Grades

[jsh26]

I've just about had it. I'm a 1L going to school part time in the evening. I have a full-time day job, and my tuition is being subsidized by my employer. I don't get reimbursed until my grades come in for the prior semester, and only if they are B or above.

My torts grade came in two weeks ago, but I'm still waiting for contracts. The exam was Dec. 9. I understand from what I've read here and elsewhere that this may not be all that unusual, but how can anyone find it reasonable to make people wait so long for grades? I've got two semesters' tuition hanging out there in the wind -- totally out of my own pocket.

I'm ripshit.

[buddha]

You've got to stop thinking like a businessman.  We're captive consumers and they know it.  For the record I just got my grades.

[jsh26]

You've got to stop thinking like a businessman.  We're captive consumers and they know it.  For the record I just got my grades.

I suppose, but I can't believe the level of disrespect here. And this is my third graduate program -- I'm no newbie.

[wakaranai]

You've got to stop thinking like a businessman.  We're captive consumers and they know it.  For the record I just got my grades.

I suppose, but I can't believe the level of disrespect here. And this is my third graduate program -- I'm no newbie.

I think he has a valid point. A lot of people decide whether to stay in the program based on their grades, and if a school waits long enough to give out grades, people are stuck staying in for at least 1L before dropping out.

Keep in mind that 99.9% of students do not have their employer footing the bill, so professors really don't see a reason to rush getting the grades out by any set time. They typically have tenure so if they're late, they're late. It sucks, but there isn't too much you can do about it.

[Law9486]

We still havent received any of our grades. They release them all at once, and the wait is killing me.

[wakaranai]

Releasing them all at once beats the hell out of what happened to me. I got my first grade back and it was a B-. In the meantime I had 4 callback interviews and I almost cancelled them for fear I'd have to tell them I had a 2.7.

Then I get the other 3 grades 3 weeks later -- All As.

Yeah, I know, it's great that I wound up with much better grades than my first one would indicate, but it was torture to spend Winter Break confident in my failure. That said, I hope they get your grades out to you soon!

At least it was a B-. The first grade that came out at my school was typically everyone's worst class (no curve, yippee) so most of us spent some time worrying about actually staying in law school, much less what we'd tell employers.

[jimmyjohn]

I agree with you that the system is stupid beyond all belief.  There is no logic in anyone who is not afflicted with a severe learning disability to not be able to grade a stack of papers in 6+ weeks.  Law schools give these professors generous deadlines that are just uncomprehensible and incompatible with any notion of education in this country.  I'm surprised that more law students don't complain about the wait - only about the anxiety that the wait produces.  I guess everyone is just resigned to the fact that law schools are going to continue doing business in this arcane fashion despite the fact that we are paying these professors a solid salary for such mediocre efforts.

[wakaranai]

Yikes. What schools don't curve?

I'd figure that no curve = higher grades?

How do they decide what you should get? I mean, what's the standard for an A?

It's more like the LSAT where they decide the scale prior to the exam based on what percentage of points you need to get to achieve a certain grade level- e.g. 50%=B, 66%= A-, 33%= C+ and so on.

I go to an unranked, uncurved school so I have no clue how I did compared to my classmates but the grades are pretty low when compared with curved schools of similar rank.