Petition for readmission - help?

[Denny Shore]

Denny, I don't know enough either way to offer you meaningful advice on readmission, but with regard to 3LEMan, just ignore him.  Any time one gets really personal on a message board, he or she is bound to receive about 90% crap and 10% good advice.  Take the 10% and move on.  Don't even comment on the other 90%.  Invariably, these are people who mostly thrive on reactions, and after reading this thread, you have reacted plenty. 

Excellent advice.
I will take it and ignore 3LEMan.
Clearly he is unhappy and has been using my thread to feel better about himself.   

Thanks!

[Denny Shore]

I think what you need to do is just reapply and see how it goes. It may take more than one attempt to get back in. But be sure not to come off as whiney, which you could without even knowing it. Its easy with hindsight to see ADD as the only problem with your grades. But I think there is more to it, and you need to be open to that in your reapplication. You need to demonstrate that you are a different person than when you last talked law school, not just a medicated person.

Taking the mediation is part of that, but it won’t I think, nor should it be the premise of your reapplication that is a cure-all. Its not, trust me. I have ADD plus I am severally dyslexic. I did not take meds for my first two years of law school for ADD and they don’t make meds for dyslexic. My grades were good. I’m not saying your ADD was not part of the problem, it likely was a big part of it, but there are other things going on as well. I would make sure the adcoms understand that YOU understand that. I would also advise you take a look at some of the excellent books out there on how to take law school exams, that might help you as well.

Being medicated and having a better understanding of what professors are looking for on exams can’t do anything to hurt you. 

Excellent.  Thanks.
I bought LEEWS just after the semester ended and plan on tacking that in the next few weeks or so.
Do you have any other names of books/programs that you could recommend?

[TheDudeMan]

I am very happy actually.  This is just amusing.

Honestly though, don't you think you should see if you can get back INTO law school before worrying about LEEWS?

[Matthies]

I think what you need to do is just reapply and see how it goes. It may take more than one attempt to get back in. But be sure not to come off as whiney, which you could without even knowing it. Its easy with hindsight to see ADD as the only problem with your grades. But I think there is more to it, and you need to be open to that in your reapplication. You need to demonstrate that you are a different person than when you last talked law school, not just a medicated person.

Taking the mediation is part of that, but it won’t I think, nor should it be the premise of your reapplication that is a cure-all. Its not, trust me. I have ADD plus I am severally dyslexic. I did not take meds for my first two years of law school for ADD and they don’t make meds for dyslexic. My grades were good. I’m not saying your ADD was not part of the problem, it likely was a big part of it, but there are other things going on as well. I would make sure the adcoms understand that YOU understand that. I would also advise you take a look at some of the excellent books out there on how to take law school exams, that might help you as well.

Being medicated and having a better understanding of what professors are looking for on exams can’t do anything to hurt you. 

Excellent.  Thanks.
I bought LEEWS just after the semester ended and plan on tacking that in the next few weeks or so.
Do you have any other names of books/programs that you could recommend?

A lot of people like Getting to Maybe, I never read it though. I did read "How to do your best on law schools exams" and I thought that was pretty good for explaining what profs were looking to see on exams. Both you can get through Amazon I think

[Denny Shore]

I think what you need to do is just reapply and see how it goes. It may take more than one attempt to get back in. But be sure not to come off as whiney, which you could without even knowing it. Its easy with hindsight to see ADD as the only problem with your grades. But I think there is more to it, and you need to be open to that in your reapplication. You need to demonstrate that you are a different person than when you last talked law school, not just a medicated person.

Taking the mediation is part of that, but it won’t I think, nor should it be the premise of your reapplication that is a cure-all. Its not, trust me. I have ADD plus I am severally dyslexic. I did not take meds for my first two years of law school for ADD and they don’t make meds for dyslexic. My grades were good. I’m not saying your ADD was not part of the problem, it likely was a big part of it, but there are other things going on as well. I would make sure the adcoms understand that YOU understand that. I would also advise you take a look at some of the excellent books out there on how to take law school exams, that might help you as well.

Being medicated and having a better understanding of what professors are looking for on exams can’t do anything to hurt you. 

Excellent.  Thanks.
I bought LEEWS just after the semester ended and plan on tacking that in the next few weeks or so.
Do you have any other names of books/programs that you could recommend?

A lot of people like Getting to Maybe, I never read it though. I did read "How to do your best on law schools exams" and I thought that was pretty good for explaining what profs were looking to see on exams. Both you can get through Amazon I think

Awesome.  I have access to a copy of Getting to Maybe, so I'll read that next and check out How to do... later.

Thanks a lot!

[fertsru]

Denny,

I was reading your initial explanation why you did so bad on the tests and one question is still lurking in my mind. Did you take any sample exams during your preparation time?

