Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Licking My Wounds

Grades have been coming in over the past few days.

I didn't expect to make all A's. I didn't expect to make any A's....

but....

Ouch!

What a humbling, miserable experience.

How did y'all deal with this????

16 comments:

Law-Rah said...

Sweetie, I am still trying to figure this one out. Just keep in mind law school is a means to an end. You are not defined as an attorney by how well you did or did not do on a 3 hour test. No matter what anyone says.

Anonymous said...

Ditto to the wise chick above. Two additional things:
1) I handled it by drinking. Maybe that's why law students drink? :)
2) As one of my favorite law professors once told me: "There are people who make straight A's who make shitty lawyers, and people who make straight C's who can run rings around any other lawyer out there". (This is right after I got a C+ in his class - a subject I knew so well that HE was surprised I didn't get an A. He offered me a letter of recommendation anyway, which I took.) Beyond law review at some schools, and big firm jobs, grades simply don't matter at all.

You have another semester, and you can change tactics and perhaps pull the grades up to the top whatever you want them to be. BUT...remember that even if you don't, a) it doesn't say anything about you as a person, and b) all it serve to do is require you to look in more unorthodox places for that first job. It's certainly not the end of the world, so don't worry. :)

Jeanne said...

I complained a lot on my blog. I still complain a lot on my blog about grades, actually.

Anonymous said...

Keep your chin up. Someone told me Joe Jamail failed torts his first year. Didn't seem to slow him up much.

shell said...

As Prof. K once said, "So what if you didn't get the ideal grade in this class? It just means one person in the world happened to think that the one piece of paper you turned in on that day didn't match with what s/he was thinking at that very moment at the time s/he was looking at your final exam. It doesn't say anything of your ability to succeed as a lawyer."

I concur. Although I didn't get the ideal grade in my Fall Semester classes, it's not because I didn't know the materials, but it was probably due to the fact that I was inexperienced in presenting those materials in law-school-friendly-format-the-way-that-specific-professor-wanted-it-for-the-purpose-of-that-final-exam.

I promise you that you will get a hang of it. Don't let the grades get you down. Instead, go back and read your final exams and ask the professor (or professors) what s/he was looking for, and how to present it in law-school-exam-friendly-format.

LawNut said...

Honestly, I'm still dealing with it. I just got one shitty grade today, and reading your post and people's responses to it couldn't have been at a better time. What everyone said is really true, although I understand how much it sucks. Hang in there.

Anastasia said...

I wish I knew the answer to this one. Feeling like you knew the material very well only to receive a mediocre grade does little to spur on studying in future semesters. You sometimes truly feel like it's all a crapshoot. There may be some science to it, but I've yet to figure it out. I usually just resigned to tell myself that I really learned the material and that it's one more part of the bar that I'll be prepared for. Take some solace in knowing that you're not alone.

angela said...

Just remind yourself that there are people out there who did worse.

Butterflyfish said...

I got three of four grades. I needed to read these responses too.

*hug* *commiserating* *drinking*

email me
ilovebutterflyfish@yahoo.com

seejaekae said...

I'd say something.

Anonymous said...

It's the biggest downer, I know. But like most have said above, it's nothing about who you are as a person, or who you'll be as a lawyer, but rather a mandated curve. You're still there, right? Same can't be said of everyone.

Anastasia said...

Also loco - I just remembered - you guys have a really harsh curve. Isn't it a B- or something like that?
So - isn't an average GPA a 2.7? A curve like that could definitely make your grades seem uglier than they are.

Anonymous said...

I hid and cried, and cried, and cried. Everyone who knew me thought I was bonkers. (Okay, they always think I'm bonkers.)

Then, I got mad and said heck with you all, I'm going to do better. And mostly, I did. But it's my fatal flaw that I'm going to be desperately unhappy whenever I have proof that I'm not the best at whatever. So yes, mostly I'm desperately unhappy. Don't be like me. Find balance and figure out how to walk away.

And it's true, you are more than your GPA.

Anonymous said...

Hey, it doesn't sound like you got hammered by the "First Semester Rule" right? Count your blessings. I was happy with my 2.6 first semester average after I learned that 2 people in our section got suspended under the rule.

Butterflyfish said...

Frill, you ok???

Liza Jane said...

I know I'm a bit late on the commenting, but here in NOLA, we go out and drink. Then I, personally, resolve to do better this time around. Then, generally, I am really prepared...for about two days. It's a vicious cycle, really.