1L grade waiting thread Forum

[romothesavior]

Sorry to hear it JCoug.

[sethc]

Woohoo, 1 out of 4 finals in; CrimLaw = B! (note: my school does the A,A-,B,B- etc. grading scale)

Very pleased. The class size is about 100-150 range and the minimum "A" score was 138; my score was a 119. When I walked out, I felt like it was an A test for the most part.. but after reflecting I can easily see how my essay could have easily caused it to be a B (all other factors aside). Beyond that, upperclassmen have told me that the prof grades incredibly hard even though she doesn't seem like it. From what they say, ~30% get Ds and the vast majority get between a B- and C while she hands out very few As. I knew As would be scarce.. but apparently it's 3-5 As (not sure if that includes A-) and that seems astonishingly low for such a huge class size.. but I assume that's probably standard operating procedure for any law school.

At any rate I'm happy.. but feeling "possible A" while receiving a B seems ominous for the remaining 3 grades.

Wow 30% of your class gets Ds?

Eh.. can't tell if that's sarcasm or not but, at any rate, it's only my 2nd term and I was only typing out the general consensus of what I've heard about the professor.

[sethc]

Woohoo, 1 out of 4 finals in; CrimLaw = B! (note: my school does the A,A-,B,B- etc. grading scale)

Very pleased. The class size is about 100-150 range and the minimum "A" score was 138; my score was a 119. When I walked out, I felt like it was an A test for the most part.. but after reflecting I can easily see how my essay could have easily caused it to be a B (all other factors aside). Beyond that, upperclassmen have told me that the prof grades incredibly hard even though she doesn't seem like it. From what they say, ~30% get Ds and the vast majority get between a B- and C while she hands out very few As. I knew As would be scarce.. but apparently it's 3-5 As (not sure if that includes A-) and that seems astonishingly low for such a huge class size.. but I assume that's probably standard operating procedure for any law school.

At any rate I'm happy.. but feeling "possible A" while receiving a B seems ominous for the remaining 3 grades.

Wow 30% of your class gets Ds?

Eh.. can't tell if that's sarcasm or not but, at any rate, it's only my 2nd term and I was only typing out the general consensus of what I've heard about the professor.

Nope, not sarcasm. That's a vicious curve if it's true.

Really? You think so? I'm kind of in the dark on what the "usual" law school curve is. Granted where I go to school has a lot to do with this, I presume.. I can't help but think that my score is pretty good considering what you say of the curve.. or no?

[09042014]

Really? You think so? I'm kind of in the dark on what the "usual" law school curve is. Granted where I go to school has a lot to do with this, I presume.. I can't help but think that my score is pretty good considering what you say of the curve.. or no?

I bet not one person gets a D in my section, or probably the entire school.

[Mickey Quicknumbers]

I swear I just went through some crazy multiverse timewarp with you sethc.

That made me think hard for a second there.

[cahesu]

Will law professors even meet with you to discuss your exam? I figure there's probably 50 other students all below median wanting to set up similar appointments...

FWIW, I have heard anecdotally on TLS about several posters who set up appointments to go over their first semester exams with profs. Some of them credited this as a part of a greatly improved second semester.

See, e.g., edcrane's posts in this thread: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=129945

[forza]

Nope, not sarcasm. That's a vicious curve if it's true.

Really? You think so? I'm kind of in the dark on what the "usual" law school curve is. Granted where I go to school has a lot to do with this, I presume.. I can't help but think that my score is pretty good considering what you say of the curve.. or no?

--ImageRemoved--

Few people - way below 30% - get D's here.

[chicagolaw2013]

Really? You think so? I'm kind of in the dark on what the "usual" law school curve is. Granted where I go to school has a lot to do with this, I presume.. I can't help but think that my score is pretty good considering what you say of the curve.. or no?

I bet not one person gets a D in my section, or probably the entire school.

Our school gives out 30% "C or below"...at that point it's at the professor's discretion. As my Torts prof said, "I could give out all C's, all F's, or any smattering in between" to that 30%.

That said, there's no way Grandpa gave out anything but C's...he is seriously the sweetest man alive.

Oh, and our curve is set at a B/3.0.

[sethc]

Really? You think so? I'm kind of in the dark on what the "usual" law school curve is. Granted where I go to school has a lot to do with this, I presume.. I can't help but think that my score is pretty good considering what you say of the curve.. or no?

I bet not one person gets a D in my section, or probably the entire school.

So, having said that along with my the grading I talked about .. getting a 119 (B) when an A = 138... I should be encouraged greatly by this? Sorry, just trying to put it all in perspective.

I swear I just went through some crazy multiverse timewarp with you sethc.

That made me think hard for a second there.

I'm not following?

[bjsesq]

Northwestern has none yet. Rumor is tomorrow. Friday wouldn't be out of the question.

Lulz. Source or gtfo.

Happened the Wednesday after the monday grades were due last year.

They said if it was after the 17th they'd email us which means there target is probably friday at latest.

Fuck. My. Life.

GRADES:

DO NOT WANT.

