Dear 1L: Waiting for Grades

Dear 1L,

It is a bit of an uncertain, anxious time, now. Waiting for grades.

Also, we are in limbo this week. It is still a
holiday week, but Christmas is over, there is no schedule to any day, and January starts this weekend. So we are “supposed” to be relaxing, but the specter of everything that we have to do looms.

How does one self-evaluate, or know how one should be feeling at all?

🔹When friends and family ask how law school is going, you have to give a wishy-washy “it’s ok” answer that covers all bases, god forbid you actually fail out.

🔹But that ruins the joy and enthusiasm you could exude if you loved law school and end up with top grades, too.

But you don’t know which it is. Or how to feel.

And how can one be in the right mindset to apply for 1L Summer jobs, when one has zero clue if grades will be As and A-s, or just Bs and Cs?

📍It is like telling a college senior to apply to colleges without knowing if the 4-year GPA is 2.5 or 4.0, and whether SAT scores are 1000 or 1550. Should you be shooting for Harvard, or looking at local community colleges?

Here is the good news.

—You will know very soon.

—There is nothing you can do to speed up the process.

—There IS a lot you can be doing now to be ready to apply.

—Worrying and checking obsessively to see if grades posted (like I did) only wastes time that you don’t have to waste.

So, my advice is to stop thinking about grades by busying yourself with the tasks immediately ahead of you.

Assume for now that your grades will get you over whatever GPA floor each job sets, so that your application materials will be read and considered. Approach each cover letter as if you are a — if not the most — highly credentialed, sought-after candidate.

✏️Each job to which you apply is the #1 absolute only job you want.

✏️Research and find out something specific about the organization that makes it your #1 choice (and treat every organization as your #1 choice).

✏️Think of something specific about you, your background, experiences, and/or achievements that makes you a deserving candidate for that specific firm.

I will have more to say on cover letters, but will leave you with your thinking and planning for now.

I am so sorry you have to endure this waiting period. I am crossing all of my fingers and thinking the best thoughts for all of you.

Fondly,

Amanda

P.S. So far no covid-spread here, and Em is feeling better as of last night. Knocking on wood that we may get through this reasonably quickly!