but I'm sure plenty of people do think about this kind of thing.

[rinkrat19]

How about at a school like Northwestern, where there's no class rank, OCI is by lottery, and you can't put your GPA on your resume (for OCI)? Are OCI interviewers forced to take a more instinctive/less numbers-based approach to hiring if they can't tell whether the student they're talking to is above or below median?

[BlueDiamond]

I would call them "shit out of luck".

As kids we're not taught how to deal with success; we're taught how to deal with failure. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. If at first you succeed, then what?

this seems like an easy one.. profit off the ones taking a second go at it duh.. just ask the LSAC

[JG Hall]

And I wouldn't say they are unemployable. You would be surprised.

Yeah you're right. Sorry I was drunk.

I know sub 3.0 kids with primary market vault summer jobs, so not entirely outrageous statement.

[typ3]

And I wouldn't say they are unemployable. You would be surprised.

Yeah you're right. Sorry I was drunk.

I know sub 3.0 kids with primary market vault summer jobs, so not entirely outrageous statement.

Are these kids URMs or the off spring of senators?

[rose711]

is there a formal or slang term for these students? (Students that you look for and wish enrolled in your class to fill out the bottom of the curve)

I don't know the answer to your question, but I do know that people who pick on others to feel better about themselves are generally called "bullies."

Also known as douches or a**holes.

[TTH]

The word your looking for is "Canary."

http://barelylegalblog.blogspot.com/200 ... anary.html

[HarlandBassett]

The word your looking for is "Canary."

http://barelylegalblog.blogspot.com/200 ... anary.html

"The Canary will be your "canary" in the mineshaft that is law school."

lol, that is brutal

[Big Shrimpin]

is there a formal or slang term for these students? (Students that you look for and wish enrolled in your class to fill out the bottom of the curve)

Curvebait.

/thread