Grading Curve Forum

[mugrad06]

I was looking at the grading policy for one of the law schools I was accepted to. I don't think I quite understand what it was saying.

"For Torts, Criminal Law, Contracts I and II, Property I and II, Civil Procedure I
and II, and Legal Process I and II, the total number of Proficient grades shall not exceed 85% of the total number of students in the class. In all required upper level courses (except as provided in section 2 below), the total grade average for all students shall not exceed 2.67."

When calculating the gpa - "The grades of Proficient and Not Proficient have no numerical value" So for the first year you don't have a gpa?

Or even a class rank? The catalog goes on to say that deans list/class rank is not established until 2nd yr. "At the conclusion of each semester during the 2L and 3L years of study, the Dean will publish the Dean's List. The Dean's List is comprised of all full-time upper level students who rank in the top 25% of their class for the courses taken during that semester. No Dean’s List will be prepared for the 1L year" And class rank is not until 12 hrs of numerically graded courses have been completed.

I guess this is just a little confusing to me.
Furthermore, if you don't maintain a 2.0 you will be dismissed, but if the total gpa average is 2.67 - how many students would end up falling below that?

[scribelaw]

Wow -- so they fail 15 percent in each class?

Don't go there.

[Sauer Grapes]

Sounds to me like 15% of the class or more will get a C or less.

[im_blue]

Googling suggests this is Appalachian School of Law. All 1L classes are graded Proficient (85%) or Not Proficient (15%). After 1L, students who get 12 or more credits of NP are dismissed, but those with 12-16 NPs can petition to be put on academic probation instead. At any time after 3 semesters, anyone with less than a 2.0 GPA are dismissed (NP counts as 0.0).

Don't go there.

[mugrad06]

"If, after two semesters in the School, a student has received more than 16 credit
hours of “Not Proficient” or “Fail” grades, such student shall be dismissed from the School for academic deficiency and may not be placed on probation. If after two semesters in the School, a student has received between 12 and 16 credit hours of “Not Proficient” or “Fail” grades, such student shall be dismissed from the School for academic deficiency but may petition to be placed on academic probation."

Also I just checked lsac.org and the attrition rate is 13.5% (lsn says 9%, wonder how often that is updated) 1L so yeah i guess they do fail almost 15% of the class. ouch.

[im_blue]

"If, after two semesters in the School, a student has received more than 16 credit
hours of “Not Proficient” or “Fail” grades, such student shall be dismissed from the School for academic deficiency and may not be placed on probation. If after two semesters in the School, a student has received between 12 and 16 credit hours of “Not Proficient” or “Fail” grades, such student shall be dismissed from the School for academic deficiency but may petition to be placed on academic probation."

Also I just checked lsac.org and the attrition rate is 13.5% (lsn says 9%, wonder how often that is updated) 1L so yeah i guess they do fail almost 15% of the class. ouch.

Not only that, but someone with a lot of NPs will have a hell of a time raising their GPA above 2.0 for 2L, which implies even more people failing out.

[Sauer Grapes]

"If, after two semesters in the School, a student has received more than 16 credit
hours of “Not Proficient” or “Fail” grades, such student shall be dismissed from the School for academic deficiency and may not be placed on probation. If after two semesters in the School, a student has received between 12 and 16 credit hours of “Not Proficient” or “Fail” grades, such student shall be dismissed from the School for academic deficiency but may petition to be placed on academic probation."

Also I just checked lsac.org and the attrition rate is 13.5% (lsn says 9%, wonder how often that is updated) 1L so yeah i guess they do fail almost 15% of the class. ouch.

To be fair, all of their students have pretty much already failed at law school admissions.

[scribelaw]

The ABA should really shut some of these TTTs down. They are a Ponzi scheme.

[Spaceman Spiff]

From the TLS Profile:

"In the past, the curve has forced out an average of 25 to 30 percent of the student population per year."

[mugrad06]

I just thought of this, after your first yr you are required to do a externship. Don't employers look at your gpa/class rank when determing who to hire? If you do have a gpa and no class rank is established for first years, then how does that work exactly.

I'm really glad I downloaded the actual handbook and didn't just go by the policy grading link on the main site, otherwise I wouldn't have found out about the proficent/non grading until much much later.

[mugrad06]

From the TLS Profile:

"In the past, the curve has forced out an average of 25 to 30 percent of the student population per year."

I saw that awhile ago but I wasn't sure how accurate the information was or when it was last updated. Reading that from the handbook, def accurate. =(

[TTH]

Dood, I told you like a million threads ago not to consider Appy.