Duke Law Class of 2014 Forum

[protein]

confirmed via email... by 5:30 on Friday

[lawyerwannabe]

confirmed via email... by 5:30 on Friday

Happy weekend to us!

[los blancos]

I got screwed out of 2 SA opportunities last year because of the late grade release. Employers don't really like waiting until February to get grades when other schools they hire from release grades in late December.

You know, I really like it here, but for such a great school we seem to do a lot of things to completely needlessly screw our own students over.





Good luck 1Ls. I know this shit isn't fun.

[beachbum]

confirmed via email... by 5:30 on Friday

Happy weekend to us!

Just went and bought a fifth of Jack. It's gonna get drunk, one way or the other.

[protein]

confirmed via email... by 5:30 on Friday

Happy weekend to us!

Just went and bought a fifth of Jack. It's gonna get drunk, one way or the other.

already have a fifth of grey goose waiting in the freezer... for better or worse

[protein]

grades coming out today at 5:30

class is going to be empty

[lawyerwannabe]

Anyone know some tentative grade cut-offs?

[stewie27]

They're up!
Interested if any 2L could weigh in on class rank estimates.

[beachbum]

Anyone know some tentative grade cut-offs?

Wait, are grades out? Too nervous to check...

[lawyerwannabe]

O, they are sure up.

[lawyerwannabe]

QO: I don't know how you can guesstimate our class rank (there doesn't seem to be any information regarding cutoffs) but give us some guesses! Top 40/33/25/10%.

[beachbum]

QO: I don't know how you can guesstimate our class rank (there doesn't seem to be any information regarding cutoffs) but give us some guesses! Top 40/33/25/10%.

+1, also very curious

[DorianGray89]

Yeah, how can you guestimate?

[lawyerwannabe]

Yeah, how can you guestimate?

I don't know but one person claimed they could.

We do have a grade distribution guidelines page on the website. But there is discrepancy within each range so it seems pretty impossible.

[quakeroats]

For my year, 3.7+ was excellent and relatively competitive for 1L summer jobs. Summer jobs are still dependent on a good ground game (e.g., if you're starting to send stuff now it's still possible you won't get an SA especially if you haven't lined anything up in your home market or aren't from Alabama). 3.5 and 3.6 were still very good, less competitive for SAs this summer but great for next summer. Just keep it up and don't let it drop. 3.2-3.4 is where much of our class was (especially after Spring grades). Don't panic, things will be a bit harder next summer if you stay where you are (especially if you're below 3.3), but not in a seriously problematic way. The fewer other factors you have working for you (URM status, serious and relevant work experience, good conversation skills, connections to the market, personal connections, a really well thought out job-search plan), the more you need to fix things. Below a 3.2 is trickier. Few people want to talk about this, so I have less information. Generally, there aren't many ways to get more than a few tenths below median, so the number of 3.0+-.1ish GPAs is small, but I've heard this varies a lot from year to year.

For my year, a lot of people moved around after the Spring term. People who did well often did less well, and people who did poorly often improved a lot. Rumor has it that our median was a 3.2 and that a sizable percentage of the class was between 3.2 and 3.4. Remember that the median is only enforced on a class-by-class basis, so with as few grades as we have, there's a fair likelihood that the median moves above or below 3.3.

[quakeroats]

Yeah, how can you guestimate?

I don't know but one person claimed they could.

We do have a grade distribution guidelines page on the website. But there is discrepancy within each range so it seems pretty impossible.

It's impossible at Duke. We have no cutoffs (and don't try to use the latin-honors cutoffs; those do not include 1L grades), and without that information you're not going to figure it out short of collecting lots of GPAs. Word is that the career center feeds the real numbers to employers around OCI.

[los blancos]

Yeah, how can you guestimate?

I don't know but one person claimed they could.

We do have a grade distribution guidelines page on the website. But there is discrepancy within each range so it seems pretty impossible.

It's impossible at Duke. We have no cutoffs (and don't try to use the latin-honors cutoffs; those do not include 1L grades), and without that information you're not going to figure it out short of collecting lots of GPAs. Word is that the career center feeds the real numbers to employers around OCI.

Wait, what? Any idea what the cum laude cutoff for 2L + 3L grades typically is? I'm assuming the median of 2L + 3L grades is probably 3.4 or even higher, right?

For my year, a lot of people moved around after the Spring term. People who did well often did less well, and people who did poorly often improved a lot. Rumor has it that our median was a 3.2 and that a sizable percentage of the class was between 3.2 and 3.4. Remember that the median is only enforced on a class-by-class basis, so with as few grades as we have, there's a fair likelihood that the median moves above or below 3.3.

You're a 3L, right? Or am I mistaken? But yeah this was the rumor for our year too.

[quakeroats]

Wait, what? Any idea what the cum laude cutoff for 2L + 3L grades typically is? I'm assuming the median of 2L + 3L grades is probably 3.4 or even higher, right?

