Progress Over Perfection: A Guide to Law School GPA Growth

The first semester of 1L is a uniquely challenging academic experience quite different from your undergraduate studies, with its user-friendly textbooks filled with built-in summaries and bold-faced key words. In law school, immersed in the case-study method, you’re tasked with discerning what to learn from cases and codes and restatements. If your first-semester GPA wasn’t what you hoped for, know that you’re not alone.

Although important, first-semester grades alone do not define your future success in law school, on the bar exam, or in your legal career. In fact, according to findings from AccessLex Institute’s report, “It's Not Where You Start, It's How You Finish: Predicting Law School and Bar Success,” improving your GPA from this point forward enhances your chances of success on the bar exam.

But, with the end goal of the bar exam in mind, focusing solely on improving your GPA by taking easier courses and avoiding harder ones is not the path to success. If you aren’t sure where to start, the following strategies may be a helpful guide:

Visit Your Law School’s Academic Support Office and Introduce Yourself

Academic and bar success staff are a vital resource when navigating the transition to law school. Explore the specific offerings at your law school; peer tutors, workshops, and one-on-one counseling are likely some of the resources available to you. One way to leverage academic support staff is to review exam responses where you excelled against responses where you struggled, as they may be able to give you an idea of how to approach future exams.

Analyze First-Semester Performance

Identify your toughest subjects and plan to enroll in upper-level coursework in similar or related areas of law. Although this sounds counterintuitive, upper-level courses will reinforce the concepts that you discussed in your 1L course, which will better prepare you for that subject on the bar exam. It is better to become well-versed in the areas of law that are challenging for you, rather than simply earning high grades in courses that require less effort.

Re-Evaluate Study Techniques

Passive study techniques, like the reading and briefing method, has a negative relationship with law school GPA, while active strategies, like self-testing, summarizing material in your own words, and periodic review of material, are positively correlated with increased law school GPA. Research also suggests that handwriting course notes in doctrinal courses is associated with a higher GPA when compared to taking notes on a laptop.

Discuss Past Exams with Professors

Students who received individualized feedback in even one 1L course often improved their exam performance across their courseload. If you believe you lost points because your exam writing style didn’t align with your professor’s preferences, don’t let that discourage you from seeking feedback. Virtually all law professor’s writing preferences are based on a version of IRAC. If your instructor can’t meet, ask if you can review a high and mid-performing exam response to get an idea for how you might improve your responses in the future. Any instance where you did not receive full points on an exam is an opportunity for growth.

Prioritize Mental Well-Being 

The 2021 Survey of Law Student Well-Being found that 69% of law students felt they needed mental health support. However, many law students fail to pursue help, citing concerns about their academic status or future bar applications. If you feel that you need support for your emotional or mental well-being, seek help as early as possible. Sessions with a counselor, school-sponsored mental health services, or an assessment for a learning disability can all improve your mental health, which will help prevent burnout and manage the stress that comes with being a full-time law student.

Maintain a Growth Mindset

The culture and intense pressure of law school fosters a fixed mindset, where students assume that their law school and eventual career success is predetermined by their early performance, or even by who they were before starting law school. It is paramount to adopt a mindset that envisions yourself as capable of growth and improvement. You are training to be a lawyer; don’t expect that you should be one now.

Setbacks are opportunities for improvement, and you have time to learn from these challenges to set yourself up for bar success. Remember the resilience and perseverance that brought you to law school in the first place.