Elena Kagan's Transcript AKA What's Needed to Get Clerkship Forum

[EzraStiles]

The Nytimes posted her Harvard Transcript (surprise, she did great): http://documents.nytimes.com/kagans-198 ... eport-card

I really just started this to express my sadness at the end of Law & Order. To think, the next generation of lawyers will have not grown up alongside Sam Waterston's wild exhibitionism.

[Bankhead]

I did much better than her in Torts and Crim.

[BlueCivic]

I suppose I should know the answer to this, but is Harvard Law School accredited by the American Bar Association and a member in good standing of the Association of American Law Schools?

[Rock Chalk]

,

[BlueCivic]

The Nytimes posted her Harvard Transcript (surprise, she did great): http://documents.nytimes.com/kagans-198 ... eport-card

I really just started this to express my sadness at the end of Law & Order. To think, the next generation of lawyers will have not grown up alongside Sam Waterston's wild exhibitionism.

I think Sam Waterson is active in insurance commercials and will be with our children for generations to come.

[bradley]

Why did she only take 4 classes her 3L year? And really, that's all the better you have to do to get a SCOTUS nomination? GPA around 3.7.

[romothesavior]

Wow... if my only two grades at the end of fall semester were a B and a B- ITE, I'd be in killself mode.

[BlueCivic]

Wow... if my only two grades at the end of fall semester were a B and a B- ITE, I'd be in killself mode.

Might it be possible that "Top-Law-Schools.com" gives one a distorted perception of reality?

[romothesavior]

Wow... if my only two grades at the end of fall semester were a B and a B- ITE, I'd be in killself mode.

Might it be possible that "Top-Law-Schools.com" gives one a distorted perception of reality?

Those grades would destroy your shot at biglaw.

But obviously Kagan went to Harvard in a different era and with different interests. Those grades obviously didn't ruin her career. But for a lot of people on TLS, a B or B- average at their respective schools after fall 1L would destroy their big law hopes.

And my first post was a joke. Just sarcasm with a heavy dose of truth sprinkled on top.

[jayn3]

Why did she only take 4 classes her 3L year? And really, that's all the better you have to do to get a SCOTUS nomination? GPA around 3.7.

as RTS said, times are different now. at any rate, though, i'm pretty sure it's what she did after HLS that really mattered....

[rx3r]

Why did she only take 4 classes her 3L year? And really, that's all the better you have to do to get a SCOTUS nomination? GPA around 3.7.

If you look at the transcript, it was issued in March of '86 to the student (Kagan). Her final semester grades are probably missing for that reason (I assume they wouldn't be available until May of '86).

[traydeuce]

Well, I've never gotten a B or a B-. Then again, I don't go to Harvard (yet). Isn't it ironic, though, that Kagan, a huge expert in administrative law, author of two of the most influential articles in the field in the last 15 years, just brilliant work, got a B+ in administrative law? The worst grade she'd ever get after her 1L year. I got an A in my admin law class and there's no way that I'm a tenth of the admin law mind she is. It just goes to show you - well I'm not sure what it goes to show you, it goes to show you something or another.

[shizzle_]

There may have been grade inflation since. After all, this is what wikipedia says:

"She received a juris doctor, magna cum laude, at Harvard Law School in 1986, where she was supervisory editor of the Harvard Law Review."

[BlueCivic]

Well, I've never gotten a B or a B-. Then again, I don't go to Harvard (yet). Isn't it ironic, though, that Kagan, a huge expert in administrative law, author of two of the most influential articles in the field in the last 15 years, just brilliant work, got a B+ in administrative law? The worst grade she'd ever get after her 1L year. I got an A in my admin law class and there's no way that I'm a tenth of the admin law mind she is. It just goes to show you - well I'm not sure what it goes to show you, it goes to show you something or another.

Interesting point. A few thoughts: My understanding is that the HLS faculty from back in the day was pretty rough. And Kagan is definitely smart. But a lot of her smarts is interpersonal smarts, i think. So I can see her getting the rough end of the stick from tough 1980s HLS graders, perhaps. Also, Kagan went through HLS right after college. I think that people change a lot in the 5 or so years after they graduate college. It's plausible to me that she became a more serious student of admin law after law school once she was a bit older.

[solidsnake]

I remember reading somewhere (sorry can't find the cite) that when Kagan was applying for the Marshall clerkship, she had more than one prof write very enthusiastic LoRs that explicitly dismissed her first sem grades as an anomaly. I think losing that personal relationship with profs who are willing to go to bat for you is the single biggest factor cutting against transferring, since anecdotally most transfers tend to lose touch with their 1L school profs.

[jayn3]

I remember reading somewhere (sorry can't find the cite) that when Kagan was applying for the Marshall clerkship, she had more than one prof write very enthusiastic LoRs that explicitly dismissed her first sem grades as an anomaly. I think losing that personal relationship with profs who are willing to go to bat for you is the single biggest factor cutting against transferring, since anecdotally most transfers tend to lose touch with their 1L school profs.

i don't know if i totally buy this argument. yeah, it's great to have a personal relationship with your T2 professors.....but wouldn't it be better to have that relationship with a T14 prof if you can get in??

[imchuckbass58]

There may have been grade inflation since. After all, this is what wikipedia says:

"She received a juris doctor, magna cum laude, at Harvard Law School in 1986, where she was supervisory editor of the Harvard Law Review."

That transcript would easily be magna today at HLS.

[XxSpyKEx]

The Nytimes posted her Harvard Transcript (surprise, she did great): http://documents.nytimes.com/kagans-198 ... eport-card

Well, I guess you gotta do something right when you look like this:




Is she/he a transsexual?

[Dr. Strangelove]

The Nytimes posted her Harvard Transcript (surprise, she did great): http://documents.nytimes.com/kagans-198 ... eport-card

Well, I guess you gotta do something right when you look like this:




Is she/he a transsexual?

As a Republican, I'll say that is insulting to transsexuals. Not all transsexuals look like that...

[jayn3]

Well, I guess you gotta do something right when you look like this:

Image

Is she/he a transsexual?

aahh, maturity, how refreshing.

[Pearalegal]

Why did she only take 4 classes her 3L year? And really, that's all the better you have to do to get a SCOTUS nomination? GPA around 3.7.

God I hope this is sarcasm. Couldn't tell, and I'm usually better at reading these things. One thing I'm certain of is that Obama never looked at any of the possible noms GPAs.

[arundodonax]

.

[Jay Dub]

Well, I've never gotten a B or a B-. Then again, I don't go to Harvard (yet). Isn't it ironic, though, that Kagan, a huge expert in administrative law, author of two of the most influential articles in the field in the last 15 years, just brilliant work, got a B+ in administrative law? The worst grade she'd ever get after her 1L year. I got an A in my admin law class and there's no way that I'm a tenth of the admin law mind she is. It just goes to show you - well I'm not sure what it goes to show you, it goes to show you something or another.

You've got to be a flame. Aren't you supposedly just finishing 1L? And you've taken Admin already?

[legalease9]

There may have been grade inflation since. After all, this is what wikipedia says:

"She received a juris doctor, magna cum laude, at Harvard Law School in 1986, where she was supervisory editor of the Harvard Law Review."

This! I don't have the stats, but I imagine that it is somewhat meaningless to compare grades over differing decades simply because of grade inflation.

[Iuvo]

It was 1986, you shouldn't compare your grades to hers.