<p>Brown has an optional grade system. In each class, you can elect to get a letter grade or a S/NC (satisfactory/no credit.) There are Brown students who don’t take any courses for grades. Most take the majority of their courses for grades but some S/NC. It’s not that 56% of students get As; it’s that 56% of students who choose to take a class for a grade get an A. </p>
<p>This means that when Brown students want to take difficult courses outside their fields of interest, they can take them S/NC. So, instead of taking the kind of courses many students at other courses take like “rocks for jocks” or “clapping for credit,” Brown humanities concentrators can take the same courses as the pre-meds if they so choose, but take them S/NC. NCs don’t show up on your transcript. </p>
<p>Personally, I think this is a TREMENDOUS advantage. I know one heck of a lot of wanna be lawyers who seek to pad their gpa’s with easy courses or at least avoid the tough math and science courses in order to “protect” their gpa’s. At Brown it’s possible to take tough courses outside your field but do it on a S/NC basis. </p>
<p>Reality is that it’s just as hard to get an A at Brown as it is at most top colleges. Students have higher gpa’s because the kids who just want to skate through and get a degree take all or almost all of their courses S/NC and thus do not bring down the median gpa and almost everyone takes any course of interest that they suspect they will not get a great grade in S/NC. </p>
<p>You can get into a top law school from either Columbia or Brown. It really doesn’t matter. Go to the college which you think is the best fit for you without taking LS into account.</p>