Failing out of Law School?

[cocopufff]

Does anyone know what percent of law students fail out after their first year. Is ther a list somewhere per school?

Also, what happens if you go to a decent law school and get crappy grades (rank 25% or below). If the school has a good name, what will your job prospects be?

[UVATroll15]

Depends on the school. TTTs have horrible attrition rates. At UVA you have to want to fail out to fail out. And the bottom 25% here still get six-figure salaries when they graduate. At worse firms but they're still six-figure salaries.

[cocopufff]

Depends on the school. TTTs have horrible attrition rates. At UVA you have to want to fail out to fail out. And the bottom 25% here still get six-figure salaries when they graduate. At worse firms but they're still six-figure salaries.

Is the attrition due to failing out or transferring at TTTs? Why are more prestigious schools harder to fail out of? Seems like they would be more academically challenging and therefore easier to fail out of.

[UVATroll15]

It's because of the curve at TTTs. At higher ranked schools you have a smarter student body and if they started failing people out they'd go to other high-ranked schools. I've never taken a class at another law school so I wouldn't know how hard the classes are, but I guess they're not that much different. But the quality of the student body is.

[Stuje1]

Does anyone know what percent of law students fail out after their first year. Is ther a list somewhere per school?

Also, what happens if you go to a decent law school and get crappy grades (rank 25% or below). If the school has a good name, what will your job prospects be?

Yup, you can go here: http://officialguide.lsac.org/search/cgi-bin/results.asp?PageNo=
It is the official ABA law school info page.  Click on any school, and then go to ABA Law School Data, and they list attrition based on academics and "other."  Not really sure if "other" is just schools trying to get people out of the "academic attrition" category (there was a post about that on here earlier, not sure what they concluded).

As to your 2nd question, that is a good question, and one I am often asking.   I think it depends on your defninition of "decent school."   For a t14...probably fine no matter where you finish, so long as you pass.  The rest of the top 100, you will find a job, but probably a little more work, and not any high profile-big firms (not that smoeone who nearly fails out of a T14 is going to a high profile, big firm either).  Just look at the employment rates for schools.  Those who have 90%+ students with jobs after 9 months obviously can place the bottom of the class.   Students at the bottom of T3 and T4 will obviously have more problems, and thats why it is often much more competitive at these schools.

[shaz]

the higher a school is ranked, the higher the curve is set generally.

it could mean the difference between a b+/b curve (top14) and a c+/c curve (tier4).

another thing to consider is how flat the curve is.  it's possible that you go to a tier4 w/ a low attrition rate but an extremely flat curve where just about everyone has a 2.5.  that's not going to look to good when your looking for a job.

[cocopufff]

It's because of the curve at TTTs. At higher ranked schools you have a smarter student body and if they started failing people out they'd go to other high-ranked schools. I've never taken a class at another law school so I wouldn't know how hard the classes are, but I guess they're not that much different. But the quality of the student body is.

Well, if a student fails out of a top tier school, how will she/he be admitted to another law school? Also, what happens to the few students who are not as smart as the others at a highly ranked school?

[Special Agent Dana Scully]

It's because of the curve at TTTs. At higher ranked schools you have a smarter student body and if they started failing people out they'd go to other high-ranked schools. I've never taken a class at another law school so I wouldn't know how hard the classes are, but I guess they're not that much different. But the quality of the student body is.

Well, if a student fails out of a top tier school, how will she/he be admitted to another law school? Also, what happens to the few students who are not as smart as the others at a highly ranked school?

I don't think that top tier schools fail people out.  Most of them have B+ curves...thus most of the class gets a B+.  Obviously, some people have to be at the bottom, but that goes without saying.  Most likely, those at the bottom have B- or something.  Regardless, at schools like HYS, you can be at the bottom and still get a 6 figure job.

[shaz]

there ARE schools w/ a '0' academic attrition rate ya-know.

[cocopufff]

It's because of the curve at TTTs. At higher ranked schools you have a smarter student body and if they started failing people out they'd go to other high-ranked schools. I've never taken a class at another law school so I wouldn't know how hard the classes are, but I guess they're not that much different. But the quality of the student body is.

Well, if a student fails out of a top tier school, how will she/he be admitted to another law school? Also, what happens to the few students who are not as smart as the others at a highly ranked school?

I don't think that top tier schools fail people out.  Most of them have B+ curves...thus most of the class gets a B+.  Obviously, some people have to be at the bottom, but that goes without saying.  Most likely, those at the bottom have B- or something.  Regardless, at schools like HYS, you can be at the bottom and still get a 6 figure job.

Is that the case beyond HYS, for T1s or T2s?