grades all over the place Forum

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yadayadayada

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grades all over the place

Post by yadayadayada » Tue Jan 12, 2010 5:55 pm

how bad does it look if my grades range from A to B- at a T2? ugh.

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rbgrocio

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by rbgrocio » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:40 pm

yadayadayada wrote:how bad does it look if my grades range from A to B- at a T2? ugh.

that's not all over the place, and I have a feeling you know that.

sperry

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by sperry » Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:22 am

rbgrocio wrote:
yadayadayada wrote:how bad does it look if my grades range from A to B- at a T2? ugh.

that's not all over the place, and I have a feeling you know that.


That could easily be top 10% in one class and bottom 10% in another, depending on curve.

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thesealocust

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by thesealocust » Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:27 am

edit: n/m
Last edited by thesealocust on Sat Dec 25, 2010 12:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

nickwar

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by nickwar » Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:28 am

yadayadayada wrote:how bad does it look if my grades range from A to B- at a T2? ugh.

I'm pretty sure that's fairly common. Just be happy you got an A in a course -- that's very impressive. It sounds like your grades will average to a medium 3.x, which should put you at a respectable percentile at nearly any school (I don't know how many B+ curves are actually out there.)

I don't think it looks bad at all -- just not completely exceptional, which you may have been aiming to be. However, as previously stated, getting multiple A's might land you in the top 10 %, even with one slip-up B-.

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tome

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by tome » Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:30 am

I'd call that all over the place. However, it is a good all over the place. But what has already been said is right--it depends on where the other grades fall. One B- is very forgivable, but a single A amongst a multiplicity of B-s is probably not a savior.

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RVP11

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by RVP11 » Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:54 am

FWIW, I'd rather my grades show up with two A and two B- rather than four B+. It would suggest I am at least capable of top performance. Straight B+ would sap a lot of motivation from me.

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vanwinkle

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by vanwinkle » Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:55 am

thesealocust wrote:It means you are smart and capable, but you didn't nail down precisely how to prepare for and write exams. Fix it!
This. Find out what you did right in the classes you got good grades, and do that more.

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Aeroplane

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by Aeroplane » Wed Jan 13, 2010 12:56 am

JSUVA2012 wrote:FWIW, I'd rather my grades show up with two A and two B- rather than four B+. It would suggest I am at least capable of top performance. Straight B+ would sap a lot of motivation from me.
+1. Congrats OP.

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eth3n

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by eth3n » Wed Jan 13, 2010 4:26 am

Hypothetically (ahem), if you pull off a witkin in one class fall of 1L, but due to the weight of the classes a really mediocre grade (lets say..a C) in another class brings your GPA down substantially due to it being worth almost twice as many credits.

So lets say you are in the bottom half of the rankings but you got a witkin...does this make you look like a slacker or do you use this to your advantage as much as possible?

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thesealocust

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by thesealocust » Wed Jan 13, 2010 9:32 am

edit: n/m
Last edited by thesealocust on Sat Dec 25, 2010 12:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

ak362

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by ak362 » Wed Jan 13, 2010 9:34 am

thesealocust wrote:
eth3n wrote:Hypothetically (ahem), if you pull off a witkin in one class fall of 1L, but due to the weight of the classes a really mediocre grade (lets say..a C) in another class brings your GPA down substantially due to it being worth almost twice as many credits.

So lets say you are in the bottom half of the rankings but you got a witkin...does this make you look like a slacker or do you use this to your advantage as much as possible?
What the fuck is a witkin? It sounds like a peace loving forest creature form Star Wars or something.
I'm assuming it's like a CALI award, but just for Cali.

http://www.witkin.com/index.html

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thesealocust

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by thesealocust » Wed Jan 13, 2010 9:38 am

edit: n/m
Last edited by thesealocust on Sat Dec 25, 2010 12:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

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wiseowl

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by wiseowl » Wed Jan 13, 2010 10:32 am

Lots and lots of people never get a single A.

stjaba

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by stjaba » Thu Jan 14, 2010 2:48 pm

I'm in a similar boat: Got an A in Torts and Contracts, and the highest grade possible in legal writing, but a B- in Professional Responsibility and Criminal Law. Thankfully, I'm still better than the median, and fortunately, the classes I did well in were 4 credit classes.

eth3n

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by eth3n » Thu Jan 14, 2010 4:38 pm

I appreciate knowing im not the only one, im glad you could break median though!

Honestly, as I KNOW I won't break top 10% (i basically answered a cascading joinder question completely wrong by failing the initial joinder issue and sabotaging the rest of my answers) I will most likely use my crim top grade alone on my job apps. Maybe some employers will assume that if I got a top grade in a class I couldnt have gotten a C in another (little do they know >:D).

I am planning on leading off with the high grade at this point, and not mentioning GPA in cover letters at all (not even really an issue since ive only gotten the one grade back lol). It may not help me when it comes to civil firms, but its all ive got, at least until I see my other grades.

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annapavlova

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by annapavlova » Fri Jan 15, 2010 3:44 pm

I had a streak of A and A-s, and my last grade was a B. I'm still top 8%-ish, give or take a few percentiles. I actually asked a professor that I'm a bit closer with if she had any insight about how this B will affect my ability to get summer jobs, since it's pretty incongruous with the rest of my grades. She said most people won't even think once about it, and if they think twice, they'll think "Oh, she must have had more time to study for the other exams." This seems to be the conventional wisdom, so I wouldn't worry about it too much (so long as the distribution is even and, like the others said, you have more As than Bs). But it seems your class rank is much more important anyway, and you can still be up there even with a B-.

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martha_c

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by martha_c » Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:35 pm

Seriously, no one gets straight As. I got 3As and 2 B+s and my average is 3.78, still good enough for top 5% at my school. SO yeah , be happy that you have any As at all, and resolve to do even better next term!

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thexfactor

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by thexfactor » Sat Jan 16, 2010 11:00 pm

im in a similar boat. Range from A to B. Possible CALI award to median class performance.

Aqualibrium

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by Aqualibrium » Thu Sep 30, 2010 6:43 pm

wiseowl wrote:Lots and lots of people never get a single A.

This, even with relaxed upper level curves, most of your classmates will never even sniff an A.

Bankhead

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by Bankhead » Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:20 pm

I got 2 B's, in addition to all A's and A-'s. It has basically completely fucked me over at OCI (despite a transfer to a T10). Try not to let this happen. B-, on a B+ curve, is absolutely putrid.
Last edited by Bankhead on Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Kohinoor

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by Kohinoor » Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:22 pm

ITE?

Bankhead

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by Bankhead » Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:22 pm

Kohinoor wrote:ITE?
In the economy that is this. While next year should be better, if you aren't at a T14 (17?), you have pretty much zero breathing room if your goal is to get a biglaw job.

Melkaba

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by Melkaba » Fri Oct 01, 2010 5:49 pm

Bankhead wrote:
In the economy that is this. While next year should be better, if you aren't at a T14 (17?), you have pretty much zero breathing room if your goal is to get a biglaw job.
Just a curious question. Say your school is ranked 19 (or was it 20th? eh, I don't remember). What if you really don't want to get into biglaw?

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Sentry

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Re: grades all over the place

Post by Sentry » Fri Oct 01, 2010 6:16 pm

Bankhead wrote:
Kohinoor wrote:ITE?
In the economy that is this. While next year should be better, if you aren't at a T14 (17?)YLS, you have pretty much zero breathing room if your goal is to get a biglaw job.
FTFY.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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