I. Can. Not. Get. Another C Forum

[lisjjen]

I am desperate. Last semester I got B+, B+, A-, and C+. The C+ was in LRW. I can talk my way into or out of just about anything but that C is a nasty, nasty mark that jumps out like a sore thumb. Please, who has advise for how to rock this final brief? I know I'm not stupid. There's just something that hasn't clicked yet. I need you TLS.

[bdubs]

What kind of feedback are you getting from your LRW professor? Did you ask him/her how to improve your grade after last semester's debacle?

LRW is uncurved at my school, but I don't know about yours. Is your prof. required to give out C+'s? If you're in the unfortunate position of having to compete against your classmates for a curved grade, i'm not sure anyone can help make your a better writer than your peers.

[lisjjen]

What kind of feedback are you getting from your LRW professor? Did you ask him/her how to improve your grade after last semester's debacle?

LRW is uncurved at my school, but I don't know about yours. Is your prof. required to give out C+'s? If you're in the unfortunate position of having to compete against your classmates for a curved grade, i'm not sure anyone can help make your a better writer than your peers.

It's definitely a mandatory curve. And I'm not a bad writer. Just in her class.

[Judge Philip Banks]

I would think if you are getting about a C+ on LRW assignments, you aren't using the cases in the way your professor wants you to. Reading your professor and understanding exactly what they want you to talk about is crucial. Like bdubs hinted at, you need to talk to your professor in office hours if it is hard to get a read merely from class. Hopefully she'll be receptive to discussing how to improve, and maybe even take a look at drafts of your brief and give you a little guidance. Or at the very least see how she reacts to your arguments so you can calibrate your brief to her liking.

[cinephile]

^ Just wanted to say this isn't always possible. All the writing instructors at my school work full time as lawyers. They don't offer office hours and all our questions are to be directed toward a 2L writing tutor. Don't know that this is the same as OP's situation, just wanted to complain about lack of feedback + lack of accessibility.

[myselfersonEsq]

I was told by a federal judge that if you don't get all As in law school, you'll never get a job, so you should leave as soon as your grades drop below a 4.0 GPA. You just leave the second you have any grade less than an A. HTH.

[ilovesf]

I was told by a federal judge that if you don't get all As in law school, you'll never get a job, so you should leave as soon as your grades drop below a 4.0 GPA. You just leave the second you have any grade less than an A. HTH.

Wtf.
Lissjen is it possible to send more drafts or go over individual paragraphs with your TA?

[monkey85]

Do you have a writing center or writing fellows?

If so, go to them. They are usually armed with a "model memo" so that they can provide uniform feedback to 1Ls.

[dreakol]

I was told by a federal judge that if you don't get all As in law school, you'll never get a job, so you should leave as soon as your grades drop below a 4.0 GPA. You just leave the second you have any grade less than an A. HTH.

this is credited advice

[bdubs]

What kind of feedback are you getting from your LRW professor? Did you ask him/her how to improve your grade after last semester's debacle?

LRW is uncurved at my school, but I don't know about yours. Is your prof. required to give out C+'s? If you're in the unfortunate position of having to compete against your classmates for a curved grade, i'm not sure anyone can help make your a better writer than your peers.

It's definitely a mandatory curve. And I'm not a bad writer. Just in her class.

Sorry to say, but that attitude might be part of it. Figuring out wtf your LRW professor likes and dislikes is 90% of getting a good grade in the class. Being a "good" writer only has a little bearing on it.

BTW - Putting LRW on a mandatory curve is really brutal. I can't believe that UT mandates 5% of people get C+'s in LRW. That is just mean.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

What kind of feedback are you getting from your LRW professor? Did you ask him/her how to improve your grade after last semester's debacle?

LRW is uncurved at my school, but I don't know about yours. Is your prof. required to give out C+'s? If you're in the unfortunate position of having to compete against your classmates for a curved grade, i'm not sure anyone can help make your a better writer than your peers.

It's definitely a mandatory curve. And I'm not a bad writer. Just in her class.

Sorry to say, but that attitude might be part of it. Figuring out wtf your LRW professor likes and dislikes is 90% of getting a good grade in the class. Being a "good" writer only has a little bearing on it.

BTW - Putting LRW on a mandatory curve is really brutal. I can't believe that UT mandates 5% of people get C+'s in LRW. That is just mean.

LRW is a small section; thus, no mandatory C+ (or below) grades. The class mean just can't be above 3.35.

[bdubs]

BTW - Putting LRW on a mandatory curve is really brutal. I can't believe that UT mandates 5% of people get C+'s in LRW. That is just mean.

LRW is a small section; thus, no mandatory C+ (or below) grades. The class mean just can't be above 3.35.

I saw this on UT's website and thought 5% was the lower bound:

Recommended Distribution of Grades in Other Courses [not first-year large section]:
about 35% of grades should be A+, A, or A-;
about 55% of grades should be B+, B, or B-; and,
about 10% of grades should be C+, C, D, or F.

[lisjjen]

One way or the other, thanks for the input. I'm going to focus all of my energy on form rather than functionality. She told me that I hit more issues than anybody else did on my final memo. The problem was that I didn't follow the rules she wanted to see. That means this semester, I'll breeze through the issues until I feel like I have the big ones and then spend a ton of time making sure I'm doing all of the stylistic things she wants to see.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

BTW - Putting LRW on a mandatory curve is really brutal. I can't believe that UT mandates 5% of people get C+'s in LRW. That is just mean.

LRW is a small section; thus, no mandatory C+ (or below) grades. The class mean just can't be above 3.35.

I saw this on UT's website and thought 5% was the lower bound:

Recommended Distribution of Grades in Other Courses [not first-year large section]:
about 35% of grades should be A+, A, or A-;
about 55% of grades should be B+, B, or B-; and,
about 10% of grades should be C+, C, D, or F.

Yeah, the website isn't too clear. Large 1L sections (so like ~100 people) have mandatory distribution guidelines and must have between a 3.25 and 3.35 mean. Everything else* just has to meet the mean requirement (what you posted is just merely a suggested curve) and a cap on A+'s.

*Seminars and classes below I think 20 below are off the curve. Instructors can also request their class be off the curve as well, either b/c the format doesn't lend itself to the curve or the grade results warranted a departure from the curve.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

One way or the other, thanks for the input. I'm going to focus all of my energy on form rather than functionality. She told me that I hit more issues than anybody else did on my final memo. The problem was that I didn't follow the rules she wanted to see. That means this semester, I'll breeze through the issues until I feel like I have the big ones and then spend a ton of time making sure I'm doing all of the stylistic things she wants to see.

Form (follow LRW teachers guidelines) + execution (no mistakes, no typos, paragraphs flow together) are your main priorities first semester for LRW. Second semester, you really need to do all three (form+substance+execution).