[chicagolaw2013]

Will law professors even meet with you to discuss your exam? I figure there's probably 50 other students all below median wanting to set up similar appointments...

FWIW, I have heard anecdotally on TLS about several posters who set up appointments to go over their first semester exams with profs. Some of them credited this as a part of a greatly improved second semester.

See, e.g., edcrane's posts in this thread: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=129945

I'm meeting with my Civ Pro prof...only grade below median, and I prepared most for that exam, so I feel like I obv missed some huge issue. Just want to see what I can do differently.

That said, my Civ Pro prof is a total asshole. I must be sadistic to be doing this.

[sethc]

Few people - way below 30% - get D's here.

Interesting. Not sure where you go or anything, but thanks for the perspective either way.

[moandersen]

It's funny because our professor took TWO class periods when we were already behind in teaching the material to give us practice exam questions. Both of then were issue-spotters, and I did great on both of them.

Then when we get to the test, 2 of 3 questions were policy questions -- one was way out of the blue, and another only focused on one narrow issue.

Will law professors even meet with you to discuss your exam? I figure there's probably 50 other students all below median wanting to set up similar appointments...

Its almost as if we have the same prof. Haha. Our prof gave a couple practice questions, which she graded on a curve and I was always way above the median....which unfortunately meant nothing.

I dont see why your prof wouldnt discuss your exam with you. My school is very vocal about going over exams with profs, so it might be in the minority, but even if your school isnt as open, I cant see the prof telling you to gtfo. My secret hope is that once I meet with the prof they will realize that they had a dyslexic moment and put my grade in backwards.

[chicoalto0649]

wtf fordham.

Took property over a month ago. Hurry the hell up.

[JCougar]

Sorry to hear it JCoug.

It's only one major course out of six (seven if you count 2 semesters of LP), so I'll wait to see what I get in Torts and LP before getting all bent out of shape. I had the least confidence about my Torts exam, but apparently, expectations don't mean shit. If I can pull of an A- in that class and get a decent grade on my memo, I still have a shot at top third. Anything above median this semester gives me at least a fighting chance in the Spring to salvage a decent GPA...although I was hoping to have a downhill battle this Spring instead of an uphill one.

After taking the exam, I knew that course was going to be the most arbitrary of any, but I still felt like I knew the material cold.

[09042014]

Northwestern has none yet. Rumor is tomorrow. Friday wouldn't be out of the question.

Lulz. Source or gtfo.

Happened the Wednesday after the monday grades were due last year.

They said if it was after the 17th they'd email us which means there target is probably friday at latest.

Fuck. My. Life.

GRADES:

DO NOT WANT.

I know. Apparently it's been this wenesday for the last three years.

[romothesavior]

Really? You think so? I'm kind of in the dark on what the "usual" law school curve is. Granted where I go to school has a lot to do with this, I presume.. I can't help but think that my score is pretty good considering what you say of the curve.. or no?

I bet not one person gets a D in my section, or probably the entire school.

This. Sethc, I would be absolutely shocked if your understanding of your school's curve is right, but maybe it is? I think the lowest anyone will do at WUSTL is in the low-mid 70s.

[nygrrrl]

wtf fordham.

Took property over a month ago. Hurry the hell up.

Holy cow I didn't think of that. Ks, over a month ago. Long memo? LOLOLOLOL.
(fraying at the edges. Want. My. Grades.)

[JazzOne]

Well, unless there's some sort of mistake, I got hammered in Property, but I sort of made up for it in Contracts.

I can see why some people believe this process is arbitrary. 2/3 of our property exam were weird policy questions that covered fairly narrow issues. The professor didn't seem to care much the whole semester, I believe she was quitting after this semester, and we got way behind in her class and only covered about 2/3 of the material we were supposed to get to. I still can only guess what she really wanted me to write on her policy questions, but I apparently got something pretty wrong. I still feel like I have a really good grasp of the material we covered, so I don't really know what to think, or how to really improve. We get number grades at my school, but I got the equivalent of B/B- in property, and an A-/B+ in Contracts. At this point, this puts me below median with Torts and LW still to come.

I really have no idea what to think anymore, because I'm still kind of disappointed in my contracts grade. And I had more confidence in that exam than any other one.

Something similar happened to me in crim law last year. I had a professor who didn't get tenure, and she was offered a job at a different LS. So, she was on her way out. Several people in my section who had top GPAs got pwned in that class. That was my lowest grade in law school. We also got way behind, and we covered very little material (we didn't touch the MPC once). The final was ridiculous, and we all walked out of it literally asking each other, WTF? Law school grades are a bit arbitrary, but all you can do is work your ass off and hope for the best.

[chicoalto0649]

Atleast i know ill get my long memo back next tuesday.....

[chicoalto0649]

Well, unless there's some sort of mistake, I got hammered in Property, but I sort of made up for it in Contracts.

