- Grades: A Perspective — Grades Matter, but Service Matters More, by William A. Chamberlain (Assistant Dean, Law Career Strategy and Advancement, Northwestern):
Grades loom like Marley's ghost or the Spirit of Christmas Future in the minds of law students, particularly first-years, at this time of year. In no other profession do grades play such a central role in hiring decisions, and they matter even ten years out of law school.
Grades especially matter at the largest firms, which pay six-figure salaries to students right out of law school. Because supply far exceeds demand for those positions, grades become an efficient evaluation tool, however flawed, for these employers. They also influence hiring at the federal government honors programs. Judicial clerkships at all levels have become more competitive in terms of grades. Even non-profits are not immune. Several post-graduate public interest fellowship programs consider grades.
The downturn in legal hiring has made getting good grades, particularly in the first year, even more important.
- Above the Law, Harvard and Georgetown Make Grading Easier:
Harvard: HLS recently changed from a letter grade system to a modified pass/fail system. Now the grades are High Pass/Pass/Low Pass/Fail. … When the new grading system was implemented, however, there was a mandate that 8% of the class had to receive a “low pass.” This is Harvard, after all. But not anymore. … Just learned that HLS faculty voted to dump mandatory LPs.
Georgetown:
Grade
Old Curve
New Curve
A
10%
12%
A-
15%
19%
B+
25%
28%
B
30%
31%-36%
B-
15%
5%-10% (B- & Below)
C+
5% (C+ & Below)
n/a
Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- Lake Wobegon Michigan: 50 Years of Grade Inflation (Mar. 2, 2009)
- Harvard Adopts Pass-Fail Grades Like Yale & Stanford (Sept. 26, 2008)
- Greta Calls Law School Grading a "Fraud" — She Gave "Almost Everybody" A's at Georgetown (Sept. 23, 2008)
- Law School as Lake Wobegon: The Gentleman's C Becomes the Gentleman's B (Feb. 26, 2008)
