Law school grading system Forum

[SarahKerrigan]

Someone posted in another thread that HLS doesn't give out letter grades, is this true for most law schools?

[vincanity1]

no

[shoeshine]

No.

Most have a strict curve.

However, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley all have some variation of an H/P system.

[SarahKerrigan]

No.

Most have a strict curve.

However, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley all have some variation of an H/P system.

ahh ok, is a strict curve like a bell curve?

[Tiago Splitter]

No.

Most have a strict curve.

However, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley all have some variation of an H/P system.

ahh ok, is a strict curve like a bell curve?

Yes. And even in the H/P system there are requirements on the profs regarding how many Hs and Ps should be given out.

[SarahKerrigan]

No.

Most have a strict curve.

However, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley all have some variation of an H/P system.

ahh ok, is a strict curve like a bell curve?

Yes. And even in the H/P system there are requirements on the profs regarding how many Hs and Ps should be given out.

oh ok, thanks

[ahduth]

Not sure if this is still good for NYU, but this is roughly how it works at the vast majority of schools AFAIK.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =4&t=49399

[SarahKerrigan]

Not sure if this is still good for NYU, but this is roughly how it works at the vast majority of schools AFAIK.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =4&t=49399

Ahh thats pretty interesting, it takes a lot of the fear out of your entire grade being based on 1 test, it seems pretty hard to actually fail a class at law school. Of course you still want to do as good as possible, but its not like your going to fail out or anything.

[TooOld4This]

Ahh thats pretty interesting, it takes a lot of the fear out of your entire grade being based on 1 test, it seems pretty hard to actually fail a class at law school. Of course you still want to do as good as possible, but its not like your going to fail out or anything.

Not failing people out of law school is the cruelest thing law schools have done to its students.

The reality of this job market is that if you aren't at the top of your class, you aren't getting a job. The curve means that you can be an excellent student and still wind up on the bottom, if your performance on one test was not better than most of your classmates.

[englawyer]

in substance, HLS has letter grades. H = A, P = B, LP = C. its just a different distribution.

[Redzo]

Not sure if this is still good for NYU, but this is roughly how it works at the vast majority of schools AFAIK.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =4&t=49399

Ahh thats pretty interesting, it takes a lot of the fear out of your entire grade being based on 1 test, it seems pretty hard to actually fail a class at law school. Of course you still want to do as good as possible, but its not like your going to fail out or anything.

This isn't really the right way to look at it. For many people, ending up at the median will be worse than failing out. You should fear that one test, because you don't just have to pass it. You have to do better than most people in your section.