Explain people who excelled academically in high school, got into great universities then flopped
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
Why would you think this list would make anyone revise their assumption that you need to go to a top law school to be successful? Some of these people are from long ago (e.g., Marshall and Darrow), many have excelled in fields other than law (e.g., Biden, McConnell, Harris), some of them went to elite law schools that just aren't associated with colleges that are part of the Ivy League (e.g., Scheck, Mueller and Harper). And some of the rest are outliers. Bill Gates dropped out of college; that doesn't make not attending college a great plan for most people. Here are the law schools of Biden's nominees to the federal circuit courts: Harvard, Duke, Harvard, Yale, Suffolk, Yale, Columbia, Chicago, Cornell, Virginia, Memphis, Yale, Yale, Harvard, Yale, Yale, Cal-Hastings, Tulane. So that's 14 of 18 who went to one of the Top 14 law schools in the country, which are the elite law schools. |
Anonymous
So you seriously think it is wise to dismiss the legal capabilities of non Ivy educated lawyers? If and when I need a lawyer, I will be looking at a lot of factors and ranking of law school Would be low down the list. Breadth and depth of Experience Legal Case history People skills Communication skills The equating non ivy law school graduates with being legal flops is offensive and dumb. |
Anonymous
Back to the "long ago" point, even some of the "top" schools weren't all that when the people named were attending. GW was a commuter undergrad and Barr went to night school. It was a different world back then. |
Anonymous
| I rented to 2 sisters who graduated from Harvard. Both were losers in life though they had good jobs. My ex couldn't balance a check book, nor possessed common sense despite having #1 job. Life success is a little more complicated. |
Anonymous
Could not agree more … have many corroborating examples but do not want to degrade others to make a fairly obvious point … I left out integrity on my list above but that is also very important for meaningful success. |
Anonymous
I almost think this is due to ideological reasons. When I attended an Ivy there was one student who graduated near the tippy top of our class that ended up at Pepperdine Law but this person was (especially for an Ivy) conservative, religious and from the west coast and could not wait to go back to that environment. It wasn't an issue of burnout or drugs--they excelled academically and did a lot of extracurriculars--but rather culture fit. |
Anonymous
I know who you're talking about. Clerked for a very conservative SCOTUS justice. Definitely an ideology thing. |
Anonymous
If they weren’t all that back then that further illustrates that other factors were way more important for their success. Gates another Example of other personal skills being more important than ranking of school where one graduates. I suspect Biden administration’s obsession with ivy/ T14 law Schools is in part reaction to previous administration’s reliance on unqualified big donors (such as Betsy De Vos education debacle). However they are swinging the pendulum too far in direction of big name law schools and need to focus equally on other factors. I do wish any brilliant law school grads would establish a viable alternative to the federalist society and bring back progressive influence to the Supreme Court. |
Anonymous
| Some might view me as a “flop”. I went from a DC Public School education to Yale, and then earned a PhD from a university that had one of the top programs in my field. I worked for over 20 years in a high-risk, public service oriented environment. During this period of my life I ended up being a primary caretaker for elderly family members. I’m now unemployed and looking for challenging, interesting work that is not emotionally draining in the ways that my previous jobs and caretaking have been. Although I’m glad that I made the decisions that I have made, I’ve loved my career, and I’m grateful that I was able to support and advocate for my family, I’m also not in a good position right now. Decades of emotionally demanding and even exhausting responsibilities can do that, and job hunting after an extended career break comes with challenges. |
Anonymous
You sound like a truly loving and intelligent Human being who has enjoyed meaningful success and made meaningful sacrifices. Best wishes for your job search. |
Anonymous
Your utter inability to read and comprehend the point indicates you are not a person worth addressing further. |
Anonymous
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They were probably C's get Degrees students at the Ivy and then unable to get into one of the higher level law schools.
I went to Yale and know plenty of people like this. Lots went on to law schools and even med schools at lesser schools. Same with those going on for their MBAs. |
Anonymous
Ok, it was a bit of an exaggeration, but I’m the hiring partner for our office’s lit department. I have to fight my colleagues every year to look at places like Georgetown. We have a very small number of associates from schools in the top 10-30, and almost none below that on the litigation side. Corporate is bigger and likely less selective. I’m not going to name my firm but it is a top tier Biglaw firm. |
Anonymous
Actually your dogged narrow minded defense of arbitrary law school rankings to determine whether lawyers can be deemed successful makes you unworthy of my time. I addressed your example of the Biden administration reliance on T14 law school above. There were many other examples of highly Successful non Ivy educated lawyers but did not cite them all. |