done with first exam, feel severely crappy

[Luigi rules]

Oh I realize 1L firm jobs are hard to come by, and I'm not sure I even want one.  Just saying being rejected after blowing an exam isn't cool.

1L, yeah, I'm with you.  I felt really good after my first one, but this one I just sucked for some reason.  Maybe we'll get forgiving curves or something.

[thorc954]

Luigi, I'm right there with you - I've gotten three rejection letters, LOL.

Also, can I get an AMEN for being sick of those people who are all confident and cocky after an exam, and are like "that wasn't too bad at all!" ugh. Law school exams are not easy, what the heck.

I got rejected from 206 places last year... nothing is more demoralizing then only getting two job offers.  I was in the top 15% of my class at, what is considered by Cooley's rankings, to be a T14 school ( a little lower on usnews.com, but whatever).  Anyway, its stressful.

My opinion is that an exam is easy if I can type for three hours straight without running out of stuff to say, and I can still function coherently after leaving. 

[1LMan]

Luigi, I'm right there with you - I've gotten three rejection letters, LOL.

Also, can I get an AMEN for being sick of those people who are all confident and cocky after an exam, and are like "that wasn't too bad at all!" ugh. Law school exams are not easy, what the heck.

I got rejected from 206 places last year... nothing is more demoralizing then only getting two job offers.  I was in the top 15% of my class at, what is considered by Cooley's rankings, to be a T14 school ( a little lower on usnews.com, but whatever).  Anyway, its stressful.

My opinion is that an exam is easy if I can type for three hours straight without running out of stuff to say, and I can still function coherently after leaving. 

I know where you go and if you only received 2 job offers out of 206 resume submissions, then there is something wrong there Thorc.  Especially if you are in the top 15%.  That just doesn't add up.  I'm nowhere near the top 15%, submitted far less resumes (not even 1/10 of what you did) and had multiple offers.

[Sparkz1920]

First, it's clear that you're talking to people about the exam. STOP IT.  Stop it now, and don't do it for any more exam.  I've gotten As on exams where I felt sort of "meh" after the test, but after talking to a couple of people I was in a panic.  It doesn't help, so just stop.

Second, not everyone is good at everything, and some subjects are just harder for others.  For my first year, contracts was the bane of my life.  It was my lowest grade, I knew it would be going into the test, and I was pretty certain coming out of the test too.  Torts is for you what contracts was for me.  It's over now, you're done, you should rejoice that you're finished.

So take the night off, go see a movie, do whatever to have a little fun, and tomorrow morning move on to the next subject, and be glad you're not studying negligence any more.

I so agree Jacy

I spoke about a few exams with people, and w hile i knew i missed some things, i freaked a classmate out when i put the defenses on the test and she forgot them in criminal law on the exam. I felt bad for that so when Contracts came up last wednesday, i didnt want to talk about it because i feel like i did rather well. Then a damn classmate wanted to come and talk about the test after i repeatedly told her i didnt want to talk about it

[thorc954]

your previous work experience (I think you said you had some) also helped a lot I am sure.  I had none of that (Straight through from undergrad).  Also, I rushed to get my cover letter/resumes out and as a result did not really spend the time needed to proof my cover letter.  Also, a lot of my resumes went to firms which higher very few non-IP people as you know and to federal judges which are sticklers for spelling. 

If I had put more time in to the application process and was more selective to where I applied, I would have probably had results similar to those you had.  I also should have waited till grades came out till I mailed most of my applications.  Without job experience, and without grades, I am a very unappealing candidate.

[flyaway]

The curve scares me.  I feel pretty good about how I did on Contracts, and I even almost think I rocked Torts (except I realized I had one brain fart on the policy question that caused me to make a big leap without explaining it).  But I have no idea how to translate that, given the fact I'm being compared to others.  I think everyone felt good coming out of Torts because there are plenty of issues to spot, and almost no one seemed shaken by Contracts.

I'm receiving stacks of rejections too.  I'm at a T10, with lots of work experience, but obviously no grades yet.  I sent out nearly 100 and have only gotten two "send us your grades when you get them."  I was expecting at least more of those.  A lot of firms are saying they're not hiring 1Ls at all this summer, even though they normally do.

[coquita]

I don't know if the same thing will happen with you but hopefully this will make you feel better..

Last year - criminal law --> the exam had three dead people in it, but because of the length of the exam and the fact that she gave us 12 statutes to deal w/ I didn't get to talk about manslaughter so I was convinced I failed. I got an A.

Torts - After talking about the exam w/ other students they talked about a bunch of issues that I didn't see or discuss. Went home and cried (first exam I had in law school). I got an A

I doesn't always correlate but the exams you feel doomed about don't come out as bad as you think (unless you didn't know anything about the class going in). It's the classes you felt ok walking out of that end up surprising you.

So hopefully lesson learned NEVER talk to other people after the exam.


I have a question for 3L's - have you ever walked out of all your exams feeling OK about them but anxious about waiting for grades? Since I haven't had a panic attack over any of my exams  yet I'm starting to worry that I really bombed all of them.  Did everything turn out ok for you 3L's?

[Pauper]

Pardon my inturruption -- I'm a practicing attorney.  My school was a truc C curve -- 1/3 C+ and above, 1/3 C, and 1/3 D+ and below.  No 'minus' grades.  I had an Administrative LAw clourse (required) and with 60 in the class, 30 C's, 31 C+'s and above, and 29 D+'s, D's and F's.  I entered with 450 students and graduated with 128.  I entered when I was 36.  I am 46 now.  I envy you, actually, that you have a "B" or 'B+' curve, but PLEASE remember -- WRITE WELL, and know RULES -- Negligence is an act or ommission recognized by law the breach of which causes damage to the plaintiff.  John did not (et cetera).  And also remember, its not the gig you get nor the money you make -- its how you as attorneys represent your clients, represent the courts, and represent yourselves.  -- Pauper

[TheNewGuy]

I didn't flunk out of law school after all!!!!! 

From now on, my goal is to earn a big law associate position right out of law school so I can make 6 figures.

NOT 


honestly though, I think I've learned a lot about school (and life, hehe) in the process.

[Dr. Balsenschaft]

And Dr., a B+ is good at your school?

That was on a B curve so a B+ was decent. It wasn't great but, considering I thought I had failed, I was pretty happy with it. Even though I also received a B in Torts and a B in Con Law, I still ended up with a 3.55 at the end of the year  (the rest of my grades were A-'s or A's.)

With that said, I'm pretty sure I just scored my first fvcking C on an Evidence exam. Fvck, fvck, fvck, fvck, fvck! Forget what I said about how easy it is for me to "take an exam and forget about it" because I'm such an awesome 2L who has learned so much from experience.   

Because I'm sure everyone was wondering how I ended up doing on that Evidence exam I was freaking out about above, you can all rest easier now knowing I somehow ended up with a B+. I'm going to go make out with myself now.