Law School Grades

[F. Mercury]

In college I somehow figured that if you work hard you can earn good grades, like at least A-'s, and I am not talking about in a big state school. I go to a top-5 liberal arts college.  But after reading this board I get the impression that this isn't the case for law school.  You can work your ass off and still get bad grades.  So I guess my question is:  is there any way you can make sure you get at least a certain grade in law school like you do in college?

[F. Mercury]

go to yale.

i wish i have the numbers to.

[Hazard]

go to yale.

i wish i have the numbers to.

Perhaps switching "have" and "had" in the essay are part of the problem I said it with a wink so it's not as mean. Yale, by the by, still has grades. The clerks have more high passes than the non-clerks.

In response to your initial question: Law school, and law school grades, are more terrifying than they should be. Worst case scenarios are rare. A school isn't going to admit you if it thinks you will fail, and I'd have faith in the admissions process. Even if you tricked the admissions process, that in itself would mean you're smart enough to be there. I think law school grades have a great deal to do with luck, but also natural ability. In law school, you are competing with people who are smarter and can work harder, and thrive on competition. Not going to class will certainly hurt your grades, but not in all cases. Ability to think analytically helps a great deal. Sometimes you just don't see the right issues (happened to me). A lot of people don't go to class, and the majority of these don't do terribly well.

I think the way to think of it is that all grades are random, but you can reduce the randomness by hard work.

[Betty_Crocker]

It's very true that the amount of work you put in will not necessarily correlate with your law school grades. Some people "just get it" - not just the concept but the process. Part of law school success depends on how you study and how well you perform on that one exam relative to everyone in your class. Remember that at least 50% of the law students at any given law school is used to being in the 10% during their entire academic career. Simple math demonstrates that all of these students will not be in the top 10% in their respective law schools. The key to doing well in law school is doing what you can to be prepared for your classes and studying "efficiently" for your exams. 

[HastingsOneL]

sometimes it feels like a crap shoot.  other times it really is a crap shoot.  The difference between 75% and 25% is usually pretty negligible.

To answer your question: a time machine will ensure top marks.

[Astro]

If you think your grade is heavily dependent on going to class, you haven't spent much time in a law school class.*








*Occasionally, a great instructor may make a difference.  But this is rare.  Usually, you just listen to your fellow classmates babble their way through *&^% they don't really understand either.

[Hazard]

If you think your grade is heavily dependent on going to class, you haven't spent much time in a law school class.*








*Occasionally, a great instructor may make a difference.  But this is rare.  Usually, you just listen to your fellow classmates babble their way through poo they don't really understand either.

This truly depends on the professor. I've had a few exams (3-4) where the exam questions were posed as hypos in class. It's nice to have seen these beforehand. Another prof talks solely about alternative legal worlds, but tests on pure black-letter. Others talk solely about alternative legal worlds and test on those worlds. It really, really depends on the prof.