Top Law Schools

I am attending a top 25 law school with a mandatory mean of 3.2 for 1Ls. Class ranks just came out, and the top 50% begins at 3.29. Last semester, the top 50% began at 3.25. Does this seem off to anyone else?

No. Look at ranks for previous classes. the median should change similarly.

This is not typical though. Since the the median changed a few years ago, the top 50% typically stayed near 3.25. The highest it was ever been following the second semester is a 3.27. The way I am calculating the math is that the top 50% came out this semester at 3.3. This is way off from the standard mean. Feel free to correct me if I am being stupid.

abbygator wrote:This is not typical though. Since the the median changed a few years ago, the top 50% typically stayed near 3.25. The highest it was ever been following the second semester is a 3.27. The way I am calculating the math is that the top 50% came out this semester at 3.3. This is way off from the standard mean. Feel free to correct me if I am being stupid.

If the professors gave out more B-'s and more A's and A-'s distributed broadly amongst people near median this could happen. Mean and Median being off .1 is large but not unreasonable.

The mean (the average) does not equal the median (the middle number).

For example, professors can get a higher median by handing out a few, really bad grades and mostly decent, but not great grades.

Humpty Dumpty wrote:The mean (the average) does not equal the median (the middle number).

For example, professors can get a higher median by handing out a few, really bad grades and mostly decent, but not great grades.

Nailed it. Don't conflate mean and median, OP. It proves that law students understand fuck all about math.

Danger Zone wrote:It proves that law students understand fuck all about math.

Barbri's bar prep drilled this into our heads. Any time there might be a law that deals with math or statistics, you can be sure the bar would not test it.