Going To Law School

many people bounce back really well after a poor first semester. yours isn't poor as much as average.

there are many books out there on law school test taking skills.

Yeah, these exam approaches make absolutely no sense to me. Is law really like this on the ground?

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Maybe-Excel-School-Exams/dp/0890897603

I have it, but never read it. Dammit, what kind-of summer job can you get from a crappy school with average grades?

being a lawyer means you are an expert at taking the LAW and using it as a tool to further whatever position you have been hired to advocate.

so, as a lawyer, yes you would walk into court, or a settlement, etc, flailing your arms that there is one correct answer and your client should win.

on a law school exam, unless they are asking you to advocate one position, your job is to see the big picture and lay everything down. every side, every argument, every fork in the law, facts, and policy that bears mentioning.

your job is to SPOT THE ISSUES and TEAR THEM APART. not to answer a question one way.

hopefully your teachers will make the A+ exams available, so you can see what you did wrong.

that book is essential. you should have read it.

Yeah. But is there even a point in continuing? I hear horror stories from 3Ls and graduates about the future from this school ... if you do really well, you're ok, but if you do average or worse, nothing. absolutely nothing.

No, nevermind, I'm below median with grade distribution

i don't know what to say. i know someone who graduated your school in 2004 and still does document review work. but i'm sure there are many who shared your grades first semester who are doing very well.

if you leave now, what would you do? the job market is so horrible i strongly suggest you stay in school.

I have no idea ... drift around and die, I guess. This was definitely not a good idea. If I drop out now there'll be less debt, at least, even if there's no other work (and my past career is in creative! great!)

You've finished just one semester. You don't have all your grades back yet. Relax.

Can you even get a legal aid gig with grades like these? Ugh.

burt wtf can you calm down and take a deep breath. you're being stupid. those aren't bad grades. you have five semesters left. and please stop insulting legal aid, it makes you sound like a douchebag.

No, I like legal aid. I'm in the public interest program here. The grades are below median (2.98, median being 3.016), which isn't good from a Tier 2 school... if I couldn't even do legal aid, I'd probably drop out.

oh i thought you were implying that was for people who were the worst lawyers with the worst grades. i didn't know cardozo was tier 2 though. my school is "tier 1" but cardozo rejected me. anyway you're worrying too much and by next year you will see what i mean.

No, I'd be happy to work for them if that were even possible with these grades. We only had 2 major courses and the half of another major course (haven't gotten the grade back, but it doesn't bode well), so that's that. Next semester has more credits than this one.

ok you're still wrong but i'm not going to argue w/ you anymore

Can I work for legal aid with these grades? If so, I'll stay and start getting more public interest experience. I'm hearing horror stories about the NYC legal world ... like you need to be top 20% to even be considered by Legal Aid.

call legal aid and ask them LOL

They'll probably laugh in my face

i'd say maybe you might win on personality, but i think we all know that is not the case

I don't get grades for another week.

If you really want to do legal aid, find another way in. I think jdunderground is getting to you.

Yeah. These grades are way below 50%, though, so :{

Reading the sample answers, I approached these exams like an English major, which is 100% the exact opposite of law school thinking. For 4 years I was trained to focus on miniscule details and single one out and "blow it up" so to speak. Now it's totally different with law. Pretty sad how one semester can destroy an entire potential career.

yeah, you should just give up now and throw yourself in the east river

That's how I feel, honestly. Way too much debt riding on this.

Hey, Burt. You're failing the biggest law school test of them all. You're letting whatever the hell else is going on affect your dedication to getting this degree.

Seriously. There are THOUSANDS of jobs that don't even ask what your grades were. If you wanted a big firm job, well that's kind of like banking on a lottery win. A gambling man would not bet on ANYONE getting those jobs.

And, if it makes you feel any better, I did worse than that my first semester, and I still got a job. True, I just got downsized, but the firm is going under, so its no reflection on me!

LETS DRINK!!!!!

haha, good times. I just want to do public interest in any regard, and if you do that, the government LRAP seems pretty fair (10 years of any public service law gig = loans forgiven, or something like that). Oh well.

Note to future law students with an English Literature background: unlearn everything they teach you.

we tried to give you that note, you didn't listen.

My school deliberately waits to give first semester grades for first years until second semester tuition has already been paid and classes have already started.

Everyone tried to tell me, even my mom. Yeah, I'm a stubborn, arrogant asshole. The world, break my pride.

Braggin:

Straight As.

Q: How do I handle this in terms of telling/not-telling other people? Also how do I make sure I keep it up?

i almost never tell other people. it usually comes off as douchey and not necessary. also yes, hard to keep up once you start realizing hey this is a stupid game why am i trying but some people never realize that. good luck being one of them!

My study group wanted to all tell and we agreed before we got grades. Other than that I think I am going to tell no one.

KIU dude nice work

law review!

HEYO!

fuk

just don't tell burt stanton

Congrats Hurting!

Kudos to you and your team, Josh!

when people ask just say "i did pretty well"

Good work! And ^^^^ (Max) is totally right.

Everyone in my group did well (at least B+ average) so it was cool. It would have sucked if just one of us did badly.

Seriously, though, burt: if you are really only freaking out about your grades and not able to figure out what you did wrong (i.e. crawling up your own ass and taking Hurting's advice on anything rather than relaxing and dealing with the question in front of you when it's there), you could live with a semester or two off. AT LEAST.

My first semester 1L was all As, second semester a B- nightmare. Then I realized I was letting my classmates' "oh this is so hard and oh so important and very very SERIOUS" shit get to me, so I cut it out and got through with a very nice A- average (with really good grades reserved for the classes I actually was interested in).

I know good lawyers with good lawyering jobs that make them happy who did not get top grades and go to big name schools. I got good grades at a top school and oh-so-prestigious jobs afterwards and it did not make me happy.

Did you change your username again, C0lin?

Congrats, dude. A+ striaght through means you're doing it right. Now, keep it up - whatever the hell it was.

As for telling other people, do NOT be that guy. I still remember those people, and we all hated them. I was friends with probably 5-7 out of the top 10 students in my class, but those other assfaces? No one liked them. Ugh.

And we all remember. Believe me.

I just realized today: going to law school for me isn't a pursuit for a new career. it isn't self-betterment. It's yet another act of self-destruction. I rule.

Redemption!!!!!! I got a full fucking A in Contracts. An A in Contracts. That's way more important than Civ Pro. I won't kill myself now... sorry, hatas.

second or third highest grade in the class. maybe I'm not such a dumb ass ;_;

and the whole thing is true about doing better in classes you think you're going to fail, and you do shitty in classes where you think you got an A. I left Civ Pro and Torts thinking "I rule" and Contracts thinking "what the hell was that?"

I wonder why that is... does knowing a little less actually help you be more creative with your legal thinking?