Advice on Law Fellow Application
Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 8:07 pm
I am a 1L at a lower-T14 school.
I'm hoping to get some advice/input from people I don't know in order to help me decide if I should apply to be a law fellow at my school next year (law fellows assist teachers in legal writing by grading papers, etc..).
On the one hand, I've done really well in legal writing this year so far. My prof has used my work multiple times throughout the year as a model for the class. Because I enjoy legal writing/research, I think I'd enjoy being a law fellow. Also, before law school, I worked a bit, and I've published work in journals/books, so I think I have some soft factors on my resume that could make me be competitive as a candidate.
On the other hand, I am nervous about applying because I am not happy with my GPA. My GPA at the moment from Fall semester is just a 3.33 (I got an A-, B+, and B). At my school, that is exactly at the median. My GPA is not terrible I think, but I don't think its stellar either. It's just average. You just need a 3.0, however, to apply for the law fellow position, so my GPA is high enough to apply. Also, legal writing at my school is a year long class and my Fall GPA could go up a bit once I get a grade for that class at the end of the Spring (I'll get fall and spring GPA credit for legal writing). But I won't know my legal writing grade until after the application for the law fellow program is due, so I have to apply with my 3.33 GPA.
Related to my GPA, I also feel somewhat embarrassed even applying to be a law fellow with my GPA given that it is not really stellar. If I apply, I'm going to have to share my current GPA with my prof and the committee and possibly have to talk about it publicly with the application process, and that's hard for me to do because I'm not happy with it.
So that's my dilemma and I'd appreciate input.
I'm hoping to get some advice/input from people I don't know in order to help me decide if I should apply to be a law fellow at my school next year (law fellows assist teachers in legal writing by grading papers, etc..).
On the one hand, I've done really well in legal writing this year so far. My prof has used my work multiple times throughout the year as a model for the class. Because I enjoy legal writing/research, I think I'd enjoy being a law fellow. Also, before law school, I worked a bit, and I've published work in journals/books, so I think I have some soft factors on my resume that could make me be competitive as a candidate.
On the other hand, I am nervous about applying because I am not happy with my GPA. My GPA at the moment from Fall semester is just a 3.33 (I got an A-, B+, and B). At my school, that is exactly at the median. My GPA is not terrible I think, but I don't think its stellar either. It's just average. You just need a 3.0, however, to apply for the law fellow position, so my GPA is high enough to apply. Also, legal writing at my school is a year long class and my Fall GPA could go up a bit once I get a grade for that class at the end of the Spring (I'll get fall and spring GPA credit for legal writing). But I won't know my legal writing grade until after the application for the law fellow program is due, so I have to apply with my 3.33 GPA.
Related to my GPA, I also feel somewhat embarrassed even applying to be a law fellow with my GPA given that it is not really stellar. If I apply, I'm going to have to share my current GPA with my prof and the committee and possibly have to talk about it publicly with the application process, and that's hard for me to do because I'm not happy with it.
So that's my dilemma and I'd appreciate input.