what is top 5-10%? Forum

[mcs268]

I know this varies with each law school obviously, but what GPA does the top 5-10% of the class usually have? Is being the top of your class the rush to get a 4.0 or is it moreso I fight to beat a B/3.0 cuve?

[atcushman]

These were the 1L cutoffs at my school last year. we have B+ curve

Top 10%: A first year GPA* of 3.589 - 3.889
Top 25%: A first year GPA* of 3.388 - 3.889

[09042014]

These were the 1L cutoffs at my school last year. we have B+ curve

Top 10%: A first year GPA* of 3.589 - 3.889
Top 25%: A first year GPA* of 3.388 - 3.889

And at northestern with a B+ curve, top 10% is more like 3.85. It varies hugely school to school.

[Captain Hammer]

I know this varies with each law school obviously, but what GPA does the top 5-10% of the class usually have? Is being the top of your class the rush to get a 4.0 or is it moreso I fight to beat a B/3.0 cuve?

It's the latter, you fight to beat the curve. These are the only consistent things about top 5% or top 10%:

• If you are in the top 10%, your GPA is higher than 90% of your classmates.
• If you are in the top 5%, your GPA is higher than 95% of your classmates.

That's it. It depends on the school. However, based on the above poster, you can see how it might look at one school:

These were the 1L cutoffs at my school last year. we have B+ curve

Top 10%: A first year GPA* of 3.589 - 3.889
Top 25%: A first year GPA* of 3.388 - 3.889

Rewritten slightly:

Top 25% = 3.388 or higher
Top 10% = 3.589 or higher
Highest GPA = 3.889

Notice that last bit. The highest GPA was not a 4.0. It is nearly impossible to get and maintain a true 4.0 at most law schools, but that's okay. The curve means you can be the best in your class without having a 4.0. All you need is to have a higher GPA than everyone else.

You can estimate your class rank by knowing your GPA and the curve from prior years. For example, if you have a 3.6 GPA, you can look at prior years and see that 3.589 was top 10% last year (and for hypo's sake we'll also say was around 3.5xx in earlier years). Once you've learned the past class ranks, you can estimate that your 3.6 is right around top 10% in your class.

[mcs268]

I see. thanks for the info! Just wanted an idea of what i needed to be at if I decide to transfer.

[Captain Hammer]

I see. thanks for the info! Just wanted an idea of what i needed to be at if I decide to transfer.

Since you mentioned transferring, and you're a 0L, I'll give you my normal transfer spiel.

As a 0L, transferring should be the last thing on your mind.

The above is kinda why. Typically transferring up to a better school means you need to be top 10% or better (usually much better). If you need top 10% or better, then you need a higher GPA than at least 90% of your classmates. There's no way you can know, as a 0L, that you'll be able to outperform 90% of your classmates.

Unless you have some compelling reason to be sure you'll end up in the top 5-10% of your class (and so far no TLS poster ever has), you should go to law school assuming you won't do well enough to transfer, and decide whether or not to go accordingly. You can decide whether or not to transfer after you get your first-semester grades back. Until then, you shouldn't even be thinking about it.

[mcs268]

Yeah i understand the TLS (and true) wisdom. I was just curious is all.

[09042014]

Yeah i understand the TLS (and true) wisdom. I was just curious is all.

You gotta beat 90-95% of the people. What does the GPA have to do with it. Are you trying to compare to your UG classes to see if you can do it?

[LexLeon]

Right.

[TripTrip]

Check out your "Academic Summary Report" on your LSAC account.

Law school GPAs aren't listed on LSAC.

If you're not going to take the time to understand the topic being discussed, don't post.