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Why do people say grading systems at Y and S are better than the one at H? Also, how does the grading system at H compare with those at CLS and NYU?

icpb wrote:Why do people say grading systems at Y and S are better than the one at H? Also, how does the grading system at H compare with those at CLS and NYU?

Y is P/F first semester. S and H are both H/P/LP, but LPs seem to be much rarer at SLS than at HLS. NYU/CLS both use letter grades.

ph14 wrote:

icpb wrote:Why do people say grading systems at Y and S are better than the one at H? Also, how does the grading system at H compare with those at CLS and NYU?

Y is P/F first semester. S and H are both H/P/LP, but LPs seem to be much rarer at SLS than at HLS. NYU/CLS both use letter grades.

SLS has Honors (roughly top 1/3) and Pass (bottom 2/3). There is also technically a RC (restricted credit), which the 2Ls/3Ls say no one has ever received. Apparently there is a lot of red-tape to go through to actually get an RC, and you have to write something to the effect of "I don't want to take this exam" to get it. (Source (LinkRemoved))

HLS has "37% dean's scholar and honors, 55% pass, and 8% low pass in classes with over 30 JD and LLM students" (from Wikipedia, originally from their academic policy handbook from a while ago, it may have changed since then). So unless they have since changed it, some people are forced by the recommended standards to get that low mark.

Essentially, HLS has a chance of getting a low pass, while YLS and (for all intents and purposes) SLS do not. Rumor has it that the H/P ratio at HLS is used more in hiring because their class size is bigger, so it is more useful to separate candidates. Not sure of the accuracy of that though. At the end of the day though, HYS all have a nice safety net compared to a forced letter curve at CLS and NYU and the decimal point system at UChi.

Stig wrote:

ph14 wrote:

icpb wrote:Why do people say grading systems at Y and S are better than the one at H? Also, how does the grading system at H compare with those at CLS and NYU?

Y is P/F first semester. S and H are both H/P/LP, but LPs seem to be much rarer at SLS than at HLS. NYU/CLS both use letter grades.

SLS has Honors (roughly top 1/3) and Pass (bottom 2/3). There is also technically a RC (restricted credit), which the 2Ls/3Ls say no one has ever received. Apparently there is a lot of red-tape to go through to actually get an RC, and you have to write something to the effect of "I don't want to take this exam" to get it. (Source (LinkRemoved))

HLS has "37% dean's scholar and honors, 55% pass, and 8% low pass in classes with over 30 JD and LLM students" (from Wikipedia, originally from their academic policy handbook from a while ago, it may have changed since then). So unless they have since changed it, some people are guaranteed to get that low mark.

Essentially, HLS has a chance of getting a low pass, while YLS and (for all intents and purposes) SLS do not. Rumor has it that the H/P ratio at HLS is used more in hiring because their class size is bigger, so it is more useful to separate candidates. Not sure of the accuracy of that though. At the end of the day though, HYS all have a nice safety net compared to a forced letter curve at CLS and NYU and the decimal point system at UChi.

I believe the LP is discretionary now, but some professors do follow the suggested curve and give out the recommended percentage of LPs.

ph14 wrote:

Stig wrote:

ph14 wrote:

icpb wrote:Why do people say grading systems at Y and S are better than the one at H? Also, how does the grading system at H compare with those at CLS and NYU?

Y is P/F first semester. S and H are both H/P/LP, but LPs seem to be much rarer at SLS than at HLS. NYU/CLS both use letter grades.

SLS has Honors (roughly top 1/3) and Pass (bottom 2/3). There is also technically a RC (restricted credit), which the 2Ls/3Ls say no one has ever received. Apparently there is a lot of red-tape to go through to actually get an RC, and you have to write something to the effect of "I don't want to take this exam" to get it. (Source (LinkRemoved))

HLS has "37% dean's scholar and honors, 55% pass, and 8% low pass in classes with over 30 JD and LLM students" (from Wikipedia, originally from their academic policy handbook from a while ago, it may have changed since then). So unless they have since changed it, some people are guaranteed to get that low mark.

Essentially, HLS has a chance of getting a low pass, while YLS and (for all intents and purposes) SLS do not. Rumor has it that the H/P ratio at HLS is used more in hiring because their class size is bigger, so it is more useful to separate candidates. Not sure of the accuracy of that though. At the end of the day though, HYS all have a nice safety net compared to a forced letter curve at CLS and NYU and the decimal point system at UChi.

I believe the LP is discretionary now, but some professors do follow the suggested curve and give out the recommended percentage of LPs.

+1. z0mg wikipedia is not up to date? I should go fix that

LP is discretionary now, and only a handful of profs give out the full 8% (very few in fact). Most either don't give it or give out a handful per class. Sounds more common than SLS' RC though fo sho.

Chicago has the most absurd grading system ever.

DoubleChecks wrote:
+1. z0mg wikipedia is not up to date? I should go fix that

LP is discretionary now, and only a handful of profs give out the full 8% (very few in fact). Most either don't give it or give out a handful per class. Sounds more common than SLS' RC though fo sho.

Good to know, I thought I saw they changed it recently but could not remember for sure.

Bottom line OP is that there is not really any meaningful difference between HYS grading systems over the long term, so long as you don't really really mess up a class.

That said, YLS may have a bit of a nicer cushion in looking for 1L summer jobs in that they all will have the same grades (all passes) going into application season.