The Effect of Bad First Semester Law School Grades

The Effect of Bad First Semester Law School GradesThe Effect of Bad First Semester Law School GradesWhen its January, it means one thing to law students Grades are coming in. If your first-semester law school grades are everything you hoped and dreamed, awesome For most people, especially 1Ls, thats leid the case, unfortunately. The forced curve in 1L classes means that a huge number of law students are getting grades theyve never seen before. Bs? Cs? Ds? Fs? Its all possible. Beyond just the shock of not automatically getting As law students have another worry Will these grades totally sink my legal career? Its a legitimate question, but theres no reason to panic. Many successful lawyers have been where you are right now and lived to tell the tale. Here are three suggestions for coping with disappointing first semester grades in law school What Happened? While its possible to recover from terrible grades and have a successful legal career, its easier to find a job when you gradu ate if your grades arent consistently terrible. So, its time to figure out what went wrong first semester and correct it going forward. Step one is to get, and carefully examine, your exam answers, comparing them in form and content to any sample answers your professor handed out. Once youve done this, set up a meeting with your old professor to see what advice they can offer. (Some professors are reluctant to engage in such a conversation, but many are willing to help if you approach them with a constructive attitude and make it clear youre interested in improving your performance going forward, not in arguing about your grade from last semester.) Take any advice to heart and make changes in how you study this semester. If your professors arent willing to help, look for other resources. Your school might offer peer mentors or an academic support program. Worst case, consider hiring a law school tutor for a few sessions. Any input you can get is valuable, so dont be shy Ask around for help. Change How You Prepare If your grades werent great, its a sign that your preparation wasnt effective, so you need to change your approach going forward. There are lots of books on taking law school exams, so you can probably find one that makes sense to you. But dont expect different results if you prepare exactly as you did the first semester Its time to change it up. Focus on Your Career It might sound counterintuitive, but one way of umgang disappointing grades is simply to ignore them and turn your attention to other matters. One of my law school roommates knew she wanted to do public interest work, where grades are less of a focus. So she simply didnt look at her grades She had a friend check to make sure she passed all of her classes, but then she focused her energy on securing relevant internships, doing pro bono work, and making connections in the area where she wanted to work. In the end, she had tons of job options, despite a less than stellar transcrip t, because people in the field knew her and respected her work. If your grades arent going to get you in the door, think about what will. Can you spend time blogging on a topic of interest to you? Or meeting lawyers who work in the area by volunteering for a bar association committee or joining a pro bono project? Ultimately, time spent on such activities can pay off far more than improving your grades from a B to a B. Getting bad first-semester law school grades is a shock, but its not the end of the world. Try to improve your performance going forward, and focus on other aspects of your legal career planning to find ultimate career success