General info

[mike4488]

2LMan, I haven't been to this board in a while, and I come back to you writing 3 more flame posts.  I don't care if you say it's not a flame, and I don't care who you know who went to Duquesne or any other school out there.  You are just a loser who goes to other schools' child boards to try to act intelligent and elitist. 

Guess what? I live in DC and I know a lot of people at GW.  Let me tell you, that school is not perfect.  In fact, it's got it's fair share of problems (not to mention blatant political bias). 

As far as jobs are concerned, going to GW doesn't guarantee you sh*t in DC.  Between the Ivies, UVA, Georgetown, William and Mary, George Mason, etc. you have plenty of competition. 

To look at it from a different angle, I might be going to Duquesne, but it's all in who you know and people skills more than anything.  This includes class rank, law review and all those other stats.  Do you know people? Who knows, but I do, and I'd love to come back to DC after law school and wipe that sh*t-eating, smug smirk off your face when you didn't get the BigLaw job you wanted.  Can you talk to people effectively?  Probably not because you are that guy who talks a mean game from behind a computer screen.  I don't care where you go, I (and many others from Tier 3 and 4's) will out-interview you any day of the week.  So shove your gpa up your ass.

The cool thing is that I don't even want to go into BigLaw.  In fact, I'm not even going to practice law in the traditional fashion.  But thank you for your concern as to how I should be spending my money.  You really should have gone to business school instead.

So in conclusion, no I'm not impressed you go to GW, and I'm not impressed you pay more than $1200 in rent.  You are a feminine hygiene product, and should either get a life, go to GW's board, or go to some other school's child board to try to make yourself feel better there. 

Man dude you need to calm down.  While everything 2LMan says might not be true or applicable to your situation because you don't want a traditional law job everything you are saying isn't necessarily true either.  Grades matter no matter who you know when going for a law firm job.  Nobody is going to stick their ass out for you if you make bad ass grades in law school no matter who you know.

[thorc954]

"To look at it from a different angle, I might be going to Duquesne, but it's all in who you know and people skills more than anything.  This includes class rank, law review and all those other stats.  Do you know people? Who knows, but I do, and I'd love to come back to DC after law school and wipe that sh*t-eating, smug smirk off your face when you didn't get the BigLaw job you wanted.  Can you talk to people effectively?  Probably not because you are that guy who talks a mean game from behind a computer screen.  I don't care where you go, I (and many others from Tier 3 and 4's) will out-interview you any day of the week.  So shove your gpa up your ass."

Thats a little intense.

Three points:
1. GPA matters regardless of who you know (unless your dad owns the firm)
2. 2LMan already has a market paying job in DC
3. Unless you are number 1 in your class at Duquesne, you will never even have the opportunity to interview for the jobs that 2Lman, myself, and my colleagues interview for.

That said, if you want to go to Duquesne, go there.  Just be aware that options are limited.  I think that is what 2Lman was trying to get across.  Regardless of what you want to do, grades matter.  People wont stick there necks out for you if you dont have some way of showing them you wont embarrass them.

So, everyone should just go celebrate the holiday and stop writing nasty messages.

[thorc954]

Thorc and Mike I agree with what you both said.  Of course grades (and the school you attend) matter- they matter a lot.  It just seems like a lot of people on these forums treat grades and the school you attend like the end-all be-all of life.  I am just tired of the elitism and egos I see by people on these boards.  There is no need to talk down to others if your school is in a higher tier.  You're right, it was pretty intense, and I'm sorry about that; I was just too fired up.  But I do think I speak for a lot of people when I tell people like 2LMan to get off his high horse.  He is just a microcosm of many of the people on this site.   

very true.  he is a microcosm of what is on this site, but he definitely entertains me. 

Anyway, i have been on this site for a long time.  Ive read about people really really really excited about going to their tier 4s and they brush off everyone's comments like they are nothing.  Then, a year later, all of these over zealous TTTT kids are completely a mess over their job prospects.  2LMan and I go to a decent school, not to say that TTTT's arent.  Anyway, even here there are people in the middle of their class that are pretty much forced to take jobs that they do not want after graduation and that have very minimal chances of paying off their loans.  I am in the top 15% at the school and cannot even get the job I want for after graduation and this is a top 20 school (after new rankings come out). 

Anyway, my point is simply that from our perspective, its pretty clear what the job prospects are.  I think there are certainly a lot of people on LSD that have done their research and are very familiar with what their options are for post graduation.  However, there are many that have goals that are just unattainable.  So, when we see people taking such a huge gamble and paying tuition at their schools, people have a tendency to overreact cause it seems like the only way to get across how risky it is.

That said, if being a lawyer is something you have always dreamed of, and going Tier 4 is the only option, I would never try to discourage you from going for it.  Money and prestige arent everything, but to many people going to tier 4s it is, and they simply cannot get it.

[1LMan]

To add what Thorc said above:

It's mighty hard to pursue your dreams as a lawyer (whatever those dreams may be) with $100k of loans and a job paying $50k a year.

[Peaches]

  Can you talk to people effectively?  Probably not because you are that guy who talks a mean game from behind a computer screen.  I don't care where you go, I (and many others from Tier 3 and 4's) will out-interview you any day of the week.  So shove your gpa up your ass."

Agree with Thorc that there's not an equal opportunity to interview.  But a few additional points.  If 2LMan is a mediocre interview, you'd still have to be OUTSTANDING to beat him.  And I know people think that the students at the elite schools are tools.  But nearly everyone I've met is very personable, can turn on "down home" or Boston or New York or midwestern charm and get folksy, and they have a remarkable ability to "read" people and quickly and appropriately respond.  I wouldn't judge someone's professional demeanor or communication skills from an internet message board.  Many elite students are just as comfortable with the Budweiser (or Southpaw) crowd as they are with the Dom Perignon circle.  The ones that are just plain socially awkward are the ones who don't wind up with jobs.

Also, with the "who you know" -- not always as helpful as you'd imagine.  Some people got their 1L jobs based entirely from connections, and for some very well connected people it didn't help AT ALL.  But people are more willing to put their neck out and recommend students who would qualify for the job anyway than they are for people who go to lower-ranked schools.  It's just how it is.  So I hope for you that your dad is a partner at a major firm.

[1LMan]

Guess what?  I got call backs from 50% of my screening interviews and offers from 3/4's of those..... Guess I'm not so bad at interviewing after all.

Not to mention, like peaches said, you likely won't even be having the same opportunities as I've had.  For better or worse, that is the profession.