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I know there are a million posts from students who feel like they might have failed an exam, and I'm adding another, but it isn't just a feeling that I failed an exam. Before finals I had a personal emergency come up. I still studied, but I felt almost delirious; as if just getting through my finals would be a success due to my circumstances. But during each and every final I felt "off" - and my comprehension was completely sub-par.

My worst exam was my contracts exam.
I took practice exams, and for each practice exam I was prepared and hitting the issues. But on the actual final I became hyper focused on our second question that our professor asked (Discuss all remedies) and I panicked. I became so freaked out that he had removed the obligations portion of our class that I didn't even completely read the whole prompt which gave you the trigger to discuss obligations. I failed to realize that in order to talk about remedies you had to discuss each parties' obligations. I failed to discuss parol evidence, conditions, good faith, warranties, frustration of purpose, impracticability - basically every major issue that we covered in the second half of our course.

I could fail my final, and if I pass it will be by the skin of my teeth. It's really disheartening because I did well my first semester and have a summer job, and I feel like at the end of the summer they are going to kick me out so fast that it isn't even funny.

If anyone can offer any words of comfort I would appreciate it. Like, what do you do if you fail a class? Can I retake? Will I be able to get a job?

- Sincerely, a fallen law student.

Where are you in school (or give a general tier if you're concerned about anonymity)? What kind of job do you want to get? What's your GPA, and what is the curve set to?

It's entirely possible you did fine, but even if you didn't, it's not necessarily a future-killer. It's hard to get more specific without knowing more about your situation.

I wouldn't stress about it. It is as hard to be two standard deviations below a median as it is to be above a median. If you spoke about the issues at hand, even if you didn't get to all of them, you'll get some credit. If you already have a summer offer, just do good work and the grades will be less relevant.

If this is an internship or something unpaid and you're at a lower tiered school, then my analysis would change and I'd suggest dropping out if you can't see your grades until you pay for the next semester.

Sadsadlawstudent wrote:I failed to realize that in order to talk about remedies you had to discuss each parties' obligations. I failed to discuss parol evidence, conditions, good faith, warranties, frustration of purpose, impracticability - basically every major issue that we covered in the second half of our course.

Eh, not necessarily. I'd have to look at your prompt, and know a bit more about your professor's expectations, but if the call of the question was to just talk about remedies, you might be fine. Granted, it'd be a bit unusual for a contracts question to only ask about remedies, but you said this was the second question? Did you cover formation, defenses, and excuses from performance during the first question? Maybe for the second question, the professor only wanted remedies.

You mentioned you failed to discuss the parole evidence rule, warranties, frustration, ect. Were there any facts in the question that would make those things issues? If so, then yeah, you probably should have discussed them somewhere in the essay. But I seriously doubt an essay question would contain facts to warrant discussing EVERYTHING in that list above. That would be a really long fact-pattern.

When I was in law school, I remember there were plenty of times I felt that I completely bombed an essay, missed issues, ect, but I usually ended up doing just fine. Just do something to take your mind off of it, and patiently wait for your grades.

cavalier1138 wrote:Where are you in school (or give a general tier if you're concerned about anonymity)? What kind of job do you want to get? What's your GPA, and what is the curve set to?

It's entirely possible you did fine, but even if you didn't, it's not necessarily a future-killer. It's hard to get more specific without knowing more about your situation.

Chiming in to emphasize the above. If, for example, OP's at a T14, then I wouldn't stress out too much. T14s aren't in the business of flunking folks. Totally different ballgame if OP's at a T3.

I’m not super familiar with lingo, but I think I’m at a T30. I have a scholarship. I spoke with the Dean and she said I’m not at risk of losing it because it’s not contingent on my grades. My internship is paid at a top law firm. That’s why I’m so devastated.

Yes the facts raised the issues I mentioned(except not for all of the warranties) I just panicked when I read the question at the end of the fact pattern. It’s really my fault - I was prepared, but I did not perform well.

I hope you’re right that doing well this summer will keep me from losing my job. I just feel guilty that they(the firm) invested in me and I have proved to be a terrible investment.

Also, the curve is ~ 3.2, and I was above that last semester. But that is completely wrecked.

Sadsadlawstudent wrote:Also, the curve is ~ 3.2, and I was above that last semester. But that is completely wrecked.

The curve where? Where are you in school?

There's a massive difference between falling below median at UVA and falling below median at Drexel.

T30.

Sorry, for some reason the forum thought I"d already read your post where you mentioned your school rank.

You're fine. Just keep your head down and do good work this summer.

Sadsadlawstudent wrote:I’m not super familiar with lingo, but I think I’m at a T30. I have a scholarship. I spoke with the Dean and she said I’m not at risk of losing it because it’s not contingent on my grades. My internship is paid at a top law firm. That’s why I’m so devastated.

Yes the facts raised the issues I mentioned(except not for all of the warranties) I just panicked when I read the question at the end of the fact pattern. It’s really my fault - I was prepared, but I did not perform well.

I hope you’re right that doing well this summer will keep me from losing my job. I just feel guilty that they(the firm) invested in me and I have proved to be a terrible investment.

Even if you did tank this exam (which I doubt), you are way more than your grades and one bad exam does not mean you should feel guilty that you are a bad investment for your firm. You shouldn’t feel guilty about anything in relation to your firm. You earned the job; it’s not a gift you need to feel gratitude for and an employer doesn’t deserve you feeling guilty. It’s a business relationship, that’s all.

Thank you all for encouraging me. I think that no matter what it is good advice just to keep my head down and do my best work. Also good to be reminded that I’m not my grades. It really hurts to “fall from grace” like that, but maybe it’s silly to feel like it’s the end of the world as I do right now.

It's pretty rare for people to be no-offered due to grades. Focus on doing good work and getting a f/t offer. If everyone likes you, you won't get no offered because of a bad grade.

OP, let us know what you get when you find out. I suspect it'll be good, so this will be a good thread to remind people that everything will be fine.

I would wait for the final grade to come through before rushing to judgment, as others have said. Take a deep breath and focus on what you can do going forward. You have a summer job and can decide to focus on doing as well as you possibly can during this summer. Grades get you in the door but it is your work that keeps you there and gets you an offer. This reminded me of this reddit thread, I hope it helps you: https://www.reddit.com/r/LawSchool/comm ... um=ios_app