Honor Code, Schmonor Code...
So I personally couldn't give a ... about my class ranking, people seem to be really exercised about it in the comments. Cool. I'm not judging. But I was curious about something: in her original email, Dean O said:
That got me thinking about the Honor Code. So I actually read it (NB: I didn't pore over it. I skimmed it. I have better things to do. Really. I do.). And I just don't see any language that in the Code that reads anything like "you can't talk about your ranking." If they're going to insist we take that thing seriously (and the number of times Dean O trots out "it's a violation of the Honor Code..." indicates they expect us to take it seriously), then they can't be all chicken little about it. Where's the language in the Honor Code about not discussing rankings? Tell me please. The Code is here.
Update: Check out the comments to see what an idiot I am! Ahh, if I've learned nothing else in law school (and really, it's sad how little I've learned), I have learned humility. And humiliation. Both of those. Good times.
Remember, if you do receive your ranking from me, you may use it only for purposes of applying for a clerkship. Any other use or disclosure would be a violation of the Honor Code.
That got me thinking about the Honor Code. So I actually read it (NB: I didn't pore over it. I skimmed it. I have better things to do. Really. I do.). And I just don't see any language that in the Code that reads anything like "you can't talk about your ranking." If they're going to insist we take that thing seriously (and the number of times Dean O trots out "it's a violation of the Honor Code..." indicates they expect us to take it seriously), then they can't be all chicken little about it. Where's the language in the Honor Code about not discussing rankings? Tell me please. The Code is here.
Update: Check out the comments to see what an idiot I am! Ahh, if I've learned nothing else in law school (and really, it's sad how little I've learned), I have learned humility. And humiliation. Both of those. Good times.
posted by Anonymous at 6:16 PM
12 Comments:
Uhm, could it be in the entire section devoted to class rank?
3.06 Disclosure of Class Rank Information for Limited Purposes
Information about students' class standing shall be made available solely for the purpose of aiding students applying for judicial clerkships and academic positions.
...
(D) Other Uses Impermissible. The Dean, Dean of Students, faculty, and students shall not disclose information about class standing provided by the Registrar under this section for any professional purpose other than obtaining a judicial clerkship or academic position. A student who reveals this information for any other professional purpose is in violation of the Honor Code.
If you noticed in subsection (D) it says that class rank may not be disclosed for any other "professional" purpose. Sharing one's rank with one's inferiors for that brief second of satisfaction is hardly a professional purpose.
Share away says the cat.
If you read all the sections of 3.06 closely, you'll note that the school isn't actually abiding by its own provisions.
Let's just make sure we don't become one of those schools where everyone knows everyone else's rank. That would be really tacky and Hastings-esque.
As Boalt continues to privatize and charge almost the same tuition rates as private law schools, it will have to yield to student demands for more information about their standing and more precision in grading. And student services and the registrar will have to be rebuilt to be service (with a smile) oriented.
Where are all these throngs of red hots beating down the doors of the registrar's or student services' office demanding "more information about their standing and more precision in grading"?
I suspect that many of us chose Boalt precisely because of its grading and class rank-disclosure policy.
What did it take to get top 5%? Did you 5%'ers get straight HH's or close to that?
Just for informational purposes, I got my ranking today (Friday) from Dean O: top 30%. My grades are as follows: 3 HH's, 1 H, 7 P's. I don't know if awards are weighted in, but I have 1 AmJur and I got a WOA award. Hope that helps clarify things a little.
Incidentally, to add another twist to the discussion: I got zero callbacks during OCIP. I'd be curious to know if anyone else had a similar experience.
Just to give a comparison to 11:29 AM--I was about the same range, top 25%, but I only have one P, but also only one HH.
So the way they do the ranking, it is better to get a HH than it is to not get a P.
Maybe this is just me being selfish, but this seems to me to be a bad policy. It puts more emphasis on squeezing into that top 10% of the class, which seems kind of anti-Boalt. Also, it gives a huge advantage to students who take lots of small classes off the curve, as opposed to the bigger lecture classes with strict curves.
DS agrees with 3:11. If one were to get the top P in every class you could be ranked at the very bottom of Boalt despite being consistently better than 59% of the student body. Our grading curve rewards a picking and choosing type approach to exams and classes. This approach would reward receiving excellent grades in very few classes and low grades in many classes.
Although every strict grade curve has the same problem. If you were to get a B in every class - assuming a 20-60-20 curve, you could be smarter than 79% of the class but only be ranked above 20% of them.
Also, to actually implement the strategy you'd have to really care about your class rank instead of learning as much as you can in every class.
DS supposes that every curve will have major problems. Is Boalt's grading system better than any other schools? Probably not. Good thing all of us go to a school whose name recognition is high enough to get us a job with out much effort.
I've decided that the system to mete out ranks is counter-productive. (Aren't I smart.)
We at Boalt aren't supposed to care about our rankings. (I care alot). Thus, the administration tries to discourage us from caring or focusing on our rankings.
Unfortunately for the administration the personal emails from Dean O to every person over a pain staking month long (Seemingly) process gives the ranking a mysticism it shouldn't really possess.
I feel like each ranking is hand crafted and gifted upon us from on-high. Each ranking is a morsel of mana from heaven. Each ranking is an individual in some ways more important than the "individual" that ranking is attached to
Anyway if rankings aren't important just mass email a coded spreadsheet to everyone.
Rant rant blah blah blah.
I like the ranking system, but I would like it if no emails went out about getting your rank. If you need it, you knew about it already or should be able to find out. The ranking system itself is good. As others said, it makes the whole game into a question of top 10% or nothing. What that means is that as soon as someone realizes that the top 10% isn't realistic, there's no more reason to freak out about grades. Since it's possible to have all P's and still be better than average in each class, it takes the pressure off. No need to feel like a loser because you didn't do better. Most of us have trouble adjusting to ignoring grades, but the system goes a long way toward making that happen. Boalt is a better place to be as a result. Now if only we could get them to stop sending out mass emails reminding us that we are being ranked.
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