2 and 3L's, please share your observations/thoughts.

I'm only a 1L, but i'm expecting it to be way more competitive/harder to get top grades

everyone, including the people who booked courses, are going to be either busting their ass to a) maintain their grade, or b) improve their grade to make sure their first year grades are as competitive as possible in the job market

Yes

I was thinking pretty much the same. The answer is probably obvious, but I still wanted to know the degree of the change and perhaps hear some stories on the topic.

Some people will work harder, some will be deflated from burnout, bad grades etc. and not work as hard. It really depends, but it will be probably be a mix.

A lot of smart people got the first C in their lives first semester, and they figure out a better system second semester.

I thought it was more competitive. Few people slack off during second semester (that's what the next two years are for!) and many people will be trying a lot harder as a result of poor first semester grades. People who get bad grades in law school are still smart; many will successfully improve.

Nah, are you kidding? People totally chill out from Christmas on out until OCI.

I would assume that top grades will be harder to get and Bs might be easier. Rationale? Those who did well or moderately well will be trying a lot harder to get those As. Bs might get easier if some people decide to slack off due to poor grades.

My opinion probably does not count for much though since I am a 1L. I know I will be studying harder this semester to ensure I maintain my GPA and hopefully manage a transfer to a T10 school.

Someone likes to brag

Merely stating what I *hope* to do.

How could almost everyone do better?

Almost everyone he knows can.

Yeah, this is how it went for me too. I was so disheartened by the first semester that I said fuck it. I did much much better the second semester.

Exactly. This is betasteve. Judging by his demeanor we can safely assume he's got 1, maybe 2 friends.

[quote="betasteve"
This. Of the 5-6 people I vaguely talked grades with, all improved from fall to spring. And this is across grade levels - some were median, some top 1/3, and some top 10% or even higher, though most of this group was top 10% after the fall.[/quote]

Since grades are curved, is in not a zero-sum game? That is, if some improve to the "A" level grades, and there only X number of As in a curved class then some must move down. It stands to reason it will be more competitive -- the 5-6 you say improved had to displaced someone else in the class.

This system kind of sucks. It makes classmates hyper-competitive and turns out a bunch damaged people. Just reading the "waiting for grades" thread shows the process beginning.

It this really the best way to train lawyers?

A lot of my friends' grades took major hits in the spring. Something about the thawing out of New York in the spring leading to more frolicking and a lot less studying. Go figure.

The people to watch out for (re: major grade improvements) are those that had been out of school for an extended period.

But I would say Beta is probs right about the bimodal quality distribution. The curve doesn't always hurt though, depending on the school.

They were damaged when they got there. Law school is a symptom, not the disease.

+1. ~3.6 first semester, ~3.8 second semester...w/ way less work.

+1

What were the major changes to your workload? What did you do less or more of?

I have kind of a supplemental question to the OP's (1L, 2nd term here @ lower-tier school)

At least with respect to the 2nd semester (and perhaps beyond) does a given teacher adjust his grading to be harder, easier, or no change at all as compared to someone taking their 1st-term finals?

I only ask because generally, at least with respect to 1st term vs 2nd term, the class remains the same - same size/same people/same subjects (sometimes) and the only thing that differs greatly is whether or not you have the same professor as 1st term or a different one (aside from those who drop out, of course).. so I'm just wondering if teachers (always) assume that, when grading a final beyond 1st-term, s/he grades with the assumption that the student has went through 1st term, possibly passed all of those classes, and has a firm grasp on what to expect and how to repair - thus making a good grade tougher to get.

Apologies if this has already been answered - I didn't have the time to read through everything in detail prior to posting this. Thanks to anyone that can help.

Since grades are curved, I can't see how that would change the final result.

To the OP's question, the mood around my school definitely seems different. I also notice more people furiously copying down every word the professor says. Maybe not the best way to do better, but it seems to indicate people are more in tune. Even the people who slacked off during class last semester are listening attentively.

I'm not doing anything different in class, but my out-of-class preparing will definitely be more rigorous this semester. There's too much riding on second semester to give it anything less than your best effort.

I plan to kick it into higher gear the second half of the semester. The mood at my school seems to be that people are more laid back this semester than last.

Yeah, I feel the same way but I can't help but think that it's certainly a viable possibility and one that might be a good idea to sort out before any more finals but that could just be me.