Imposter Syndrome

[lawschoolhelpme2020]

Hi everyone!

I am posting this in search of some advice and perhaps words of encouragement. I just finished my 1L and I recently got my grades back. Safe to say they are not impressive at all as I have a C average. I was wondering if anyone has been in a position where they started out terrible and did great at the finish of it all. I know I am struck out of luck with the 2L recruit but will my 1L performance affect me in my future with law firms if I am ever to improve?

Any advice, comments and feedback is greatly appreciated!

[CleanHands]

Yes, this will impact your articling search regardless of how you do in upper years. And I don't mean to be impolite but if you received a C average in 1L it's incredibly unlikely that you will receive excellent grades in upper years regardless. I don't want to belabour that point because that just seems gratuitous. Although if you are just terrible at law exams and do better with papers, there may be some room for upwards movement there if you go for paper-based courses (I've seen that happen).

You should be moving forward on the assumption you won't be getting any of the sorts of positions that are part of the formal recruits though (knock yourself out and hope for the best, but expect the worst).

The advice and encouragement I can offer (and that is regularly offered by many here) is that if you have specific interests in an area of law, you can compensate for your grades by loading up on relevant clinics, volunteering and relevant courses. Pick a lane and commit. And that once you get called and start doing good work and developing a name for yourself in your practice area, your grades will matter much less, very soon.

[myth000]

I think anyone who gets into law school should be able to pull some Bs, the only barrier would be mental health, work ethic or bad peers.  I'd say take a year off and work on those, or go half-time and work on those.  Success in the formal recruits is questionable now anyways so you are free to chart your own path.

[CleanHands]

16 minutes ago, myth000 said:

I think anyone who gets into law school should be able to pull some Bs, the only barrier would be mental health, work ethic or bad peers.

Simply not true. Some of the straight C students I know were among the hardest workers.

Just because you could get Bs without trying too hard doesn't mean that everybody can (incidentally I see comments like this on these forums all the time; it doesn't make it true and it also makes people who simply don't have innate aptitude for law exams just feel worse and more confused).

16 minutes ago, myth000 said:

I'd say take a year off and work on those, or go half-time and work on those. 

Terrible advice in the absence of any basis for the assumptions you've made that the OP suffers from health issues or lack of motivation.

Edited June 2, 2022 by CleanHands

[Hegdis]

So my grades were evenly divided between exams courses (B and below with a single exception) and essay courses (B+ and above). My first year was solid Bs across the board with a B+ in my small section (as was typical for everyone's small section). It may well be that you don't test well but given a different format your grades will improve. So take a deep breath and soldier on.

It may be helpful for you to consider this: your high school grades mattered only to get you into your undergrad. Your undergrad grades mattered only to get you into law school. And your law school grades will matter only to get you into your articles and perhaps your first year job. Their value really does degrade that quickly, with a handful of possible exceptions. Yes, these grades are not going to be helpful. But no, they aren't going to haunt your career.

Meet with your profs next year. Every single one. Do it early before 2L hits you in the face. Go in and be clear it's not about challenging the grade, but rather finding out what you missed or could have done to improve it. LEARN from this. It can only help. Do not be lazy or timid with your law school education. Then, having done what you can, let it go. Onward and upward.

[myth000]

30 minutes ago, CleanHands said:

Simply not true. Some of the straight C students I know were among the hardest workers.

Just because you could get Bs without trying too hard doesn't mean that everybody can (incidentally I see comments like this on these forums all the time; it doesn't make it true and it also makes people who simply don't have innate aptitude for law exams just feel worse and more confused).

Terrible advice in the absence of any basis for the assumptions you've made that the OP suffers from health issues or lack of motivation.

I said some Bs.  There is no way a person can go through law school and not get atleast some Bs if they put in the effort.   People admitted to law school are usually people who have racked up A grades in their bachelor's degree.  Law is a 1st bachelor's degree in many countries.  It cannot be impossible to get a B in law school.  It's like if a person does a double major in undergrad, it is very unlikely they will get a C average in one major and an A average in another (unless one major requires verbal and another requires non-verbal skills, and they have some mental disability in one of those).

Edited June 2, 2022 by myth000

[Hegdis]

49 minutes ago, myth000 said:

I think anyone who gets into law school should be able to pull some Bs, the only barrier would be mental health, work ethic or bad peers. 

I will agree that those three things can certainly be barriers students need to overcome, but I wouldn't agree that they are the only things that can seriously affect performance. OP may or may not decide to provide more details about their specific situation but never underestimate being away from home the first time, family issues, a bad breakup or simply the overwhelming experience of being in a room where everyone else is at least as smart as you for the first time in your life. A lot of us fall flat on our faces in first year, for a lot of reasons.

[GoBigOrGoHome]

@lawschoolhelpme2020 I would consider spending some time and assessing why your grades were the way they were and get to the root cause. Otherwise things won’t change. 
 

Are you commuting a long distance and as a result are really tired when you are home and can’t bring yourself to study? Or do you have other distractions at home/personal life that are getting in the way? If so you need to make some changes - even if it means more debt by moving closer, out of the family home, etc. the investment in yourself will hopefully pay off. 
 

Did you naturally find yourself distracted? Procrastinate like nobodies business? If so get tested for ADHD. 
 

the first day I started adhd medication it instantly changed my life and all of a sudden I was focused and productive (unfortunately for me the positive effects of medication didn’t stick around after an illness that is affecting my cognition). 
 

That reminds me. Did you get sick with covid pre-vaccination? Long covid is really messing up people’s lives and it might be that.
 

Reach out to the accessibility centre and tell them what is going on if you think it may be medical and perhaps they may have suggestions for testing or accommodations. Who knows you might even have a reading disability without knowing it. I learned that I test positive for a math disability. Was news to me (and had no idea what that was) but also likely related to ADHD. 
 

Are you sleeping properly? My brain can’t function properly without a full night’s rest. You need to give yourself a break. 
 

You might be able to pull off a miracle and make a complete turnaround in 2L which may help improve your odds to gain an articling position in an area of you want (not necessarily the firm at the top of your list - or even city dependent on how much you improve), but that will require you to get to the root cause of this situation and fix it (and start practicing those strategies now).