<p>I was reading an old post here about grade inflation in certain schools, in particular Harvard, that in return help their students with LS admissions. My question is, for these schools, do they also have grade inflations for law school as well? Where can I find more information about this, and schools that do and schools that don't? Thanks.</p>
<p>I believe HLS has a big fat "B" mean which means that pretty much everyone will get good jobs. Yale has a Pass/Fail system that pretty much guarantees the same. </p>
<p>However, for in law school, the focus is usually on class-rank, not GPA. (Most employers recognize that grading may be different at different schools, and adjust accordingly by focusing on class rank instead.) </p>
<p>That's why it's more important to focus on school reputation in this context. Employers will generally go deeper into schools with good reputations, regardless of the grading system.</p>
<p>To reinforce what Cardozo said... I was looking at the packet for a patent law interview programme. Employers reported the offices they were recruiting for, required degrees, and other notes. I think that, about 10:1, most employers request or require a certain class rank, whereas others will require a minimum GPA - but only about 1/10 of them do the latter instead of the former. </p>
<p>One of them even said "Top 35% at a top-tier school, top 15% otherwise."</p>
<p>This only tells you about the top 50 law schools, but it gives you a rough idea of the grading scale. (Harvard Law is no more grade inflated that many other law schools. Yale is only pass/fail for the first semester, though it doesn't give "real" grades; neither does Boalt (Berkeley ) ) There are some law schools that don't use class ranks.</p>
<p>I was looking for that link. </p>
<p>Anyway, as you can see, Harvard Law gives out summa cum laude to people who score an average grade of higher than 7.2 (which is between an A and an A+), magna cum laude to the next 10%, and cum laude to the next 30% after that (so, it's 40% after summa cum laude). Furthermore, the cutoff for for cum laude in 2001 was a 5.463, which is between a B+ and an A-. So, I think it is fairly safe to say that if the 40% after summa cum laude is a 5.463, then the median point of the class (the 50% point) is probably going to be something above 5, which means that the average HLS graduate comes out with a GPA that is somewhere between a B+ and an A- (leaning towards a B+). </p>
<p>However, I agree with ariesathena that class rank tends to be more important than GPA for the purposes of employment. I would, however, highlight jonri's quote that some law schools do not compute class rank. Yale Law, in particular, refuses to calculate class rank, will not calculate a formal numerical GPA , and does not grant any 'honors'-designation that relies on grades. Nor is participation on the Yale Law Journal (or any of Yale's other legal publications, for that matter) contingent on grades. In short, YLS makes it difficult for anybody to make employment decisions of Yale graduates based on grades or class-rank, and yet Yale Law graduates are certainly not hurting for jobs.</p>
<p>LOL, Sakky. You've at least got to admit that Yale is a bit of a special case. Methinks that, should East Boise State engage in the same practices, there might be a bit of difficulty. </p>
<p>I am NOT, however, disputing that many schools don't calculate an exact class rank, or only calculate it in certain units (we go by 5% here - top 5%, top 10%, etc). Generally though, there is some form of class ranking given out, and, even if there isn't, usually some participation in a legal journal is grade-based (at least in part - many schools allow you to write on, with no mention of grades).</p>
<p>No, to get cum laude you have to be in the top 30% of the class, but not eligible for magna. It's NOT the top 40% of the class. (Summas are given out once every 5-7 years, on average.) So, it's the top 10% of the class gets magna (unless someone that year is eligible for summa, but it's still top 10% of the class including the summa,not after deducting the one person who gets summa before calculating the 10%) and 10%-30% gets cum laude.
So, knock down your calculation for the median gpa a LOT. Most years, the median is a bit lower than a B+.</p>
<p>What exactly are Yale/Boalt's grading practices, if Yale is only P/F the first semester? </p>
<p>Also, I was under the impression that firms had ways of estimating class rank even if the schools did not provide it. Any truth to this?</p>
<p>My guess is that it is quite possible, but I have NO IDEA if it happens in practice. Basically, if a firm gets a bunch of resumes from 2Ls, the students will all list GPA. That will give some sort of idea of how the grades stack up, and, using that and any honours (law review, honours fraternities, writing scholars, etc) the firm could get a decent idea of where each student stands.</p>
<p>Yale's pass/fail system is not quite what it might appear to be and not quite as difficult for someone to determine about where a student stood in the class. First semester, it is simply "pass" or "fail." Thereafter, the grade for each course is "honors," "pass," "low pass," or "fail."</p>
<p>Yeah, that's what I thought. And I doubt many people actually fail.</p>
<p>
[quote]
No, to get cum laude you have to be in the top 30% of the class, but not eligible for magna. It's NOT the top 40% of the class. (Summas are given out once every 5-7 years, on average.) So, it's the top 10% of the class gets magna (unless someone that year is eligible for summa, but it's still top 10% of the class including the summa,not after deducting the one person who gets summa before calculating the 10%) and 10%-30% gets cum laude.
So, knock down your calculation for the median gpa a LOT. Most years, the median is a bit lower than a B+.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Jonri, I am getting my information straight from that BCG guide that you posted. Here is the direct quote:</p>
<p>"Honors:</p>
<p>Summa cum laude 7.200
Magna cum laude: 10% after summa/ (6.013 min. June 2001)
Cum laude: 30% after magna / (5.463 min. June 2001)"</p>
<p>That's what the direct quote from the BCG book says. The key word is "after". Magna cum laude is the 10% AFTER summa. Cum laude is the next 30% AFTER magna. So unless you are saying that the BCG book is wrong, or they are using a definition of the word "after" that I never knew existed, then it's pretty clear - cum laude is the top 40+%.</p>