GPA/grades in law school relative to your ranking Forum

[longagofaraway30]

Pre-law students hear again and again that it's imperative to graduate within the top 5 percent, 10 percent, 15-20 percent, etc. to have a realistic shot at big law and such at many law schools outside the top 14. But just how difficult is law school in comparison to undergrad, and can anyone list some examples of the average GPA at certain schools and the correlating ranking/percentage? Like what is a 3.5 at UC Hastings in terms of rankings/percentage? I apologize if this topic has been done before, I was just curious

[ttking]

Check out this link which lists the law schools and then what the GPA's are for top 10%; top 50%; etc. as well as the percentage of students who graduate with honors.

http://www.nalplawschoolsonline.org/ndl ... _quick.asp

[longagofaraway30]

Excellent! Thank you!

[Richie Tenenbaum]

If you are curious about the difficulty level between undergrad and law school, why would it matter what class rank a 3.5 is at hastings? Like you said in the OP, class rank is what matters and that is made difficult by the curve. What the accompanying GPA is doesn't matter so much (unless you are trying to figure out your approximate rank for schools that don't rank or you are wanting to go to a law school that has inflated grades--which might be marginally helpful but most firms will know your class rank).

[longagofaraway30]

LOL. I get your point. My first question (difficulty of law school) isn't really related to the 2nd (what a certain gpa means percentage wise at a specific school). The latter question was just out of curiosity. It's just interesting that a 3.5 could be top 10 percent at any school, but curves change everything.

[tedalbany]

LOL. I get your point. My first question (difficulty of law school) isn't really related to the 2nd (what a certain gpa means percentage wise at a specific school). The latter question was just out of curiosity. It's just interesting that a 3.5 could be top 10 percent at any school, but curves change everything.

Yeah, not too difficult when schools cap the # of people who can get As at 5.

As to difficulty of LS - to me it isn't any more difficult than undergrad; that is to say, not difficult at all. The material is just a little more boring. The difficult part is just the constant stress and uncertainty about your prospects. If you're the type that got good grades in UG but only after hours and hours of intense studying, LS is probably going to be a major challenge for you. If you're naturally smart in an academic sense and know how to take a LS exam, then LS probably won't be very difficult.

[lawyerwannabe]

GPA is fairly irrelevant because curves are different. Just because 3.5 is top 10% at one school but only top quarter at another school does not make the former school "harder". HTH.

[jess]

.