Top Law Schools

Rising 2L here. My grades are: A-, B+, B+, B- for the first semester and A-, A-, B+, B for the 2nd semester -- though the two A-s in the second semester were electives and 3 unit instead of 4 unit classes. I think I'm almost right exactly at median? Just want to confirm.

Same question: B+, B+, B+, A, A, A+, A-, A-

Anonymous User wrote:Rising 2L here. My grades are: A-, B+, B+, B- for the first semester and A-, A-, B+, B for the 2nd semester -- though the two A-s in the second semester were electives and 3 unit instead of 4 unit classes. I think I'm almost right exactly at median? Just want to confirm.

no one can confirm this but you should be slightly above

Anonymous User wrote:Same question: B+, B+, B+, A, A, A+, A-, A-

And you should know better (based on your grades) than to ask or wonder.

r6_philly wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Rising 2L here. My grades are: A-, B+, B+, B- for the first semester and A-, A-, B+, B for the 2nd semester -- though the two A-s in the second semester were electives and 3 unit instead of 4 unit classes. I think I'm almost right exactly at median? Just want to confirm.

no one can confirm this but you should be slightly above

Oh wow, even better (if slightly) than I suspected. Am I looking good for OCI? Also have two years of work experience with a V50.

Anonymous User wrote:

r6_philly wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Rising 2L here. My grades are: A-, B+, B+, B- for the first semester and A-, A-, B+, B for the 2nd semester -- though the two A-s in the second semester were electives and 3 unit instead of 4 unit classes. I think I'm almost right exactly at median? Just want to confirm.

no one can confirm this but you should be slightly above

Oh wow, even better (if slightly) than I suspected. Am I looking good for OCI? Also have two years of work experience with a V50.

On paper you should be fine. Just bid well, and use your connections. I assume if you left on good terms, and if you want to go back to the same firm, you are in great shape. I'd just have a good answer for that one B- in case anyone asks. Honestly, you stand better than your GPA, because it's getting dragged down by that one B-. And you have relevant work experience.

r6_philly wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

r6_philly wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Rising 2L here. My grades are: A-, B+, B+, B- for the first semester and A-, A-, B+, B for the 2nd semester -- though the two A-s in the second semester were electives and 3 unit instead of 4 unit classes. I think I'm almost right exactly at median? Just want to confirm.

no one can confirm this but you should be slightly above

Oh wow, even better (if slightly) than I suspected. Am I looking good for OCI? Also have two years of work experience with a V50.

On paper you should be fine. Just bid well, and use your connections. I assume if you left on good terms, and if you want to go back to the same firm, you are in great shape. I'd just have a good answer for that one B- in case anyone asks. Honestly, you stand better than your GPA, because it's getting dragged down by that one B-. And you have relevant work experience.

I'm still working on a good story for the B-. Think I may just say I was very sick (I did have a cold, but might inflate that into the flu?). I'm still not entirely sure what happened because it was the class I "gunned" hardest. I had Kraus and now he's gone, too, so I'm kind of bitter about it haha. I did leave on good terms with my firm though and would love to work for them, so that is on my radar. Also, what chance do you think I stand for cracking some of the tougher markets, however? Especially SF and DC.

Anonymous User wrote: I'm still working on a good story for the B-. Think I may just say I was very sick (I did have a cold, but might inflate that into the flu?). I'm still not entirely sure what happened because it was the class I "gunned" hardest. I had Kraus and now he's gone, too, so I'm kind of bitter about it haha. I did leave on good terms with my firm though and would love to work for them, so that is on my radar. Also, what chance do you think I stand for cracking some of the tougher markets, however? Especially SF and DC.

Well, don't lie or exaggerate. Don't find excuses, find a substantive reason. They may never ask, then don't offer. If they ask about law school, talk about what you liked.

DC/SF depends on ties. Your grades give you a shot anywhere, you just have to do the heavy lifting.

r6_philly wrote:

Anonymous User wrote: I'm still working on a good story for the B-. Think I may just say I was very sick (I did have a cold, but might inflate that into the flu?). I'm still not entirely sure what happened because it was the class I "gunned" hardest. I had Kraus and now he's gone, too, so I'm kind of bitter about it haha. I did leave on good terms with my firm though and would love to work for them, so that is on my radar. Also, what chance do you think I stand for cracking some of the tougher markets, however? Especially SF and DC.

Well, don't lie or exaggerate. Don't find excuses, find a substantive reason. They may never ask, then don't offer. If they ask about law school, talk about what you liked.

DC/SF depends on ties. Your grades give you a shot anywhere, you just have to do the heavy lifting.

Would it be wrong to answer (and this is the truth) that Contracts was actually my favorite class, the class I thought I *knew* the best, and the class I studied hardest/most for? But that I just really don't know what happened when test day rolled around? That is the truth, but it doesn't really offer a reason for why I sucked. In fact, it almost makes me sound helpless since I worked so hard and still got bombed like Dresden.

And is DC really tie-heavy too? I thought (have heard) it was more NY-like in that they don't care as much as say Philly, Boston, SF, etc.

Also, any suggestions on how to structure classes for next semester? Would it maybe be smart to make it a MWF or MTW thing for OCI if possible? And any class suggestions (and professors) for a rising 2L?

