@Francisco- unfortunately a lot of the things I would have said in response to your last paragraph were lost in my failed attempt to edit the WhyICareAboutGrades topic, but I'll try to sum them up here. I think it made more sense to care about grades in high school than it does now. Grades are probably most important to other institutions that gives grades, so while you work your way up the education ladder they probably have more significance than in the working world. Hence, given that law school is probably the end of the line for many of us in terms of formal education, I think they take on much less significance, but perhaps many of us have not learned how to let go of them yet.

I also agree that a great source of anxiety is the craving for success, though I worry that too many people structure that around what 'society' defines as successful, and not themselves. First of all, I don't know what society really defines as successful- are lawyers successful? Some make a lot of money, but most people hate them. What kind of success is that? I also worry that this drive for success blinds us to what we really want for ourselves. One example I think of was applying to college. How many college students in America really thought about whether they wanted to go to college or not? My guess is most of them went without even thinking about any other options- the next step was college, and it was unthinkable to not take it. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with going to college, but it just seems a little strange when we no longer even consider why we're going.

Lastly, I think the anxiety definitely comes from the fear of failure. We can't even conceive of the idea of failing (mostly because our lives have been set up thus far for preventing that possibility), and when faced with it many of us seem to think there is no way to overcome it. That is probably why the more work/life experience people have had, the less they are concerned with grades-- because they realize that life is full of small (or big) failures, all of which can be overcome if you work hard. And that includes grades. Ten years from now, nobody will care about our grades, but they will care about the person we are and how well we deal with adversity. The sooner we realize that failure is OK and is really just a speedbump along the way, the better off we all would be.

-- RorySkaggs - 10 Feb 2010

@Rory I think that the level of anxiety that has been discussed here does not depend entirely on the city or the university where you are. You mentioned that it was similar in Gtown and I know it is also the same for many people in my law school in Chile, a completely different culture and educational system.

Regarding the source of the anxiety, I believe that the particular character of the person plays a significant role. There are people who are more obsessive about their own future and have a stronger need of certainty (maybe more risk averse?) than others. At the same time I have met people here in Columbia and from other law schools that seem to be more relaxed about their grades and their future and who are very good students at the same time. Unfortunately, I cannot think of many students of this latter type and the majority fits better in the former classification.

The other factor, which I consider the most important source of anxiety, is the pressure to be successful imposed by society. Apparently, at some point the only choices that students face are to be successful (measured mainly, if not only, by grades) or a complete failure. But I do not believe that this is an exclusive characteristic of law schools. I know people in other careers facing the same situation. In my case, even in high school I felt a very strong pressure to have a good performance in order to be accepted in the university that I wanted. Therefore, I think there is a whole system which threats students with the idea that if they are not among the very best, they have no future at all.

-- FranciscoGuzman - 10 Feb 2010

I'll submit that the anxiety level is probably the same -- and also to Severo's point, made in person, that many (most?) of those people who on the first day said they wanted a public interest job will more likely than not end up working at a firm upon graduation. But I do maintain that there is something particularly coercive -- and sometimes noxious -- about certain elements of New York's legal culture. And I wonder still how much our exposure to that culture early on bears on what we end up doing with our law degrees.

-- GloverWright - 09 Feb 2010

As someone who worked at Skadden (in DC) for two years, I can't help but jump in. My first reaction would be this: there is a huge difference between law firms in DC and NYC. NYC is more fast-paced and often less appreciative of the work you produce. In NYC offices it is a given you will work very long hours and few people notice if you do (though there are some that do); in DC, you might work to death, but someone might at least say thanks. Granted this is only my experience and every person you interact with is different, but I've heard this stereotype repeated by many others, and I think it's just a different culture in the two cities.

I also think it's a little silly to be slamming law firms for having nice lobbies, etc. First of all, most big businesses do the same thing, be it law, i-banking, etc. Also, does it really make much of a difference? Most, if not all, law students know what life is like working at a BigLaw firm (and if they don't, they should ask). So how effective are they at selling this posh, glamorous lifestyle we are imagining? Is it possible that we are seeing the salaries and imaging that lifestyle ourselves, and we don't need any help from them to do it? Also, a) maybe clients like the pretty lobbies too; b) lawyers have big egos, so it's probably just managing partners competing amongst themselves; and c) Skadden DC had virtually no lobby, and didn't really try to shower anyone with love and affection; they just wanted the work done and done perfectly.

Lastly, from my experience Gtown has the same anxiety level as CLS, if not worse. Is there anyone else who thinks the anxiety probably did not start in law school, but is deeply rooted somewhere else? I've never been anxious about grades and haven't started to be here. It seems like 'grade panic' cannot have just started in law school. I look around me and see a total lack of self-confidence in many of my peers which baffles me. We have made it this far, why don't we believe in ourselves that no matter what happens here we can and will succeed? I've tried to impart this on people, often to no avail. How can we give up so easily? A couple 'bad' grades and it's all over? We can't really believe that, can we?

-- RorySkaggs - 08 Feb 2010