Eagleionline

There are few things worse than getting poor grades as a 1L. Well, actually, there are a lot of things worse than getting poor grades as a 1L, rationally speaking. There are so many problems in our world that haven’t been solved, so much hurt, violence and injustice. What do good grades as a 1L have to do with those these? Do good grades make 1Ls more virtuous? There is little evidence that doing well in law school makes someone a better, or worse, person. One does not need good grades to be, for example, generous or brave. While good grades are sometimes indicative of fortitude or prudence, is it not more important for 1Ls to wear their kind deeds as medals, their honesty as their class rank?

And yet, 1Ls are human. Sometimes their ability to think rationally gets lost in a maze of emotion. When that happens, 1Ls should stop for a moment, and gain some perspective. If you have done well, and feel great, don’t slow down. 1L grades are composed of hard work, background and experience, and even a little luck. If you don’t lean forward, you’ll fall back.

If you are “average,” and wonder what that means, think about whether doing even more is worth your time and effort. Boston College Law School is a great school, and, yes, you can have middling grades and still do great, even if you measure success by working in “BigLaw.” [*Note: Financial markets are terrible right now, and even the people at the top of the class are victims of hiring freezes.]

If you have done poorly, think about what happened. Talk to your professors if necessary. If you want to improve your grades, you have an entire two years to step up. If you haven’t worked that hard, then you might not have put in enough effort to get a higher grade. If you have worked hard, then don’t let a small misstep break your stride. Keep going. You have been chosen to attend law school because you are smart. And success comes mostly from perspiration. Above all, do not despair. Don’t go there. Grades are not the most important thing in life. Yes, they may help you get your first job, but with some perspective, most would agree that there are other things far more important. We have been studying “virtue,” “goodness” and “happiness” for literally thousands of years, and while we still don’t really know what those terms mean, it is more likely than not that 1L grades are not present in any cosmic equation.

Appendix

Use the data below to compute your class rank approximately. This data is from the end of the 2008 academic year. It measured the then-graduating members of the Class of 2008, as well as the then-rising 3Ls from the Class of 2009. Click “1L Grades” for an earlier article on the subject that included the following data.

Percentile Class of 2009 Class of 2008
95% 3.78 3.68
90% 3.63 3.61
85% 3.57 3.55
80% 3.51 3.51
75% 3.47 3.45
70% 3.39 3.42
65% 3.34 3.39
60% 3.30 3.36
55% 3.28 3.33
50% 3.24 3.29