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My school has a 3.0 median for 1L classes. However, on the NALP website the median GPA for the most recent graduating class is 3.22. Is this because elective courses are not curved and this forces the median up? I really hope so!

This depends on the school. Typically, 1L classes are curved more strictly than upper-level classes, and some small classes (usually less than 25 students) are not curved because the distribution would not work out.

Paul Muad'dib wrote:and some small classes (usually less than 25 students) are not curved because the distribution would not work out.

This is why I HATED my LRW class!

uzpakalis wrote:My school has a 3.0 median for 1L classes. However, on the NALP website the median GPA for the most recent graduating class is 3.22. Is this because elective courses are not curved and this forces the median up? I really hope so!

You partially answered your own question.
1. The median in ONE class will not be median for THE class as a whole because grades are not uniformly distributed (people at the bottom gather B- and Cs, people at the top gather A- and As)
2. School probably gives a more lenient curve after 1L year, so the median of the graduating class will have two years of, say 3.2 median classes, so their overall GPA will be (relative to 1Ls) inflated.

So a 3.5 after 1L would give you a higher rank than a 3.5 at graduation, because everyone's grades become inflated after 2L and 3L?