It seems like you were really devoted to classroom participation and the whole socializing thing. You mentioned that you studied from outlines and supplements in a study group, comments to others, explained concepts, etc.  It all seems like your ADD condition prevents you from focusing on something for a long time (let's say 2-3 hours during an exam).

The reason I am asking this question is to learn from your mistakes, and also to make you think if you would be able to sit on the Bar exam for the whole day writing and analyzing something without ever talking to anyone. When you become an attorney, you would spend hours drafting briefs and motions, doing extensive research, while again never having to talk to anyone for at least a couple of hours. Can you do it?

[Denny Shore]

Denny,

I was reading your initial explanation why you did so bad on the tests and one question is still lurking in my mind. Did you take any sample exams during your preparation time?

It seems like you were really devoted to classroom participation and the whole socializing thing. You mentioned that you studied from outlines and supplements in a study group, comments to others, explained concepts, etc.  It all seems like your ADD condition prevents you from focusing on something for a long time (let's say 2-3 hours during an exam).

The reason I am asking this question is to learn from your mistakes, and also to make you think if you would be able to sit on the Bar exam for the whole day writing and analyzing something without ever talking to anyone. When you become an attorney, you would spend hours drafting briefs and motions, doing extensive research, while again never having to talk to anyone for at least a couple of hours. Can you do it?

Excellent points all.

Unfortunately, I did not sit for practice exams (yet another thing I will point to in my petition - this was a bad strategy).  Without a question, this would have helped me to prepare and I'm more than a little upset at myself for not taking practice exams.  Each of my prof's told us that they do not have old tests on file, so my study group and I left that alone (mistake).

As to the rest, since dialing in my meds I have taken practice exams and done quite well on them.  You are correct that my symptoms revolved around sitting for extended periods of time in testing conditions.  Primarily, my response was one that can best be described as anxiety.  I found myself frustrated during the tests and wanting nothing more than to be done and leave.  Since dialing in the meds, these problems appear to have resolved themselves.  I no longer get tense, anxious and frustrated and my current clerking requires that I read a few hundred pages of testimony searching for irregularities and basis' for legal challenges.  I've noticed a massive difference in my performance from when I first started doing this (without meds) to now (with them).

I currently spend a few hours a week drafting motions and briefs at the firm now and have noticed a vast difference in my ability to perform since I started taking medication.

Finally, to answer your question:  Yes.  I believe I can do it now.

One major obstacle was my stubborn nature - I didn't WANT to be on meds.  Another was that my only law school testing experience was the midterm and that result was tainted by the loss of my grandfather the morning of the test (literally two hours prior).

I believe that now I am far more able and believe that things will be much more reasonable.

Thanks for the post.  Stuff like this is very helpful.  I am quite sure the readmission board would like to see that I am able to identify some of the issues that made my experience difficult and have worked to minimize it.

[TheDudeMan]

Ok, at this point I call flame and a rather impressive one at that.  If it's not a flame, then this dude is obviously a lunatic and this will likely show in whatever ramblings he sends off to his old law school.

[fertsru]

Denny,

I think you stand a good chance being on of those 2-3 people who do get readmitted. You are taking a very detailed approach to this readmission process by going step by step over the mistakes and solutions to them.

I think it's great that one person can admit to his weakness and start taking control of it, unlike the above poster who is not even aware of the problem.

So, go for it. Don't worry about daddy jokes, it's normal for your family to support you. I don't have anyone like this, but if I had, I would not have had a problem using extra help. My parents do all what they can- they support me with their attitute and mere words. Yours can give a little more, which is great. I will do the same to my kid any time!

[Litig8r]

Denny,

Firstly, marks in law school are not determinative of your abilities as a lawyer. Some of the best lawyers in the world did just average throughout law school. Many solo practitioners make far more money than equity partners in huge firms, and moreover, you dont have some male private part head breathing down your neck about your work all the time. Most associates who start off at a big firm have a partner, senior partner, and managing partner looking over their shoulder all the time.

For your problem of getting back in to school, look at it from an advocates perspective. What are the conditions precedent that have to be met before you can get back in? The law school must have a guideline on how people can reapply or be readmitted. If they do not then go into the law school and sit down with the Dean and negociate a special contract, in which you guarantee to achieve a certain level of success on your next set of exams, for some sort of consideration, be it the forfeiture of a full year's tuition or something else. Maybe you can offer that your Dad's firm will conduct pro bono work on behalf of the school as additional consideration. I dont know, but dont just give up if you are really serious about this. And in terms of people doing *&^% in school and being successful, just look at President Bush, hes a f-ing twat in terms of intelligence yet runs the country.