Do bad grades impact your success on the bar exam?

While I was waiting in a law school’s cafe for my lunch to warm up in a microwave, an article in magazine drew my attention. As it appeared later, a magazine is one of those cute magazines for law students that try to give so-called “smart” advices (unfortunately, very often too stale and useless) to law students, trying to convert them into “real” professionals.

An aforementioned article talked about grades in a law school. The article’s point was that grades will follow you during all your life. Some law school professors concluded that law school grades have both short-term and a long-term impact on student’s life. Put it differently (as I understood that article), if you are a C student, you are going to be a loser for all your professional life. [Indeed, I may have biased view on such issues, since I am one of the “not-in-the-top-50%-of-the-class” students.]

I believe there is some truth to such statement, as I was convinced by my own experience of rejections for job interviews (I am not even talking about getting an interview) and since I am more than sure that rejections occurred because of my crappy grades.

From my communication with practicing attorneys, I learnt that the grades definitely have a short-term impact: as a job applicant and a young attorney you do not have an experience and your grades are what a potential employer will look at with hopes to find out about your diligence in work and learning. However, after getting some experience, it is your professional skills that is important for an employer but not your grades you have received five years ago.

But who knows, maybe I do not know much about current legal job market and I am wrong about long-term impact. I will let my future to prove the accuracy of article’s conclusions.

What made me upset, mad and irritated is this article’s statement: grades impact student’s success on the bar exam. According to the author, grades constitute 70% of student’s chances to pass a bar exam. What? What bullshit? [Pardon my French]. Here I am, a no-so-good student with crappy grades who passed the bar exam from the first time, and there are students, who had much better grades than I do and they DID NOT pass. How will the author [or whoever made that conclusion] explain my situation?

Why am I saying all this? I think I understand good motivations of the author for writing that article—he/she wanted to develop in 1Ls that desire to get “good grades” that by all means will assist a future young attorney to find a decent job that will help to pay student loans. This is a good intention, no doubt. But what the author did not take into account, is that there are B- and C students who need different motivation and may read that unsupported crap and believe in failure on the bar exam and, later, in profession.

In other words, think positive, law students whatever grades you have. There are thousands of examples, that show different reality. Professor, on the other hand, should stick to their Socratic Method.

I passed the Bar Exam!!!

I passed!!! I did it!!! I cannot believe it!!! I do not know what to say except maybe that I never ever should lose a confidence in my abilities. The fact that I PASSED shows that studying hard will be paid off sooner or later [better sooner, of course]!

Bar Advisor

I was in the midst of my deliberation whether I should post about my feelings as to the bar exam I have taken three days ago. After reading an article (see below) I have decided to follow the advice of the author and limit my story to the following: "this was hell!" Anyway, the life is going on and you will see later how it goes for me . :-)))

Bar Advisor: "do not blog (publicly) about the bar exam until AFTER you have passed it.

Why do I say this? To begin with, a blog requires lots of psychic energy to maintain. When you draft a post, you want it to be interesting,
well-written, and timely. You worry about it before you send it off into the blogosphere where anyone can read it. When you are studying for the bar
examination, you do not have time for such a distraction and drain of mental resources.

Next, constant and public worry about failing the bar exam (which is what the majority of these bar-exam blog posts contain) will begin to infiltrate your mind and create an expectation of failure. You may not believe it, but it is true. And, guess what, if you fail, you'll be able to continue blogging about how much you hate the bar exam and your loyal readers will keep reading your posts. This is a sick form of codependency."

Noisy people

Why are Law Review people soooo loud? It is impossible to be in the room at the end of hall without hearing their screams. Helloooo..... people work here!

Procrastination

While procrastinating I have found this article:

PROCRASTINATING AGAIN? HOW TO KICK THE HABIT.
ALTHOUGH BIOLOGY IS PARTLY TO BLAME FOR FOOT-DRAGGING, ANYONE CAN LEARN TO QUIT.

Raymond, a high-powered attorney, habitually put off returning important business calls and penning legal briefs, behaviors that seriously threatened his career. Raymond (not his real name) sought help from clinical psychologist William Knaus, who practices in Longmeadow, Mass. As a first step, Knaus gave Raymond a two-page synopsis of procrastination and asked him to read it “and see if the description applied.” Raymond agreed to do so on a flight to Europe. Instead he watched a movie. He next vowed to read it the first night at his hotel, but he fell asleep early. After that, each day brought something more compelling to do. In the end, Knaus calculated that the lawyer had spent 40 hours delaying a task that would have taken about two minutes to complete.

The article is really long but the end I found most useful:

In Raymond’s case, getting to the task was, indeed, the hard part. Knaus helped him to do that by first determining the reason for his instinct to delay: Raymond feared being tested on the synopsis and looking foolish. So Knaus asked him to pick the lesser of two evils, doing his work—and risking imperfection—or avoiding difficult tasks and losing his job. When Knaus put it that way, the lawyer was able to “just grind it out.” Instead of being fired, Raymond became a “superstar” at his firm.

In other words, when I have that great desire to procrastinate a little, what I need is to think about my finals and that if I do not study, I will fail.

It WORKS now!!! I go to study!

Plans for my second year

I hope I will read a coupld of times this article
HOW TO CHANGE SECOND SEMESTER: REVIEWING EXAMS AND OTHER HINTS FOR SUCCESS It is late for my second semester as it's almost gone, but I hope I will utilize those advices my third semester.

How to be a better learner?

If you strugle with your studying and have no confidence in your learning abilities, read those tips, maybe they will give you some assistance.

How to Become Smarter

Frankly, I did not read, but maybe with time I will look at it. Hopefully.

Top web site about motivation but it does not guarantee that I have it

So my blog continues to hit the ranks on the google search on "how to find motivation." Believe me or not, but a long absence of the posts on this site may tell my reader a lot about my motivation not only to write, but also to study. I quitted writing here, because I was tired of thinking every day about a school - nights and days, the same thoughts. Moreover, I did not (and do not) want to disappointed new arrivals into the law field who got there admission letters and now excited to begin to crack their way through the stone of legal knowledge. At this point I have no idea to where this path leads me. I am afraid my teech got a lot of damage and the school does not seem to me so exciting as it was before I have begun it. Now if you are a prospective 1L student, do not read further because I am going to entrust my view on the school. I hate it! I love law, I love it, but I do not like the way how I am taught and the way how I have to learn. I saw other ways to teach, and I think the ones now just do not work for me. Maybe it is just me, an old grumpy woman who got used to different things, and who does not want to work hard to reach something more than she has. Again, this is my personal view and I hope it caused only by exhaustion from studying. I will not be suprised if in a week after finals, I will sing another song.

An interview with a law student

I liked it.