Completely panicking about midterm grades

[Lawstudent789]

1L who just found out I was in the bottom 5 students on two midterm exams. One is likely to result in a D or C- and the other a failing grade or D I’m not sure. I’m honestly not 100% sure what went wrong but will absolutely find out by going over the exams and do whatever is necessary to salvage my grades. 
 

My stress is coming from the long term consequences of this. They were not fail safe exams (worth 30% each) and given what has been said about 1L grades and how important they are, I’m under the impression I’m now 1 foot in the the grave when it comes to having a marketable JD. I know “1L recruit” is out the window obviously. I’ve been enjoying law school and been engaging with the material and now I’m worried I’ll be needing to meet with the Vice Dean or something. Can anyone share a similar experience? I’m desperate for some kind of assurance that this isn’t fatal. 

[LMP]

To start, it seems like the grades for these courses are still salvagble. 70% of the grade is still there so the number one priority is pulling your grade up to at least a B. As you said, take some time to figure out what went wrong and how you can correct it during finals. 

 

Yes, the 1L recurit is probably out but frankly the recurit is so small that this doesn't matter much, you could have done much better and still not landed anything. What does matter is revamping how you approach things and having strong enough grades for the 2L recurit. 

 

At the same time, don't let this demoralize you. Part of preserving is keeping up the things that make you happy. Keep things balanced and try as best you can to maintain your enjoyment of law school. 

 

[chaboywb]

I had two C grades after midterms but ended 1L on the Dean's list, got a job through OCIs and graduated with honours. The most important thing is figuring out where you went wrong, since you most likely are not understanding how to write a law school exam. There is plenty of time to improve. This is not fatal.

[Diplock]

Look, there's obviously a problem here. That's why the Dean's office arranges a meeting to discuss it. On the one hand, it's entirely accurate to say it isn't fatal and you shouldn't treat it as disastrous. On the other hand, it would probably be fair to note that half of all students in law school are "below average" by definition, and a quarter of all students in law school are in the bottom quartile of the class be definition. I mean, that's going to be someone, and it might be you. In undergrad that bottom quartile are students who aren't even showing up to class a lot of the time. In law school, they are there right beside you. Just saying.

So, there are really two things you should be thinking about right now. First, how do you address the problem and improve your performance as much as you can? Second, what do you want to do with your law degree and how much do grades even matter? To be clear, there are going to be average and below average students, and you may end up being one of them. If your only imagined career path is the BigLaw recruit then that might be a serious challenge for you. If, however, your ambitions are otherwise...I'm not saying that means you shouldn't care about your grades, but it may also assist you to hear that average or below average grades aren't necessarily even a serious problem for that. Certainly they won't stop you from pursuing other careers.

Hope that helps.

[chaboywb]

25 minutes ago, Diplock said:

Look, there's obviously a problem here. That's why the Dean's office arranges a meeting to discuss it. On the one hand, it's entirely accurate to say it isn't fatal and you shouldn't treat it as disastrous. On the other hand, it would probably be fair to note that half of all students in law school are "below average" by definition, and a quarter of all students in law school are in the bottom quartile of the class be definition. I mean, that's going to be someone, and it might be you. In undergrad that bottom quartile are students who aren't even showing up to class a lot of the time. In law school, they are there right beside you. Just saying.

I agree with this and want to follow up my first post to say I had to do a lot of hard work to figure out where I was going wrong in first semester 1L to see results by the end of the year. OP, fundamental changes to your study methods and exam writing style are needed.

[Lawstudent789]

3 hours ago, Diplock said:

Look, there's obviously a problem here. That's why the Dean's office arranges a meeting to discuss it. On the one hand, it's entirely accurate to say it isn't fatal and you shouldn't treat it as disastrous. On the other hand, it would probably be fair to note that half of all students in law school are "below average" by definition, and a quarter of all students in law school are in the bottom quartile of the class be definition. I mean, that's going to be someone, and it might be you. In undergrad that bottom quartile are students who aren't even showing up to class a lot of the time. In law school, they are there right beside you. Just saying.

So, there are really two things you should be thinking about right now. First, how do you address the problem and improve your performance as much as you can? Second, what do you want to do with your law degree and how much do grades even matter? To be clear, there are going to be average and below average students, and you may end up being one of them. If your only imagined career path is the BigLaw recruit then that might be a serious challenge for you. If, however, your ambitions are otherwise...I'm not saying that means you shouldn't care about your grades, but it may also assist you to hear that average or below average grades aren't necessarily even a serious problem for that. Certainly they won't stop you from pursuing other careers.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for this.

I do genuinely believe I can do a lot better. I was never confused in class or felt like I otherwise didn’t understand the material.  I’ve completely misunderstood how these profs wanted me to approach the exam. For example on the global feedback the prof gave, they apparently wanted you to discuss ALL possible s.7 claims, and on my exam I only discussed the ones I believed would actually be relevant/applicable and not sound absurd in court. So I lost almost half the marks right then and there for not addressing them all, even though you’d be explaining the obvious. 
 

I’ll be studying like no tomorrow next semester and live in the library if necessary. 
Big law is not my goal, but I’d like to keep as many doors open as possible and be a lawyer. 
 

[Lawstudent789]

3 hours ago, chaboywb said:

I agree with this and want to follow up my first post to say I had to do a lot of hard work to figure out where I was going wrong in first semester 1L to see results by the end of the year. OP, fundamental changes to your study methods and exam writing style are needed.

Absolutely. I need to start studying with exams in the back of my head constantly. Not just asking myself the question “do I understand the concepts?” 

Edited January 4 by Lawstudent789

[Mal]

27 minutes ago, Lawstudent789 said:

Thanks for this.

I do genuinely believe I can do a lot better. I was never confused in class or felt like I otherwise didn’t understand the material.  I’ve completely misunderstood how these profs wanted me to approach the exam. For example on the global feedback the prof gave, they apparently wanted you to discuss ALL possible s.7 claims, and on my exam I only discussed the ones I believed would actually be relevant/applicable and not sound absurd in court. So I lost almost half the marks right then and there for not addressing them all, even though you’d be explaining the obvious. 
 

I’ll be studying like no tomorrow next semester and live in the library if necessary. 
Big law is not my goal, but I’d like to keep as many doors open as possible and be a lawyer. 
 

You should speak to a professor directly, I am skeptical that half the marks are allocated to perfunctory issues.  Even if that were true, you still need to explain your reasoning quickly on issues that you dismiss. Seek to understand why the marks were distributed in the exam. 

Be more worried about ensuring that you understand the nuances of the material and less worried about the ultimate consequences. Law is a marathon that you have barely begun. A single semester of law school is not going to be determinative of anything. 

Asking yourself "Do I understand the concepts" is worrisome to me. You are not in a good position to evaluate the depth of your understanding, all you can do is work on improving. The binary of whether you understand is too superficial, the best you can hope for if you simply understand the concepts is average (which can quickly fall to the bottom of the class if you also misunderstand the significance of an important issue). The more pertinent questions include "What is the tension in the decisions and what sorts of things might sway the outcome?", "What is the relationship between the cases?" and "How can I explain this succinctly and quickly?"

Don't try to grind your way through the problem, simply spend a lot of time going through the material over and over. No one is looking for a legal robot. Legal analysis is a skill. Instead, spend your energy practicing that skill.