I can see why some people believe this process is arbitrary. 2/3 of our property exam were weird policy questions that covered fairly narrow issues. The professor didn't seem to care much the whole semester, I believe she was quitting after this semester, and we got way behind in her class and only covered about 2/3 of the material we were supposed to get to. I still can only guess what she really wanted me to write on her policy questions, but I apparently got something pretty wrong. I still feel like I have a really good grasp of the material we covered, so I don't really know what to think, or how to really improve. We get number grades at my school, but I got the equivalent of B/B- in property, and an A-/B+ in Contracts. At this point, this puts me below median with Torts and LW still to come.

I really have no idea what to think anymore, because I'm still kind of disappointed in my contracts grade. And I had more confidence in that exam than any other one.

Something similar happened to me in crim law last year. I had a professor who didn't get tenure, and she was offered a job at a different LS. So, she was on her way out. Several people in my section who had top GPAs got pwned in that class. That was my lowest grade in law school. We also got way behind, and we covered very little material (we didn't touch the MPC once). The final was ridiculous, and we all walked out of it literally asking each other, WTF? Law school grades are a bit arbitrary, but all you can do is work your ass off and hope for the best.

That's pretty bizarre. Did you at least do NY Penal Code or was it all common law??

[JazzOne]

Well, unless there's some sort of mistake, I got hammered in Property, but I sort of made up for it in Contracts.

I can see why some people believe this process is arbitrary. 2/3 of our property exam were weird policy questions that covered fairly narrow issues. The professor didn't seem to care much the whole semester, I believe she was quitting after this semester, and we got way behind in her class and only covered about 2/3 of the material we were supposed to get to. I still can only guess what she really wanted me to write on her policy questions, but I apparently got something pretty wrong. I still feel like I have a really good grasp of the material we covered, so I don't really know what to think, or how to really improve. We get number grades at my school, but I got the equivalent of B/B- in property, and an A-/B+ in Contracts. At this point, this puts me below median with Torts and LW still to come.

I really have no idea what to think anymore, because I'm still kind of disappointed in my contracts grade. And I had more confidence in that exam than any other one.

Something similar happened to me in crim law last year. I had a professor who didn't get tenure, and she was offered a job at a different LS. So, she was on her way out. Several people in my section who had top GPAs got pwned in that class. That was my lowest grade in law school. We also got way behind, and we covered very little material (we didn't touch the MPC once). The final was ridiculous, and we all walked out of it literally asking each other, WTF? Law school grades are a bit arbitrary, but all you can do is work your ass off and hope for the best.

That's pretty bizarre. Did you at least do NY Penal Code or was it all common law??

It was all based on case law (random states); however, the cases contained a healthy dose of statutory text. My professor was an experienced advocate for abused women, and we spent half the semester talking about the inequities of the criminal justice system. The most disappointing thing is that I actually believe she was an interesting professor, and I bet her domestic violence clinic was awesome. But the focus of a 1L crim law class should not be domestic violence. That sucked.

[stayway]

So, I went to ask my crim law prof for a recommendation today.

Good news is that she'll write one

Bad news is that she is STILL not done grading the exams.

[J-tow10]

Well, unless there's some sort of mistake, I got hammered in Property, but I sort of made up for it in Contracts.

I can see why some people believe this process is arbitrary. 2/3 of our property exam were weird policy questions that covered fairly narrow issues. The professor didn't seem to care much the whole semester, I believe she was quitting after this semester, and we got way behind in her class and only covered about 2/3 of the material we were supposed to get to. I still can only guess what she really wanted me to write on her policy questions, but I apparently got something pretty wrong. I still feel like I have a really good grasp of the material we covered, so I don't really know what to think, or how to really improve. We get number grades at my school, but I got the equivalent of B/B- in property, and an A-/B+ in Contracts. At this point, this puts me below median with Torts and LW still to come.

I really have no idea what to think anymore, because I'm still kind of disappointed in my contracts grade. And I had more confidence in that exam than any other one.

Similar experience. I set up a meeting with my prof to figure things out, but it seems like it would be pointless with your prof. My school does numerical grades as well, with 4 out of my 5 grades being the equivalent of B+ or better (on a B curve), but I got absolutely destroyed in the class I was most confident about/prepped the most throughout the semester for. Hopefully once I meet with the prof I can come up with a reason (excuse?) for the outlier grade, because right now I have no idea wtf happened.

It's funny because our professor took TWO class periods when we were already behind in teaching the material to give us practice exam questions. Both of then were issue-spotters, and I did great on both of them.

Then when we get to the test, 2 of 3 questions were policy questions -- one was way out of the blue, and another only focused on one narrow issue.

Will law professors even meet with you to discuss your exam? I figure there's probably 50 other students all below median wanting to set up similar appointments...

I assume by "out of the blue" question you mean a "wtf" question.

[forty-two]

I dont see why your prof wouldnt discuss your exam with you. My school is very vocal about going over exams with profs, so it might be in the minority, but even if your school isnt as open, I cant see the prof telling you to gtfo. My secret hope is that once I meet with the prof they will realize that they had a dyslexic moment and put my grade in backwards.

This, definitely talk to your prof about the exam. At worst, you'll get some good tips you can use next semester. At best, your prof can realize that he accidentally forgot to grade one of your essays and change your grade to an A (happened to a friend of a friend last year).