Needing #lawtwitter’s honesty: my only concern in not taking diploma privilege is to prevent the possible stigma of having a license with an asterisk/being looked down upon by other lawyers who sat for the exam. Isn’t this is a real thing I should worry about?

For reference: I’m a first-gen woman of color in a predominately white state, so I already feel the pressure to go to extra lengths to prove my competence/ability. I did my 2L summer at a firm, have a judicial clerkship lined up, and eventually want to go back to a firm

Mainly, I worry most hiring partners will be white, conservative men who might already implicitly think I’m not qualified. I also worry about distinguishing myself from people I’ll compete with for these jobs (most from my school seem to still want to sit for the exam anyways)