Inconsistent Grades and OCI Forum

[notchandlerbing]

Does anyone have any thoughts on if employers care about consistency in grades or not for people at median? My GPA at CCNP is 3.33 (exactly median?) but my grades were A, A-, B+, B, B, B. I'm worried the better grades will look like a fluke, so maybe I should bid as if I had a lower GPA as a result?

Thanks!

[bk1]

They don't care. Bid what your GPA is.

[Anonymous User]

Similar but weirder situation. A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+

Not sure how I'm gonna spin it but the good grades have to be worth something. Maybe something like the average student with the low grades doesn't get the high grades I had?

I dunno. Commiserating.

[Nelson]

Similar but weirder situation. A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+.

Just say you wanted to hit for the cycle.

[bowser]

Do u think that looks more off putting than , say, someone who got seven B+'s? (Perhaps indicating thorough and utter mediocrity?). There's too many ways to spin distribution. The spread doesn't matter.

[Myself]

.

[Anonymous User]

GPA's a GPA. Don't matter how you got there.

I mostly agree, at least for bidding. But it may come up at interviews. If you have one or two low grades (compared to your overall gpa) I would not be surprised if you get asked what went wrong. I don't think the answer matters all that much - just look like you learned something about yourself and don't blame the prof. My answer will be that I learned not to change the way I study based on rumors about how the prof grades.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I also think people posting here are overestimating the weirdness of their grades vs. their GPAs. I don't think the grades anyone's listing here are super inconsistent - most people end up with a range of grades to get whatever GPA it ends up being (unless you have a straight A average, of course). Inconsistent enough to draw attention, to me, would be something more like A, C, A, A, C.

[gnuwheels]

I don't think the grades anyone's listing here are super inconsistent

in·con·sist·ent
/ˌinkənˈsistənt/
Adjective
1. Not staying the same throughout

pretty sure thats satisfied here.

[stillwater]

I don't think the grades anyone's listing here are super inconsistent

in·con·sist·ent
/ˌinkənˈsistənt/
Adjective
1. Not staying the same throughout

pretty sure thats satisfied here.

A.Nony Mouse did say super inconsistent. so, maybe next time, ya know, actually read it before you drop some dictionary definition. (Tip: People know what it means).

Also, for the context of legal employment, inconsistent takes on meaning within that context and OP really isn't inconsistent for that context.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Yeah, my point is that way more people are going to have semesters that look like A, A-, B+, B than they are going to have a straight B+ (or A-) semester. Maybe the former isn't strictly consistent, but it's not weird or anything that needs explanation. Especially since grading on a curve means there often isn't a huge qualitative difference between an A and a B+, so there often isn't any deep reason why you got an A in one class vs. a B+ in the other except that there were a few more people in the latter who got a few more points than you did.

(Depending on your curve, I suppose the C+ might raise questions, but you just explain what you thought was going on with that class.)

tl;dr - just a pedantic way of agreeing with everyone else and saying bid your GPA, don't stress the small details.

[shumpshump]

If our school doesn't rank or write the GPA down on our transcript, how do firms assess you on grades? Is it strictly by just looking at grades or do they have HR calculate GPAs for everyone at that school?

[A. Nony Mouse]

If our school doesn't rank or write the GPA down on our transcript, how do firms assess you on grades? Is it strictly by just looking at grades or do they have HR calculate GPAs for everyone at that school?

If they regularly recruit at your school, they probably have a pretty good sense of what a "good" transcript looks like (it's only one year of classes to assess).

[shumpshump]

If our school doesn't rank or write the GPA down on our transcript, how do firms assess you on grades? Is it strictly by just looking at grades or do they have HR calculate GPAs for everyone at that school?

If they regularly recruit at your school, they probably have a pretty good sense of what a "good" transcript looks like (it's only one year of classes to assess).

Right but if they are just looking at the grades and not calculating the actual GPA, there is some merit to the argument that a more consistent transcript has advantages to more of an extent than if the GPA was listed there.

[A. Nony Mouse]

If our school doesn't rank or write the GPA down on our transcript, how do firms assess you on grades? Is it strictly by just looking at grades or do they have HR calculate GPAs for everyone at that school?

If they regularly recruit at your school, they probably have a pretty good sense of what a "good" transcript looks like (it's only one year of classes to assess).

Right but if they are just looking at the grades and not calculating the actual GPA, there is some merit to the argument that a more consistent transcript has advantages to more of an extent than if the GPA was listed there.

They may well have the GPAs already calculated (there are only so many permutations). But I'm not sure I agree - if you have a B+ average, some people might prefer to see some A-range grades mixed in there, showing you can excel, rather than uniform B+ grades across the board. (Which is to say, it probably varies enough that again, it is not. worth. worrying about.)

[Nova]

I think I got you all beat, although anons one of each distribution is interesting.

A A A B+ B- B- B-

As are in 4 credit classes so I'm barely above our 3.3 median.

I've been asked about it in other interviews. I say its a reflection of my strengths and weaknesses on different kinds of law school exams. Seems to go over ok

I agree that it shouldn't be a consideration when you bid

[Anonymous User]

Samesies. T30 rising 2L with wildly inconsistent grades, ranging from the A to C range. No interest in BigLaw, so many of my prospective employers won't even ask for transcripts, though I'm nervous as f*ck about those that will.

[5ky]

If our school doesn't rank or write the GPA down on our transcript, how do firms assess you on grades? Is it strictly by just looking at grades or do they have HR calculate GPAs for everyone at that school?

If they regularly recruit at your school, they probably have a pretty good sense of what a "good" transcript looks like (it's only one year of classes to assess).

Right but if they are just looking at the grades and not calculating the actual GPA, there is some merit to the argument that a more consistent transcript has advantages to more of an extent than if the GPA was listed there.

I believe that many firms, if not most, do, in fact, calculate each student's GPA

[quesniot]

GPA's a GPA. Don't matter how you got there.

Truth. (Unless you're all about litigation and you got a C in Civ Pro. Then, maybe. Eh, never mind, probably won't matter at most places)