Fairly substantial grade drop from 1st to 2nd semester Forum

[Anonymous User]

Low T13/high T20 (think UT/Georgetown/Vandy). Finished in the top 10% first semester. Just got second semester grades back and finished in the top third. I was incredibly sick during two of my finals (to the point that I had to spend a night in the hospital) and one of those is significantly worse than my other grades. Will firms worry about the drop? If anyone asks why my grades went down, should I be honest and say I was unfortunately very ill during finals but tried to do the best I could given the circumstances? I am worried firms will notice and think I slacked off or something.

[sparkytrainer]

Low T13/high T20 (think UT/Georgetown/Vandy). Finished in the top 10% first semester. Just got second semester grades back and finished in the top third. I was incredibly sick during two of my finals (to the point that I had to spend a night in the hospital) and one of those is significantly worse than my other grades. Will firms worry about the drop? If anyone asks why my grades went down, should I be honest and say I was unfortunately very ill during finals but tried to do the best I could given the circumstances? I am worried firms will notice and think I slacked off or something.

All I have to say is lol trying to put those schools into the t13. They aren’t t13 schools. You go to a top 20 school. Don’t try to increase your prestige when it isn’t deserved.

[SomewhatLearnedHand]

Low T13/high T20 (think UT/Georgetown/Vandy). Finished in the top 10% first semester. Just got second semester grades back and finished in the top third. I was incredibly sick during two of my finals (to the point that I had to spend a night in the hospital) and one of those is significantly worse than my other grades. Will firms worry about the drop? If anyone asks why my grades went down, should I be honest and say I was unfortunately very ill during finals but tried to do the best I could given the circumstances? I am worried firms will notice and think I slacked off or something.

All I have to say is lol trying to put those schools into the t13. They aren’t t13 schools. You go to a top 20 school. Don’t try to increase your prestige when it isn’t deserved.

This lol... I was trying to figure out wtf low T13/high T20 meant given none of those schools are T13.

[Anonymous User]

Low T13/high T20 (think UT/Georgetown/Vandy). Finished in the top 10% first semester. Just got second semester grades back and finished in the top third. I was incredibly sick during two of my finals (to the point that I had to spend a night in the hospital) and one of those is significantly worse than my other grades. Will firms worry about the drop? If anyone asks why my grades went down, should I be honest and say I was unfortunately very ill during finals but tried to do the best I could given the circumstances? I am worried firms will notice and think I slacked off or something.

All I have to say is lol trying to put those schools into the t13. They aren’t t13 schools. You go to a top 20 school. Don’t try to increase your prestige when it isn’t deserved.

Just going off what I have seen others on this board do - I do not find my school prestigious and do not care to pretend it isn't. Where do you get off with unnecessary dick moves? Answer the question - or provide helpful commentary about ranking - or move the fuck on.

[sparkytrainer]

Low T13/high T20 (think UT/Georgetown/Vandy). Finished in the top 10% first semester. Just got second semester grades back and finished in the top third. I was incredibly sick during two of my finals (to the point that I had to spend a night in the hospital) and one of those is significantly worse than my other grades. Will firms worry about the drop? If anyone asks why my grades went down, should I be honest and say I was unfortunately very ill during finals but tried to do the best I could given the circumstances? I am worried firms will notice and think I slacked off or something.

All I have to say is lol trying to put those schools into the t13. They aren’t t13 schools. You go to a top 20 school. Don’t try to increase your prestige when it isn’t deserved.

Just going off what I have seen others on this board do - I do not find my school prestigious and do not care to pretend it isn't. Where do you get off with unnecessary dick moves? Answer the question - or provide helpful commentary about ranking - or move the fuck on.

No one on here has ever said those schools are “lower t13”. Stop trying to make up for your inferiority complex. It’s coming through pretty hard with that comment and your post more generally. Your chances at biglaw are fine with those grades, but not your attitude. Enjoy life.

