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The announcement came out yesterday that they will release our 1st semester grades today. Law school, being an incredibly competitive place as it is, is going to get a whole lot worse for our class. As they say, of all of the incredibly smart people only 10% can be in the top 10% and that leaves 90% to be bitter.
I'll let you know how I fall (I'm expecting middle of the class).
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My sister is up at the U at law school, and they just released her grades. Her torts prof drove to New York over the holiday and didn't get any of the grading done, so they posted all of the grades but that one. So all weekend she was on pins and needles, and kept instant messageing me about the possible gpas she could get depending on the final grade.
Up at the U they sent out an e-mail warning people not to tell any of their peers their grades, that it was rude and would foster a sense of compition. Or something like that. But apparently some guy went around bragging that he got straight As, which was later proved to be a lie when they released the ranked gpas and no one got a 4.0.
(In case you are wondering, which I'm sure you are not, my very brilliant sister got a 3.9, with all As and an A-)
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I'm not sure how they do it at the U but here at the Y they don't give letter grades but rather grades based on a 4.0 scale. So usually only one person in the class will get a 4.0 and they trickle down from there with a forced median at 3.3. So to say someone here got straight As would be highly problematic. Tell your sister congrats on the 3.9 though. That should put her pretty high in her class.
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My sister is in fact quite brilliant, but furthermore she studied very, very hard, as it had been some time since she had been in school and she was nervous. Her grades are made all the more remarkable by the physical problems she was having all during finals.(that is another story entirely)
They do give letter grades at the U, but they don't rank the students, they just rank the gpas, and this quarter no 1st year got a 4.0. I know this because my sister has no one to brag to but me, and I have no one to brag to about her but you.
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I never saw any rankings at all when I was in law school at the U, except in the form of graphs showing the distribution of students and GPAs. From these graphs, you could figure out where you ranked in the class, or at least a rough percentile. That's the reason I can tell interviewers that I was in the top 20% of my class.
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They rank us here. I landed in the bottom 50% with a 3.29 gpa. Thats about what I deserved for the work I put in though so I'm not too upset about it. I figure it gives me something to work towards.
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You're still in the running, though Sergeant. So if you want it bad, I'm sure you can bring up your gpa for next semester. Good luck!
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Sergeant, you know what they call the person who graduates last in their class at law school? "Counselor."
I would recommend seriously examining how you prepared for each exam and see what you did that worked and what you did that didn't work (assuming you got different grades in some classes). And remember, you're only 1/6 of the way done. Law Schools are full of people who aced 1L fall and were below the median in 1L Spring, and vice-versa.
But you've got to do the work.
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They give letter grades here, but are on a "grade deflation" kick wherein the respective letters get a lower number of points than at other schools, and the "median" GPA that the professors shoot for is correspondingly lowered as well. Don't worry, though, the Dean sends out a letter along with your transcript (or whatever) to prospective employees explaining the policy, so your 2.9 looks better. Because employers have time to read a lengthy, wordy letter telling them why a 2.9 is really a 3.1.
FWIW, I did terrible my first semester (T-errible) but each semester improved since then. Now, with one semester to go, I don't give a flying fig. Mmmmmm, flying fig newton.
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It seems to me that most employers look mostly at your class standing so my goal is to eventually get to the top 30%. I slacked off so much this last semester that I cant imagine that I won't improve. I really want to get into the Air Force JAG but don't know how competitive they are. Anyone with any knowledge on that?
quote:Y'know, after 5 years of law school (and a law degree!) I am far from convinced that all the people who are there are in fact incredibly smart.
That's not to say the grading isn't... odd at times.
The best grades don't always go to the smartest people. Some people are just good at gaming the system. The following advice allowed me to do fairly well in law schol without studying 8 hours a day:
1. Get class outlines from as many sources as possible. Join more clubs, befriend more 3Ls, talk to alumni. Ask your source which part of the outline you should concentrate on. Get advice on the best way to answer a professor's question. You should still do your own outline, but with the extra help your outline will be a lot more helpful.
2. Read professor evaluations and see what students have to say about their midterms and finals. Talk to their formal TAs and ask about how those exams were graded.
3. Research a professor's grade distributions before you take the class. Some professors are more generous with the curve than others.
4. Scan through your professors' published works. I once got an A+ in a class because I was the only person who read this obscure law review article written by my torts professor. His exam question came straight out of that article, and I bsically mirrored his opinions (which he did not really cover in class).
5. The fifteen minutes after a lecture is the most important time in law school. While most people use that time to socialize and surf the web, I use that time to quickly organize my notes from the lecture while it is still fresh in my head. If I have a question, I go ask the professor immediately. Even if they don't have office hours, they are usually ok with a few quick questions right after class.
6. Get a good study group. Some study groups are completely worthless. Make sure you never join a group of slackers who always depend on your notes and outlines. When it comes to study groups, think Atlas Shrugged.
7. Learn how to write exams. Each professor has a specific grading style. Find out what it is (per steps 1&2) and adapt to it. Some like policy, some like issue spotting, some are looking for keywords, some wants a neat IRAC format.
8. Do moot court and law review. Some law reviews have high GPA standards, but AFAIK, most moot court competitions don't have GPA requirements. Doing well in these activities will help you get a job even if your grades aren't stellar.
[ January 21, 2006, 10:46 PM: Message edited by: Beren One Hand ]
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Because employers have time to read a lengthy, wordy letter telling them why a 2.9 is really a 3.1. 
