The Last Resume Goals

The last remaining goals for my law school resume are to make the Dean's List one more time and then, more importantly, graduate with honors. Right now, my GPA puts me in that position, but it is close and I am trying to hold it.

Because of the law school curve system, a grade in the 80s is actually not bad, compared to the rest of the student body. For example, only 3% of the students in a given class may receive a grade of 98 to 100. The professor does not have to give anyone such a grade if he or she so chooses. 5% to 15% of the class may receive a grade from 93 to98, 10% to 25% may receive grades from 86 to 92, and so forth.

Right now, my GPA is 85 point something. While this would have sounded horrible to me in high school or as an undergraduate in college, it actually places me inside the top 25% of my class in law school (There is also an "upper level" GPA that excludes first year courses, but I am not sure this figure is relevant for graduation honors).

An average of 86 or better during a given semester will earn you a spot on the Dean's List. If your overall GPA is higher than 84 when you finish law school, then you graduate Cum Laude.

Grades have been my primary focus during law school. I have not held a job during the school year so that I could spend more time on academics. The Mock Trial Team has been my second highest priority, but I have not done much above the minimum membership requirements for that organization, and I have only competed in the minimum number of required tournaments.

This is not the story for many of my colleagues. Some have families to support or otherwise need the money, and thus do not have the luxury of using only loans to get them through school.

Another group of students elect to work during the school year with the hope of making connections that will lead to a full time job. Landing a career job, after all, is the end game here. There are two basic ways to get a career job: 1) Through outstanding grades and extracurricular accomplishments, or 2) by making a connection with a person who can open a door. A few of my friends took jobs as part time clerks at law firms after becoming frustrated with their grades.

Given the amount of time that I have devoted to classes and studying, I would like my GPA to be higher than 85 point something. But there it is. We will see if it was worth not trying to make connections by working during the school year, or enhancing my resume by putting more effort into the Mock Trial Team.

If I held a job during the school year, my grades would take a big hit. If I had competed in more Mock Trial tournaments or held an office in the organization, my grades would take a hit.

Last year, I had a conversation with the newly elected president of one of the major law school organizations. She also worked as a clerk at a law firm, and had family issues that took up a lot of her time.

I asked her, "How are you going to do all that and still keep decent grades?"

She replied, "My game plan is to land a job before my grades crash."

But the real wonders are the students who have other major time commitments and still make the top grades in school. Some of my friends hold an office on the Law Review, the school's most prestigious student organization, in addition to having a part time job, in addition to being a member of other premier law school organizations. And yet they will graduate Magna Cum Laude or Summa Cum Laude.

What can I say? More power to them. I've done the best I could in law school. It is too expensive to come here and not try hard. If I had law school to do over, I really would not do much differently. At least that is my thinking right now. Perhaps I would make more of an effort to join the Law Review, though I know I would not have enjoyed the work that is required of its members. I also might make more of an effort to publish a paper, though again, this would not have been enjoyable.

In order to graduate from FSU Law, every student has to take a "paper class" and write a paper of publishable quality. The paper is your grade in lieu of a final exam. I worked very hard in my "paper class," and it turned out pretty well. That paper got me one of my highest grades in law school. It was the first law school class that I ever "booked." Writing that darn paper was also the most exhausting experience I've had in law school. It was the first time in my life that I ever wrote something substantial using only a computer. Normally, I hand write everything first and then type it up (a system that would be completely unacceptable in a law firm that utilizes the billable hour model). By the time I finished my final draft, I had stared at a computer screen for so long and hard, bounced back and forth so much between my paper and Westlaw or LexisNexis, that my eyes literally felt like two golf balls bouncing around inside my skull. The dizzying sensation stayed with me for about three days.

So, it was not a close decision about whether or not I would try to write a second paper in law school (as is required of Law Review members).

But some of the best students here actually enroll in all the paper classes they can. They prefer writing papers to taking final exams. Again, more power to them.

Three final exams remain for me. One exam is scheduled for the day before the graduation ceremony. The chances to distinguish myself and tag my resume with law school accolades have almost entirely come and gone, now. I've had successes and failures, but I've given my maximum effort short of making myself miserable.

I hope I can perform well enough on these last exams to hold the line and always be able to put "graduated with honors" out beside my degree.

Until Next Time,

Nathan Marshburn