This was from xoxo:
"for class of 2006:

high honors - 3.724

honors - 3.592

for class of 2008:

high honors - 3.746

honors - 3.598"

You're a 3L, right?

Nope.

[lawyerwannabe]

For my year, 3.7+ was excellent and relatively competitive for 1L summer jobs. Summer jobs are still dependent on a good ground game (e.g., if you're starting to send stuff now it's still possible you won't get an SA especially if you haven't lined anything up in your home market or aren't from Alabama). 3.5 and 3.6 were still very good, less competitive for SAs this summer but great for next summer. Just keep it up and don't let it drop. 3.2-3.4 is where much of our class was (especially after Spring grades). Don't panic, things will be a bit harder next summer if you stay where you are (especially if you're below 3.3), but not in a seriously problematic way. The fewer other factors you have working for you (URM status, serious and relevant work experience, good conversation skills, connections to the market, personal connections, a really well thought out job-search plan), the more you need to fix things. Below a 3.2 is trickier. Few people want to talk about this, so I have less information. Generally, there aren't many ways to get more than a few tenths below median, so the number of 3.0+-.1ish GPAs is small, but I've heard this varies a lot from year to year.

For my year, a lot of people moved around after the Spring term. People who did well often did less well, and people who did poorly often improved a lot. Rumor has it that our median was a 3.2 and that a sizable percentage of the class was between 3.2 and 3.4. Remember that the median is only enforced on a class-by-class basis, so with as few grades as we have, there's a fair likelihood that the median moves above or below 3.3.

Based on your limited data, where do the GPAs you mentioned put a person in their class (e.g. 3.5, 3.6, 3.7)?

[quakeroats]

For my year, 3.7+ was excellent and relatively competitive for 1L summer jobs. Summer jobs are still dependent on a good ground game (e.g., if you're starting to send stuff now it's still possible you won't get an SA especially if you haven't lined anything up in your home market or aren't from Alabama). 3.5 and 3.6 were still very good, less competitive for SAs this summer but great for next summer. Just keep it up and don't let it drop. 3.2-3.4 is where much of our class was (especially after Spring grades). Don't panic, things will be a bit harder next summer if you stay where you are (especially if you're below 3.3), but not in a seriously problematic way. The fewer other factors you have working for you (URM status, serious and relevant work experience, good conversation skills, connections to the market, personal connections, a really well thought out job-search plan), the more you need to fix things. Below a 3.2 is trickier. Few people want to talk about this, so I have less information. Generally, there aren't many ways to get more than a few tenths below median, so the number of 3.0+-.1ish GPAs is small, but I've heard this varies a lot from year to year.

For my year, a lot of people moved around after the Spring term. People who did well often did less well, and people who did poorly often improved a lot. Rumor has it that our median was a 3.2 and that a sizable percentage of the class was between 3.2 and 3.4. Remember that the median is only enforced on a class-by-class basis, so with as few grades as we have, there's a fair likelihood that the median moves above or below 3.3.

Based on your limited data, where do the GPAs you mentioned put a person in their class (e.g. 3.5, 3.6, 3.7)?

There's really no way to tell. Best guess is 3.7 is 10-20% 3.6 is 20-30% and 3.5 is 30-40%. It probably varies widely from year to year at this point as there's only one semester of data.

[beachbum]

So basically:

3.5+: high-five, bro
3.4: decent shot at Biglaw
3.3: some shot at Biglaw
3.2: iffy
3.1 and below: abandon ship

[Breezin]

.

[lawyerwannabe]

For CCN, I want to say that your competitive. For H, I don't think so. 3.7 - 3.8, based on what is in this thread and what I have gathered from other people, is probably somewhere between 8 - 15% percent.

[beachbum]

For CCN, I want to say that your competitive. For H, I don't think so. 3.7 - 3.8, based on what is in this thread and what I have gathered from other people, is probably somewhere between 8 - 15% percent.

I'll second this, although a great resume/background/recs might swing the pendulum in your favor for H (which I believe takes a pretty large transfer class). But, unless you're unhappy here, why transfer? You have great grades and, assuming you don't bomb this semester, you're going to have your pick of jobs at OCI. CCN isn't going to give you appreciably better job prospects, and it'll add a lot in COL expenses. H might be worth it if you want to teach, or if you're shooting for the absolute top jobs/clerkships.

[quakeroats]

Is 3.7-3.8 competitive for xfer to H/CCN? I plan to stay at Duke but I'm paying sticker now. Think it's possible to get $?

Perhaps, but there's no reason to. There's no job you can't get if you maintain that GPA, and you'd always have the mark of a transfer on your resume if you moved. If you have a strong academic bent the only possible way transferring makes sense is Yale, and that may hurt your chances at several law firms that can read between the lines. Right now you've got an clear path to law review and any of the high-prestige litigation positions. Why trade being at the top of the class for second-class status?

As for money, you might be able to get some. That's the only real reason to feign transferring.