[Npret]

You’re a top third candidate at OCI, I’m not sure what that means for your chances at biglaw.

I would answer very briefly if asked about grade drop, but I wouldn’t bring it up. No one particularly cares if you were sick, they are just going to look at what you are bringing. Like a one or two sentence answer. Don’t use it as a talking point.

You should focus the interviews on your fit and interest in the firm,not on why your grades slipped so much. Talking about your health at a job interview is not a selling point.

Honestly if you were that sick, if they care, they might wonder why you didn’t try to postpone or something. It’s not the greatest judgment to take exams the day after you were hospitalized for some illness. If you weren’t allowed to postpone, that’s different.

[Anonymous User]

Low T13/high T20 (think UT/Georgetown/Vandy). Finished in the top 10% first semester. Just got second semester grades back and finished in the top third. I was incredibly sick during two of my finals (to the point that I had to spend a night in the hospital) and one of those is significantly worse than my other grades. Will firms worry about the drop? If anyone asks why my grades went down, should I be honest and say I was unfortunately very ill during finals but tried to do the best I could given the circumstances? I am worried firms will notice and think I slacked off or something.

All I have to say is lol trying to put those schools into the t13. They aren’t t13 schools. You go to a top 20 school. Don’t try to increase your prestige when it isn’t deserved.

No but seriously, this is a dick answer. However they want to describe their school isn’t some kind of attack on you. At least answer the actual question if you’re going to obsess over the ranking INSULT.

[Anonymous User]

(To not be a hypocrite, I can’t answer bc I haven’t been in that situation, but everything I’ve seen discussed here suggests the overall GPA is what matters. Might an interviewer bring it up? Sure, so think about how you’d answer, but overall act according to the GPA you have and you should be fine.)

[malibustacy]

No one will bat an eye. They'll mostly want to see that you're cool during interviews, and your grades are good enough for most firms. You're not competitive for firms that really care about grades anyhow like SullCrom.

Enjoy your lower V10 to V50 job!

[Anonymous User]

Low T13/high T20 (think UT/Georgetown/Vandy). Finished in the top 10% first semester. Just got second semester grades back and finished in the top third. I was incredibly sick during two of my finals (to the point that I had to spend a night in the hospital) and one of those is significantly worse than my other grades. Will firms worry about the drop? If anyone asks why my grades went down, should I be honest and say I was unfortunately very ill during finals but tried to do the best I could given the circumstances? I am worried firms will notice and think I slacked off or something.

I didn't want to go Big Law, and was public interest instead... but I did do OGI at my school. One thing that is nice with a significant change like that is that the interviewers are smart. A discussion about the reason why a significant drop happened is easy to have. Some will understand, some wont. I know Jones Day was really understanding about it when I interviewed--unfortunately, at the time I could have cared less about working for a firm (I really only went through the motions at interviews because it got my ex, who wanted that, off my back).

I had my daughter a week before first semester finals, so same story as you, except in reverse (bad first semester / really good second semester).

[Anonymous User]

I was in the same boat, top 10% in fall and significant drop 2nd semester because of health scare. Explained it up front to firms at OCI and did just just fine. Your GPA means nothing without context, so don't worry too much.

[Wild Card]

No one will bat an eye. They'll mostly want to see that you're cool during interviews, and your grades are good enough for most firms. You're not competitive for firms that really care about grades anyhow like SullCrom.

Enjoy your lower V10 to V50 job!

Holy shit, sick neg. I'd say V25 to V50.

To be serious, I wouldn't bring it up on my own. Start making excuses only if they pointedly ask you about it. If they do, try not to sound pathetic or weaselly.

[Anonymous User]

I had a C+ on an otherwise great transcript (still managed top quarter). Some interviewers asked, but most people didn’t care.

Obviously it’s a little different in your case since it’s more than just one class, but I honestly couldn’t see an interviewer being repelled by seeing a few Bs here and there.