how do grades work in law school

[willametterules]

I lost a scholarship pegged to a 3.0.  Some of the 1L classes had curves as low as 2.3... few people kept the scholarships as a result.  You need to ask the school specifics about scholarship retention rates, if they play dumb, its cuz the news ain't good.  You better love BAMA as a full tuition paying student just in case.  good luck.

[MauveAvenger]

The curve at Penn is pretty generous. 15% of 1Ls receive As, 15% get A-s, 27.5% get B+s, 27.5% get Bs, etc etc. Depends on the curve, I guess.

[CTL]

The curve at Penn is pretty generous. 15% of 1Ls receive As, 15% get A-s, 27.5% get B+s, 27.5% get Bs, etc etc. Depends on the curve, I guess.

That sounds like the Cornell curve.  Median is 3.35.

[Eugene Young]

Let's not be rude to the n00b.

OP: a grading curve works like this.  In any given class, the professor will be able to give out a strict number of As, Bs, and Cs.  At my school, about 15% earn As, 70% earn Bs, and a few earn Cs.

Alabama wants you to keep a 3.0, which means that you will need at least a B average.  However, law school curves are often much (much) lower than undergraduate curves.  The professor could be required to keep the median grade at a B-, in which case it would be hard to keep your scholarship.  You should inquire.  Furthermore, I don't think that you should matriculate at a lower-ranked law school like Bama unless you want to be a lawyer.  You could end up unemployed after graduation.

Wally...two words.
Re.Lax.

'Bama is golden in the southeast. If he wants to stay in Alabama, he's set for life. He can also pretty easily get Atlanta, Nashville, and Charlotte if he likes. Not everyone wants to work in NYC, DC, or the Chi. Look at the schools he applied to, they're all in the southeast.

Sheesh. Friggin' Yankee elitists.

[clairel]

So what?  The rankings are virtually meaningless after the top ten or so.  Nobody actually thinks, for instance, that Iowa is more prestigious than Fordham.

This forum serves the useful function of a reality check.  We're not here to sugarcoat.  I'm sick of all of the flowery "you'll be fine" bull that turns people into cynical, indebted people by the time graduation rolls around.

this is really harsh. i think plenty of people attending schools outside of the top 10 on this board have been told of the risks plenty of times, but in this case, bama is ranked #32 and this person has a scholarship (since we don't know the conditions, it could be set for all three years or have an extremely generous grading scale; this isn't a TTT that flunks out 20% of the class after 1L year). if they want to practice in alabama, this seems like a pretty good place to go.

OP, ask what the grading curve is and what the scholarship conditions are. if they're unreasonable: average is a 2.7 and scholarship requires a 3.3 or something, that's risky. if it just requires good academic standing, i.e. passing grades, or an average of 2.5 when the curve is 3.0, and you want to practice in alabama or the southeast, sounds like a good deal.

[CTL]

So what?  The rankings are virtually meaningless after the top ten or so.  Nobody actually thinks, for instance, that Iowa is more prestigious than Fordham.

This forum serves the useful function of a reality check.  We're not here to sugarcoat.  I'm sick of all of the flowery "you'll be fine" bull that turns people into cynical, indebted people by the time graduation rolls around.

this is really harsh. i think plenty of people attending schools outside of the top 10 on this board have been told of the risks plenty of times, but in this case, bama is ranked #32 and this person has a scholarship (since we don't know the conditions, it could be set for all three years or have an extremely generous grading scale; this isn't a TTT that flunks out 20% of the class after 1L year). if they want to practice in alabama, this seems like a pretty good place to go.

OP, ask what the grading curve is and what the scholarship conditions are. if they're unreasonable: average is a 2.7 and scholarship requires a 3.3 or something, that's risky. if it just requires good academic standing, i.e. passing grades, or an average of 2.5 when the curve is 3.0, and you want to practice in alabama or the southeast, sounds like a good deal.

How is sharing a school with this guy (Freely Give Leave...)?

[clairel]

So what?  The rankings are virtually meaningless after the top ten or so.  Nobody actually thinks, for instance, that Iowa is more prestigious than Fordham.

This forum serves the useful function of a reality check.  We're not here to sugarcoat.  I'm sick of all of the flowery "you'll be fine" bull that turns people into cynical, indebted people by the time graduation rolls around.

this is really harsh. i think plenty of people attending schools outside of the top 10 on this board have been told of the risks plenty of times, but in this case, bama is ranked #32 and this person has a scholarship (since we don't know the conditions, it could be set for all three years or have an extremely generous grading scale; this isn't a TTT that flunks out 20% of the class after 1L year). if they want to practice in alabama, this seems like a pretty good place to go.

OP, ask what the grading curve is and what the scholarship conditions are. if they're unreasonable: average is a 2.7 and scholarship requires a 3.3 or something, that's risky. if it just requires good academic standing, i.e. passing grades, or an average of 2.5 when the curve is 3.0, and you want to practice in alabama or the southeast, sounds like a good deal.

How is sharing a school with this guy (Freely Give Leave...)?

he's really nice but...intense, especially online (i knew he probably would be going in after following his application cycle). yes, the economy is tough but that doesn't mean that only t10 grads are getting jobs. it depends on the market, grades, interviewing skills, personal connections, the number of interviews you can get at OCI or through mass mailing and networking. i just feel like i'm constantly trying to mitigate some of his controversial comments..I SWEAR MOST OF US ARE MORE NORMAL AT CHICAGO.

[CTL]

Yea, I just can't stand flames.  So many of these guys are just completely different people online, hiding behind the pseudo-anonymity of their LSD personas.

[clairel]

Yea, I just can't stand flames.  So many of these guys are just completely different people online, hiding behind the pseudo-anonymity of their LSD personas.

no, apparently, he really does study way more than his counterparts. he's just less obviously....elitist in person and actually does work for decent grades. still there's no way in hell that firms are only hiring from t10 or t14, even in OMGTHISECONOMY. if you're on scholarship and smart about networking (and still attending a good school like alabama), i still think you're okay if the scholarship conditions aren't absurd.

[IPFreely1701]

Yea, I just can't stand flames.  So many of these guys are just completely different people online, hiding behind the pseudo-anonymity of their LSD personas.

no, apparently, he really does study way more than his counterparts.

Depends on which counterparts you're comparing him to.