Explain people who excelled academically in high school, got into great universities then flopped

[Anonymous]

I have a meeting scheduled with a founding attorney who is a double Harvard grad to do some estate planning for me. I noticed all of his associate attorneys had Ivy undergraduate universities listed in their bio but with very regional law schools. Like hypothetically one went to Yale but then went to Liberty University Law school. Another hypo is one went to Cornell then went to University of Baltimore Law. It had me thinking before I give him my business and almost certainly end up working with one of his associates what causes this to happen outside of drugs and family issues/tragedy? Burnout?

[Anonymous]

Are you serious right now?

[Anonymous]

Burnout. The Ivy's are exhausting, incredibly stressful, and often cut throat. It's hard to make friendships because people are highly competitive.

As far as education goes, I feel like I had way better professors and a better education at a large state school (undergrad).

- Harvard grad (graduate school)

[Anonymous]

My first thought is that their parents paid for college but, when they had to pay for their own law school, they went for the place that gave them a scholarship, was cheapest, or maybe just convenient.

[Anonymous]

What a horrible post. OP, you’re great. They’re not.

[Anonymous]

Yes burnout. I was the exact opposite. Mediocre in high school but when I could decide my classes I graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude. I was way too tired to go to grad school right away.

[Anonymous]

Is Yale to liberty a real example? That’s super extreme. I feel like you could do pretty mediocre at Yale and still get into a GW. Liberty is like….I dunno what would cause that.

[Anonymous]

Maybe they are married to Drs and followed them to med school?

[Anonymous]

I went to Harvard Law and got an LLM at NYU.
I do doc review.
Twenty years later, I'm still tired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My first thought is that their parents paid for college but, when they had to pay for their own law school, they went for the place that gave them a scholarship, was cheapest, or maybe just convenient.

+1

[Anonymous]

My thoughts are that the founding attorney is getting his associates very cheaply even though they are probably very capable/intelligent but because of their law school their prospects are limited even though they have great undergraduate degrees.

[Anonymous]

I think there are a certain number of people who go to law school just because they don’t know what else to do. My guess is that they aren’t super passionate about the law and chose these schools because they were cheaper and/or near family or significant other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Burnout. The Ivy's are exhausting, incredibly stressful, and often cut throat. It's hard to make friendships because people are highly competitive.

As far as education goes, I feel like I had way better professors and a better education at a large state school (undergrad).

- Harvard grad (graduate school)

If you are burnt out, why go to law school at all?

[Anonymous]

So many reasons:
Money. Mom & dad may have saved enough for undergrad but not law school.
Wanted to live in a specific location
School offered a specialty they wanted
Political or religious ideology
Wanted to be big fish in a small pond
Started at a more prestigious law school but found it too overwhelming or difficult

None of these mean they are bad lawyers. However if you're going to see them as flops, best find another firm. Get ready to pay accordingly though.

[Anonymous]

I think OP is exaggerating. I'd like to see the link to the attorney's website. It's out there, it's public, so why not?