Anonymous User wrote:Also, any suggestions on how to structure classes for next semester? Would it maybe be smart to make it a MWF or MTW thing for OCI if possible? And any class suggestions (and professors) for a rising 2L?

I am also rising 2L. But I plan to only be on campus for two days a week - I have other commitments. As far as classes, there are the usual hot classes like evidence and corporation, and you should choose classes base on your interest and intended practice area.

Anonymous User wrote: Would it be wrong to answer (and this is the truth) that Contracts was actually my favorite class, the class I thought I *knew* the best, and the class I studied hardest/most for? But that I just really don't know what happened when test day rolled around? That is the truth, but it doesn't really offer a reason for why I sucked. In fact, it almost makes me sound helpless since I worked so hard and still got bombed like Dresden.

Actually that is not bad, because it shows you didn't get a bad grade from not trying. People know the grading is to a degree arbitrary, and having a good attitude about one bad grade is probably best.

And is DC really tie-heavy too? I thought (have heard) it was more NY-like in that they don't care as much as say Philly, Boston, SF, etc.

Probably not as much as Philly but not as easy as NY. It's really in demand as always, so you need a bit more to crack. I think if you can have good personal reason and good professional reason that you can somehow back up (like if you want to do regulatory or ITC work) then you have a decent chance.

There were a couple of posts in the last 2 years' OCI threads that estimated the following rankings based on GPA:

3.3 = median

3.5 = top 33%

3.7 = top 10%


Not sure exactly how accurate that is, but just eye-balling it it doesn't really seem wrong and gives a good starting place to work from.

Real question. Why do all these Penn posters post their grades instead of their cumulative GPA?

ajaxconstructions wrote:Real question. Why do all these Penn posters post their grades instead of their cumulative GPA?

We don't have GPA on our transcripts, so no standard way of calculating a GPA.

dabomb75 wrote:There were a couple of posts in the last 2 years' OCI threads that estimated the following rankings based on GPA:

3.3 = median

3.5 = top 33%

3.7 = top 10%


Not sure exactly how accurate that is, but just eye-balling it it doesn't really seem wrong and gives a good starting place to work from.

I think the median is a bit lower, but that's what I think. I also think the middle 20-25% is probably within 0.1, so finding a median is probably not all that helpful. The individual grades may actually be more important for people with the usual spread of A- to B grades.

r6_philly wrote:

ajaxconstructions wrote:Real question. Why do all these Penn posters post their grades instead of their cumulative GPA?

We don't have GPA on our transcripts, so no standard way of calculating a GPA.

Since that is the case.

A+ Law Review (your Gulfstream awaits you at the airport)
A Maybe Law Review (in any case your limo is ready)
A- They will love me at OCI. For sure!
B+ They will like me at OCI. Correct?
B B=Good, good is good, right?
B- I go to Penn, let me repeat that.

r6_philly wrote:

ajaxconstructions wrote:Real question. Why do all these Penn posters post their grades instead of their cumulative GPA?

We don't have GPA on our transcripts, so no standard way of calculating a GPA.

Can't you just use a GPA calculator? Or they don't even tell you which classes are worth certain credits etc?

Anonymous User wrote:
A+ Law Review (your Gulfstream awaits you at the airport)
A Maybe Law Review (in any case your limo is ready)
A- They will love me at OCI. For sure!
B+ They will like me at OCI. Correct?
B B=Good, good is good, right?
B- I go to Penn, let me repeat that.

C = let me post this anon

ajaxconstructions wrote: Can't you just use a GPA calculator? Or they don't even tell you which classes are worth certain credits etc?

Yes, but different calculators gives different numerical values. Remember LSAT gives 4.33 to a A+ but your school doesn't?

r6_philly wrote:

ajaxconstructions wrote: Can't you just use a GPA calculator? Or they don't even tell you which classes are worth certain credits etc?

Yes, but different calculators gives different numerical values. Remember LSAT gives 4.33 to a A+ but your school doesn't?

What's the point of this system?!

ajaxconstructions wrote:

r6_philly wrote:

ajaxconstructions wrote: Can't you just use a GPA calculator? Or they don't even tell you which classes are worth certain credits etc?

Yes, but different calculators gives different numerical values. Remember LSAT gives 4.33 to a A+ but your school doesn't?

What's the point of this system?!

Because Penn likes to think grades don't exist so that "everyone gets a shot at everything" even though this clearly isn't the case.

Although I will say that they are surprisingly good at keeping what the median exactly is on lockdown to the point where I don't know anyone who can say for sure what it is. So that probably actually does help those who are +/- 10% of median have a fighter's chance at jobs that wouldn't consider them if they were knew for a fact the student was below median.

Still, it's annoying not know even around what % you are in the class

Explain please.

Since law review is said to be in some way connected to the top 10%, how do they know who is in the top 10% (it might be top 15/20% but the same “how do they know” question remains).

Anonymous User wrote:Explain please.

Since law review is said to be in some way connected to the top 10%, how do they know who is in the top 10% (it might be top 15/20% but the same “how do they know” question remains).

Not at Penn because that's not how we select law review.

Also, there is of course a rank list, it's just not public. Law review can get the dean to select the grade-on list. But since more people get on through other ways, law review does not reveal rank, especially when you don't know how you got on anyway.

And stop posting anon.

What you noted above is likely correct. Probably good grades for some and good writing for others.