I know that you have already heard a lot about law school grades, but I want to discuss them from a little bit different point of view. That view is that all law school grades are not of equal importance. This is something you may not have been told yet so let me explain.

Law school consists of basically three years or 6 semesters. A fact you will encounter in law school is that some law students after their second summer, and before entering their third and final year of law school, will have secured a full time job that awaits them upon their graduation. This means that these students' third-year grades are not considered by their future employers.

So these students can get all Cs in their third-year courses and as long as they graduate they will still have a job. This should make it immediately apparent to you that fifth and sixth semester (third-year) law school grades for some students may not be as important as the other four semesters' grades.

Concerning the other four semesters' grades, they are also not of equal importance to each other. Of the grades from the first four semesters of law school, the first semester's grades can be the most important.

First semester grades can be so important because they are the only grades that first summer employers have to assess how a student is doing in law school. The reason first semester grades are often the only grades first summer employers use to make internship decisions is because the interviews and final decisions for internships are made in the spring before the second semester's finals begin.

First-summer internships are important because students are more likely to get prestigious internships after their second-year in law school if they are selected for prestigious internships for their first summer. Furthermore, the more prestigious an internship is the greater likelihood you will land a prestigious job prior to your third year of law school or upon graduating.

Other related articles on this website include Learning in Law School and Being Meticulous.

Good luck in law school!

If you have any questions or comments about this article, or want to write your own article about the pre-law or law school process, feel free to contact me.