Grades Open Forum
Loathe the idea of this thread, but providing in response to a comment request below.
One question I had earlier is how can a 3L get a grade before a 2L in the very same class - aren't we on the same curve?
One question I had earlier is how can a 3L get a grade before a 2L in the very same class - aren't we on the same curve?
posted by tj at 9:00 PM
58 Comments:
I don't have any of my grades yet. While it isn't a big deal I just wish they would be quicker on this.
Grades aren't due until June 15th. It's only the 4th.
Relax, and try to resist the temptation to let this thread bring out the worst in you.
I've got one grade - Skl*nsky's Evidence. Just glad to get out of that class with a P. Hardest exam I've ever taken.
All of my grades were up three days ago. I suspect the promptness has to do with my being a 3L. At least one final I took asked me to mark my test if I was a graduating 3L. Maybe they grade us first? I realize that doesn't make sense in terms of a class curve, but I've also never had my grades so early any other semester.
And I will never understand why the moderators of this blog act like discussing grades is so distasteful or will automatically bring out the worst in people. If it's what's our minds, let us talk. I think the out-of-the-gate, judgmental assumptions about your classmates are really what is showing the "worst" in us.
No, I take it back. Actually, the know-it-all grammar naziism is probably actually showing the "worst" in us. But the "discussing grades makes you a bad person" harping is the second worst.
For the record, 10:28, I loathed the idea of this thread for many reasons. For one, it represents the fact law school is over and all these barbri lectures will quickly lead up to something in particular. Barf.
Another 3L here. 2 of 3 grades in. I heard professors have an earlier due date for 3L grades. I am not sure how that all works with the curve.
Yet another 3L. All grades in.
"grammar nazism"
Naziism is an acceptable variant of spelling.
Not all 3Ls have their grades. Personally, I only have 1/3... Let's just hope we all actually graduated!
3L with 1/5 grades. I wish they would hurry up becuase my firm doesn't release our Bar stipend until we turn in a complete transcript. Where did that information about June 14th come from?
3L here. I think it might be most helpful if people respond with as much specificity as possible (obviously withholding actual grades). I have grades in the following courses
-McBaine, pass credit is up
-Corp Income Tax
-Constitutional Law: First Amendment
-Lawyers and Entrepreneurship
I lack grades in the following:
-Sports and the Law
-Advanced Torts
I know for a fact though that the professor in sports law has already submitted grades, but have no idea why they're not up.
I also know that June 9 is considered the last day for any submissions related to 3Ls (WR included). I don't think Patrick is correct that June 15th is when grades are generally due.
Family Law is up.
Remedies
I know for a fact that Patrick is never wrong.
One time he thought he was, but he was mistaken.
I've got a grade in Con Law with Massey, and he's also sent out the exam post mortem. What do you guys think is a decent transcript assortment? I'm 50/50 in Ps and Hs with one HH in the mix, and I'm feeling comfortable with my grades, but uncertain of whether they are typical or abysmal.
2:37, I'm assuming you're a 1L. You're probably somwhere in the second of four quartiles.
Calculate your GPA.
HH = 5
H = 3
P = 2
Multiply by number of units for the class, divide by total units.
GPA
> 3.0 roughly top 1/3
2.6-3.0 roughly middle 1/3
< 2.6 roughly bottom 1/3
Two things. First, I'm very, very confident about the June 15th deadline. I’m less confident about professors’ ability to *meet* that deadline, but that’s a separate issue.
Second, grade comparison stuff is unsavory. Everyone WILL eventually get their grades (remember when you were anxious and beside yourself to turn 21? it did eventually happen!), which means the discussion here is unproductive -- the conversation points will all be moot by July. Granted, “unproductive” is pretty much the stuff of blogs, but grade talk is different because it also can be socially harmful: grades are a measure of students vis a vis each other, which is not a particularly objective standard, except vis a vis each other. That means that for every kudos there is a corresponding disappointment, even though every single student at Boalt is smart and successful. Comparing grades (even anonymously) sows seeds that will nurture that disappointment in a very public way. Worse still, it encourages the sort of empty status and relative prestige that, I feel, is both false and unproductive.
I'm not saying don't do it, and I'm not saying kill this thread (though frankly I would love to do just that) but I am registering my polite suggestion to err on the side of tact and grace when it comes to an “open forum” on highly personal evaluations, like grades. There is a part of each of us that wants desperately to talk about grades, especially now, but in truth it's neither necessary nor productive.
Those are just my two cents, and if we put a vote to it I'd likely be shot down. I understand that. But still. Is there really a justifiable reason to go there?
For the people worried about grades (i.e. those reading this thread), as a graduated 3L, i feel it's my duty to tell you not to assume that seminars will be more generous with grades. i have had not one, but TWO, seminars at boalt in which the professor gave fewer good grades than the curve allowed. get the intel on grades before you take the class, or accept that you may be disappointed.
well, even if it's a seminar, you only get the more generous curve when there's a paper of 30 pages or more attached to it. keep in mind that a small class doesn't mean better curve.
Is the paper requirement for seminars true? Where does that come from? How can you have a curve if the class is so small?
(former) 3L
In:
1st Amendment
Trusts and Estates
299 for WR
Out:
A seminar with a paper.
The rule about seminars and the fact that they allow a more generous curve is outlined in the yellow calendar. It can likely be found on the registrar's website too.
