Dear 1L, Hi. I hope you are OK. Everyone seems to be in some state of reeling right now, with fall grades coming in.
Please, if you didn’t get what you’d hoped for, please know there’s nothing wrong with you, and you are not some sort of screwup.
—> What happened is you got screwed by a brutal curve.
I do not fully grasp why law schools grade this way, or why the curve at one law school can be so dramatically different from that at another. But those debates are for another day.
Right now is a time for frustration, and also some shock, for sure. But you know and I know, you are an excellent student. You got into law school because of good grades. The problem is that so did everyone else.
There is a RAZOR THIN distinction between one grade and the one above it, and also the one below.
So it’s OK to be disillusioned and feel a bit taken aback by your transcript. It figures that about 90% of you will be.
👉 But when you are ready to come out of the funk, here is some GOOD NEWS:
1. First semester grades reflect nothing about how excellent a lawyer you will be. You have the ability to become an excellent lawyer if you choose.
—> Focus on getting the training you need to become that excellent lawyer.
2, True, it’s nice to get good grades; they smooth short-term paths. But at the end of the day, it’s what you choose to do now—AFTER those grades—that will define your future path.
—> Don’t wait another day to get started.
3. You are learning to become a lawyer, and you will. But everyone has to learn the exam-taking skill at their own pace.
Want to speed up the process? You just need to prioritize things a bit differently and practice more. It is more within your control than it seems.
—> I’ll have more resources coming up to help you with a strong start to this semester.
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 & GET YOUR SKILLS!
Let’s move on like gangbusters into the spring—
I am cheering for you from the sidelines (always).
💌 Amanda
P.S. What is the curve at your law school?
(I’m trying to get a broader sense.)