2.5X at UT. Targeting Texas. Forum

[Anonymous User]

Am I employable?

I still have two years left to pull my grades up.

[Anonymous User]

Bump.

[Roy McAvoy]

Yes. Big law may be out (I don't know that for certain) but you're certainly employable.

[AFS]

Start networking immediately. Big Law is extremely unlikely to happen, but apply anyway. Small law firms around Texas will be more likely to hire you, but even then it won't be easy. Not sure how your prospects look for public interest positions.

[favabeansoup]

I don't mean to crush your spirits with this reply.

You are looking at what, probably bottom 10-15%?

Biglaw is out. Same with clerkships. Sorry.

That leaves you with a few options. Small firms/ state gov/ public interest / school fellowship programs. Whether you'll get one of those jobs is up to luck and how hard you work at it.

You can absolutely become employed by the time you graduate.

Your #1 goal should be to get your GPA above a 3.0 before you graduate.

Your #2 goal is to network. Best counter to a low GPA is to have personal connections to people who will hire you. That means attending events, doing lunch/coffee meetings, etc.

[RaceJudicata]

I don't mean to crush your spirits with this reply.

You are looking at what, probably bottom 10-15%?

Biglaw is out. Same with clerkships. Sorry.

That leaves you with a few options. Small firms/ state gov/ public interest / school fellowship programs. Whether you'll get one of those jobs is up to luck and how hard you work at it.

You can absolutely become employed by the time you graduate.

Your #1 goal should be to get your GPA above a 3.0 before you graduate.

Your #2 goal is to network. Best counter to a low GPA is to have personal connections to people who will hire you. That means attending events, doing lunch/coffee meetings, etc.

Disagree. Number 1 goal is to network your ass off and get your foot in the door at some job. If you do that, your grades won't matter much.

[hookem7]

Agree with the above advice. I was somewhere in the 60-75% range throughout my time at UT and am gainfully employed in a job I like in Austin, so it's doable but you are even further behind. 2.5X is like bottom 10-15 people, and I won't lie, not having at least a 3.0 may hurt. You are employable, but it's going to take a good amount of work because CSO will do very little to help in your situation.

That being said, you should be able to raise your grades simply by virtue of picking the right classes over the next two years. Look at grade distributions and classes that are too small to have a curve like seminars, writing component classes, etc. I would focus all my attention on networking and getting internships with either small firms or government agencies, emphasis on the latter. You can do an internship for credit with a government agency or non-profit during the fall or spring. Because they won't have many applicants for these types of positions and its just for credit, this is a great way to get your foot in the door somewhere. Generally speaking, in my experience most government agencies will care much less about your GPA (if at all) vs the fact you go to UT. For example, the standard Work In Texas application doesn't even include an option to list your GPA. If you can put together a couple of internships, you can spin your story as "look at my experience" rather than "please ignore my low GPA." This would also then be helpful in terms of getting a good placement with the Long Career Launch Program. Don't take it as a bad sign if you are not employed at graduation like your friends in the big law world, small firms/gov/non-profits won't hire you until you pass the Bar anyways. Feel free to PM if you like and best of luck OP.

[tyroneslothrop1]

Also figure out how to do better in your classes. You got into UT. You are not stupid, but you are doing something wrong on exams. You must have received 4-5 C's. You can learn to test better and not got any more C's.

[Anonymous User]

OP. Thank you for all the helpful replies.