Does anyone else think law school is alot easier than you thought it would be?

[eray01]

It really is true that basically everyone thinks they are going to be in the top 10%, at least at my school. At the end of the first year, the vast majority of us are going to be disappointed (there's a good chance that I will be as well).

90% will be disappointed to be exact. I don't know about anybody else, but that really puts it into perspective for me when I think about it that way. At my school, the top 10 percent can only consist of 12 people.

[dft]

At my school, the top 10% will consist of about 50 people.

It really is true that basically everyone thinks they are going to be in the top 10%, at least at my school. At the end of the first year, the vast majority of us are going to be disappointed (there's a good chance that I will be as well).

90% will be disappointed to be exact. I don't know about anybody else, but that really puts it into perspective for me when I think about it that way. At my school, the top 10 percent can only consist of 12 people.

[tresbuchon]

Speaking of being average...

Our school got our Facebook today, with our pics, names, and the schools we attended for undergrad. I'm at a fourth tier, and I was extremely impressed at the ugrads my classmates went to -- it's insane. We have Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, several Cornell, MIT, Northwestern, UPenn, U Chicago, several Wesleyan, a couple Amherst, a couple Williams, a few U Michigan, etc.  The list goes on...

It's going to be tough trying to beat this competition.

Big undergraduate names simply do not tell anything about the quality of the student. Remember, they are at a T4 school with you because they suck at something -- either their undergrad GPA or LSAT score was low enough.

However, there's a catch -- when figuring out your first semester grades, professors will like to think most of the time that a 3.2 GPA from Harvard is way more respectable than a 3.7 GPA from, say, DePaul. Similarly, if you entered with an LSAT score of 158, but only had a GPA of 3.0, you'll be looked down upon by professors when compared to the Harvard guy with a 3.2 GPA, but with a LSAT of only 152.

[jacy85]

Since when do professors look at your gpa and lsat score when grading your exam and setting the curve?  That's an inane suggestion.

[tresbuchon]

Oh well, Jacy, this has been discussed before at great length, I'm not going to repeat it again.

[joe]

Jacy's going to make a horrible lawyer.

Oh well, Jacy, this has been discussed before at great length, I'm not going to repeat it again.

[jacy85]

Oh well, Jacy, this has been discussed before at great length, I'm not going to repeat it again.

I've been around on these boards for a while, and actually have never once heard this suggestion.

I have to say, however, that it sounds as plausible as adcoms sitting in their offices, not reading personal statements, but instead trolling LSD and LSN for stats and crossing people off based on their comments on the schools they've applied to.

[Bobo]

However, there's a catch -- when figuring out your first semester grades, professors will like to think most of the time that a 3.2 GPA from Harvard is way more respectable than a 3.7 GPA from, say, DePaul. Similarly, if you entered with an LSAT score of 158, but only had a GPA of 3.0, you'll be looked down upon by professors when compared to the Harvard guy with a 3.2 GPA, but with a LSAT of only 152.

Professors don't even know the name of the student they are grading, let alone GPA and LSAT.  Do you really think professors are going to take the time after having graded 90 exams to go back and look at undergraduate institution, GPA and LSAT?

[ElizaB]

At my school we get an exam number for our tests.  Supposedly the prof does not even know whose test it is when they are grading it.  Plus, it seems a little ridiculous to me that profs would bother knowing that much info for each of the 120 students that they have in each of their classes.

[der]

Oh well, Jacy, this has been discussed before at great length, I'm not going to repeat it again.

I've been around on these boards for a while, and actually have never once heard this suggestion.

[...]

http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/prelaw/index.php/topic,28345.msg416169.html#msg416169

The thread on the impossibility of objective grading in law school and the way grades are distributed can be found here

http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/students/index.php/topic,915.0.html