I've got the following grades in:
Pre-trial Civil Lit
Remedies
Liu's Contemporary Con Law
Still waiting on:
Topics in Evidence
Complex Civil Lit
my god caley, that schedule looks harder than my last three semesters combined
grades in -
sex-based discrimination
partnership tax
tax policy
labor law
still waiting -
complex civil lit...and I expect it at the last poss moment, whatever that may be :oP
i'm a (former?) 3L
(Hopefully) graduated 3L, still waiting for Securities Reg II and International Tax (a 4-person class!)
Securities Reg II is understandable - the professor also taught a gigantic corporations class. Four 3-hour exams, on the other hand...
For Patrick:
Grades Grades Grades HH H HH Rankings H P AmJur Prosser GPA HH Order of the Coif HH Grades
I don't get it. Is Patrick supposed to be an easily fooled search engine?
Alright I'll bite. Rising 1L here with a question: are there separate Amjur/Prossers for 1Ls and 2L/3Ls when they're in the same class, or are the awards just for best and second-best exam overall?
Wait, you haven't even started law school and you're asking that? That's it. I'm transferring.
You must mean you are a current 1L. And you are now "rising" to be a 2L. At least I'm assuming, because I didn't know what a Prossers and AmJurs WERE until the end of my first semester. To answer your question, I believe all the students in each class compete for just 2 prizes.
To 3:20: I got an Amjur last year as a 1L and confirmed with the registrar that the professor has the option of having either 2 total prizes, or 2 prizes for each curve.
Who gets an amjur and then checks with the registrar to see if he/she got the only one???
I got an award last semester and in an interview I was asked about it. I had no idea what it was and so I stumbled around the question.
I guess for the future I would want to know exactly what the award was and how many people get it in each class. So I don't think 8:04 was being unreasonable.
Fair enough. --9:09
(Bracing for expected attack...) What if you were in a small class and got an HH, where that would statistically put you in spot one or two? Do professors always get in touch individually, or do you have to wait to find out until the transcripts are updated in July? Do all professors give awards, even in small classes? If it lowers my a-hole quotient at all, this is the first HH I've ever gotten.
Some small classes include the awards, some don't. Some professors reach out and congratulate individually via email, some don't.
At any rate, it will be noted on your transcript when grades are finalized later this month. You'll also get a kind letter from the Boalt Registrar, probably by the end of the summer, though it may take a while. You'll have it in time for OCIP/Clerkship applications, if that's what you're wondering.
Even if your professor did not give any awards, you did a great job -- and the HH shows it. So congratulate yourself, kick back, try not to think about school or grades and just enjoy your summer. Patience brings all!
Before you go ask the registrar about why your HH in a 20-person class didn't net you an AmJur or a Prosser, it might help to remember that the academic rules allow professors to award extra H and HH grades in small classes. In a class of 18-20, for example, a total of 6 additional H and HH grades are availble, and can be distributed however the professor sees fit. For more info, go here, and scroll down to "Grading Rules and Policies: Part E, Seminars." (Don't ask me why we were too lazy to put anchor links on that page.)
Aside from that, I agree with everything Patrick says.
10:21, it doesn't make you an a-hole to do well. Something is wrong with this school that we seem to associate good grades with douchiness. People shouldn't be shamed into not wanting to do well.
And (shock) the registrar is kind of inconsistent about the awards thing. Sometimes they mail out award letters and sometimes they don't. Bear facts sometimes shows awards and sometimes doesn't. But you'll get a hard copy of your transcript before ocip and that will show everything. If you're curious after that, just order another copy of your transcript.
Does anyone else have their classes posted on the academic record section of BearFacts with no grades next to them? I have 2 with grades and 2 without.
Yeah that happened today. June 11 was the day the main campus said transcripts would be ready (it's on the login page of BearFacts). All the grades moved from Current Term to Prior Term and they filled in the class names. I seem to remember this happening last eyar too. I think it just was blank until the prof got around to submitting the grade.
Does anybody else wonder why it seems to take berkeley so much longer to get grades in? I have friends who got their grades in one week.
My guess: bad technology.
Does anybody else wonder why it seems to take berkeley so much longer to get grades in? I have friends who got their grades in one week.
Ingrate.
Bearfacts is now completely down.
Missing three grades. Yeesh.
Juan Acero, donde estas? Cada dia te espero, pero nunca llegas.
Can we Wall of Shame the classes without grades yet?
Criminal Procedure: Investigations
Law of Lawyering
Civil Procedure II
Estoy aquí. Lo siento. Es mi avería. Estoy trabajando. Entregaré los regalos a cada uno muy pronto. ¡disfrute del fin de semana!
still waiting on 3, including Mod Financial Products (the final was in March!!!)
trade secrets still missing.
I've submitted my grades. They're awaiting curve approval and then will be posted in due course. My apologies for the delay.
John Steele
Yay for Professor Steele and his open communication. I just wish he were one of the 3 professors I'm still missing grades from. Impatient because I can't get my bar stipend w/out final grades. Seriously, Dalhusi*n, mid-March. There were 20 of us and we took the final in mid-March!
From a little birdie who cares:
For those who are chewing your nails re. Spring CP II: his grades will be available fianal transcripts later, but will not be available in bearfacts any time soon. You can get them individually by emailing Mindi.
Crim Pro Investigations just showed up.
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