Dear 1L – Fall Grades
Dear 1L,
I hope you are ok. Everyone is in some state of reeling, it seems, this weekend.
My message is that you did nothing wrong. It is just the brutal curve. 90% or more of you will not be in the top. You are, in no way, alone.
I do not fully understand why law schools grade this way, but that debate is for another day.
Today: It is frustrating, for sure. You are an excellent student. You got into law school because of strong grades. The problem is that so did everyone else. That means there is a razor thin distinction between one grade and the one above it, and also the one below.
It is ok to be disillusioned and feel a bit taken aback. When you are ready to come out of the funk, here is just some of the good news:
First semester grades mean nothing about how excellent a lawyer you will be. You all have the ability to become an excellent lawyer, if you choose to be.
Everyone has to learn the exam-taking skill at their own pace. But you can speed up the process. You just need to practice more. It is more within your control than it seems.
Think of all the skills you have acquired thus far during your life. You learned to walk, to swim, to drive. Maybe how to play a sport, or an instrument. You all got through middle school language arts and learned how to create an outline and write a research paper.
No one will protest when I say that you got better at each skill through practice.
Taking law school exams are like all those other skills. You get better when you practice. Without practice, no one can become a great swimmer, writer, or anything else.
If you are disappointed with first semester grades, consider trying something different:
🔹 Learn each week’s material by doing practice exams and writing essays about the material.
🔹Putting difficult concepts in your own words forces you to understand the concepts more completely. If you can’t put the concepts into clear writing, you don’t understand the concepts well enough.
🔹Keep practicing. You will get it! You all will.
All that said, back to the moment. First semester grades were not what you hoped for. Get mad. Yell. Hate the system. But do it quickly. And then get on with it.
Commit to practice exams every week. Move on like gangbusters into the spring.
I am with you and thinking of you. Am here to listen for anyone who wants to just vent. I respond to every comment and DM and welcome all new connections. I am cheering for you from the sidelines—always.
Fondly,
Amanda
P.S. Follow ✏️#Dear1L to receive my future posts.
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