HLS grades - transfer Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hey hi, sorry to do another one of these but god damn I have no idea what's going on here and I genuinely need help. Transferred to HLS so have straight up zero context for what median looks like, even less so what the general context on clerkships looks like!

I ended up with a ~3.77 with 10 credits of H and 3 of P. A few close friends of mine straight H'd, my 1L school's median was a 3.65, and I've seen some posts here about straight DS's so I am vaguely worried my GPA is fairly meh.

I'm particularly interested in clerking in Delaware (corporate interests) but also just more generally, externed with on SDNY last summer, genuinely loved it and would be very interested in the prospect clerking appellate (tell me I'm outside my reach please) or district (ideally on the east coast).

What is actually in play, what should I do next. Please help! Thank you.

[Anonymous User]

You aren't at the very top of the class, but you did very well. Top 10% is about ~3.98, whereas top 40% is like 3.57. So you are probably top ~25%. Which is to say that a COA or top district court clerkship will be tough but a DE chancery or regular district court is likely doable, especially if you do a little better next semester.

[Anonymous User]

Incoming DE clerk here that has reviewed the (publicly available) stats of a bunch of current and former clerks. All the HLS clerks I’ve come across have been cum laude, which is the range you’re in given the above poster’s numbers.

I think you’re definitely in the competitive range for DE clerkships grade-wise. However, to distinguish yourself it’d be helpful to have (1) good recommendations, one of which would preferably be from someone the judges are familiar with (like a well-known corporate professor) and (2) a writing sample/transcript that demonstrates your interest in corporate law. You definitely don’t need any or all of the above, they’re just pluses.

One final thing to note: hiring for 2023 Chancery clerkships is starting soon (next month IIRC), so worth getting a move on if that’s a court/term you’re interested in.

[Anonymous User]

You aren't at the very top of the class, but you did very well. Top 10% is about ~3.98, whereas top 40% is like 3.57. So you are probably top ~25%. Which is to say that a COA or top district court clerkship will be tough but a DE chancery or regular district court is likely doable, especially if you do a little better next semester.

Magna might be a bit lower, but only a bit. I recently saw a Class of 2020 transcript where a 3.97 was magna. My 3.96 a few years earlier was only cum laude.