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

[Anonymous]

I know one. Columbia ugrad. Brooklyn Law. Nearly full ride scholarship at Columbia (poor; first gen student). Did not have $$$ for law school, and was not all that smart.

[Anonymous]

Another possibility is that they were a legacy or athlete to the undergrad so got in that way but then got mediocre grades undergrad. They didn't know what to do career wise so parents paid for mediocre law school

[Anonymous]

I thought you were talking about me. I went to an Ivy. Now a depressed sahm. Going to an ivy doesn’t guarantee a brilliant career.

[Anonymous]

Someone has to be at the bottom of their class at Harvard.

I know a guy who was top of his high school class and went to Harvard. He could not get into a med school in the US. He ended up going to med school in the Caribbean.

I knew a girl who went to Harvard but she was average. She did well on her lsats but between her average grades and good but not stellar last score, all the top and second tiered schools rejected her. I remember her telling me she thought the second tiered schools didn’t want her because they didn’t want to be her back up. I have no idea if that is true or not.

Of course there are many more people who went to both elite undergrad and grad schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The smart lawyer doesn’t go into debt for law school; they go in state or follow the money/scholarships.

Signed,

Lawyer

This

[Anonymous]

My BigLaw firm won’t look at anyone who didn’t graduate from a top-10 school. I fight them on it every year but those old white guys are stuck too firmly in their ways (with big sticks up their bums…)

[Anonymous]

For my brother, it was mental illness. Bipolar. Schizoaffective. Mania. Don’t be cruel by pointing and laughing. Relatives ask me what he is doing now, what can I say? He is alive but he won’t listen or get help. Focus on yourself and your kids. Don’t point out others’ weaknesses and laugh to feel better.

[Anonymous]

Bad grades/low LSAT, but still "needs" to be a lawyer for whatever reason. These are not the sharpest tools. Some trajectories might make sense, but I object to Yale > Liberty. I can go with good state school > good state school.

[Anonymous]

Grad school isn’t so easy to get into, especially elite grad schools.

Not everyone studies hard in college. I know a lot of guys who were premed at top schools. They didn’t get an A in some chem or biochem class and their shot into med school has dropped.

[Anonymous]

They are the children of his buddies.

[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

That was me. I had the credentials but was all about chasing the money as I was unwilling to incur big debt.

[Anonymous]

I'll bite, HYP undergrad here and T10 law school. Most of them got in via some sort of undeserving hook - legacy, prep school connections, or athlete in some random sport that only prep schools do.

They weren't smart and did terribly on the LSAT (or MCAT), but were told they were spectacular by parents their whole lives and couldn't give up the dream of being a lawyer or doctor. Went to whatever shitty school let them in. These were the same kids with mediocre SAT scores but the hook to get in.

It's somewhat shocking how many are like this. It's why I say you can tell who the deserving Ivy undergrads are in one second - double Ivy or the equivalent or they shouldn't have been there in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll bite, HYP undergrad here and T10 law school. Most of them got in via some sort of undeserving hook - legacy, prep school connections, or athlete in some random sport that only prep schools do.

They weren't smart and did terribly on the LSAT (or MCAT), but were told they were spectacular by parents their whole lives and couldn't give up the dream of being a lawyer or doctor. Went to whatever shitty school let them in. These were the same kids with mediocre SAT scores but the hook to get in.

It's somewhat shocking how many are like this. It's why I say you can tell who the deserving Ivy undergrads are in one second - double Ivy or the equivalent or they shouldn't have been there in the first place.

And one follow up for the people saying they went to wherever gave them a scholarship - with a stellar LSAT, every T10 will give you one. It's not that hard to avoid going into debt for law school or med school.

[Anonymous]

That was me. Grew up poor. Took loans/scholarships/grants to go to a prestigious undergrad. Partied in college and met my low goal of graduating with a 3.0. Got into pretty good law schools but no scholarships and didn’t want to go into debt with the under graduate debt I already had. Got a free ride to a mediocre law school. I only think it matters where you went to law school if you want to work for a big law type of firm, which I didn’t want to do anyway. I’m really happy in my job and career trajectory and really felt I had to earn my way up, which is satisfying so it’s all good.

[Anonymous]

Troll.