List of law school GPA curves
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law schools in the United States A law school in the United States is an educational institution where students obtain a professional education in law after first obtaining an undergraduate degree. Law schools in the U.S. confer the degree of Juris Doctor (J.D.), which is a ...
grade on a norm-referenced grading curve. The process generally works within each class, where the instructor grades each exam, and then ranks the exams against each other, adding to and subtracting from the initial grades so that the overall grade distribution matches the school's specified curve (usually a bell curve). "The curve" is the permitted range of each letter grade that can be awarded, for example, 0-3% A+, 3-7% A, etc. Curves vary between different law schools, as do the rules for when the curve is mandatory versus suggestive. It is common for the curve to be mandatory for first-year ("1L") courses, and for classes above a certain size. Grading on a curve contributes to the notoriously competitive atmosphere within law schools. "The main source of this competition is the mandatory curve you will likely encounter once you enter law school. The curve affects the class rank, affects the chances of making law review, affects the chances of scoring that big job/externship." Some law schools set their curve lower to retain scholarship funding; others set their curve higher to make their students more competitive in the job market. The following list shows where law schools set the 50% mark for an individual class subject to the curve. Because not all classes are curved and because professors still have discretion within the curve's ranges, where a law school sets its curve is not necessarily revealing of that school's average student GPA (whether after 1L or upon graduation).


The list


Class rank and GPA not reported

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American University Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleytown section of no ...
- No curve. Estimated class rankings are published after each semester. Estimates of numerical rankings are only reported after graduation. * University at Buffalo Law School – no curve, but benchmarks for top 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% for each class are released after each semester * Columbia Law School – Only 33% of 1L class grades are A-'s or higher. GPA not reported. Upper year courses have an easier curve. GPA calculated based on 4.33 scale. *
New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...
– not reported, but likely around 3.4 after 1L.http://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/upload_documents/gradesAcademicStandards.pdf * University of Michigan Law School – class rank is not established until after graduation *
University of New Mexico School of Law The University of New Mexico School of Law (UNM Law or New Mexico Law) is the law school of the University of New Mexico, a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1947, it is the first and only law school in the state. ...
– class rank is not provided but a bar graph is provided showing GPA distribution *
University of Notre Dame Law School Notre Dame Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, it is the oldest continuously operating Catholic Church, Catholic law school in the United States. ND Law is ranked 22nd among th ...
– 1L courses (except for 1L elective, which is graded as an upper‐level course, and Legal Writing (I & II)) mean must be between 3.25 and 3.30 with a mandatory distribution. 1L Legal Writing (I & II) Mean: 3.15 to 3.45. Large upper-level courses for 2L and 3L (>25 students) must have a mean between 3.25 and 3.35 with a mandatory distribution. Paper-Based Small Upper-Level Courses (10 to 24 students) Mean: 3.15 to 3.60. Small upper-level courses (10 to 24 students) must have a mean between 3.15 and 3.45 with no mandatory distribution. Small courses (9 or fewer students) do not have a required curve. *
University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...
– In typical circumstances moderate- to large-sized classes will approximate the following distribution (+/- 2%): the top 15% in the A category (including the grade of A+, if any), the next 20% in the A- category, followed by the next 30% in the B+ category, followed by the next 35% in the B category (including B- and C). Instructors can award a grade of B-, C, or Fail (No Credit) upon petitioning the Registrar. This curve is mandatory for all 1L courses, including electives. The 1L LPS course (Legal Writing) is graded on an Honors/Pass/Fail basis. Students may visit the registrar to get their GPA and/or class rank, but the school does not report that information or permit students to include it on resumes. * Rutgers School of Law–Camden – class rank was eliminated in 1972; each semester, the law school identifies Dean's Scholars as the top 5% and Dean's List as the next 20%; at graduation, highest honors and high honors are determined by the faculty and honors is given to the top 15% * Rutgers School of Law–Newark – class rank is not published; however, upon graduation, rank is used to determine graduation honors with top 10% awarded
Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...
and cum laude; top 5% awarded magna cum laude; and top 1% awarded summa cum laude. * University of Texas School of Law – "It is the policy of The University of Texas School of Law not to rank its students on the basis of academic standing." Therefore, students may not estimate class standing or indicate a percentile ranking on their resumes, cover letters or application materials. UT Law does, however, release interim cutoffs to continuing students for top 25% and top 50% at the end of the school year. Additionally, the school bestows honors on the top 1%, 5%, 10%, and 35% of graduating students. The top sixteen students in the class at the end of the second year are also recognized as Chancellors, with the top four students being identified in order as Grand Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Clerk, and Keeper of the Peregrinus.


Irregular grading systems

The following law schools have adopted a grading system which does not allow for the calculation of a comparable median GPA on a 4.0 scale, if any GPA is recorded at all: * Berkeley Law (aka Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, Law School – pass/no pass system with 10% of first-years receiving pass with high honors and 30% of first-year students receiving pass with honors in each class; for upper division classes (2L and 3L years) up to 15% of in a class may receive high honors and up to 45% may receive either honors or high honors. Additionally, the top student in a course may be awarded the American Jurisprudence Award. The second-highest performing student in a course may be awarded the Prosser Prize. * Campbell Law School – mandatory median (82, or a C) *
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
– The current grading system of dean's scholar, honors, pass, low pass, and fail had at one time a recommended curve of 37% honors, 55% pass, and 8% low pass in classes with over 30 JD and LLM students, but the curve is no longer enforced in any manner. Between 1970 and 2008 Harvard established a GPA cut-off required in order to obtain the summa cum laude distinction. During that time, only 5 students achieved the GPA required for the distinction of summa cum laude (33 out of the 38 years, the top student only managed to obtain the magna cum laude distinction, for example, there was a 15-year hiatus until Lisa Ann Grow managed to obtain summa cum laude). Those who have managed to obtain the summa cum laude distinction include
Lewis Sargentich Lewis Daniel "Lew" Sargentich (b. 1944), frequently referred to simply as "Sarge", has been a professor at Harvard Law School since 1973 where he teaches courses tort law and jurisprudence. Sargentich is well known for his record as a student at ...
('70), Isaac Pachulski ('74), Peter Huber ('82), Lisa Ann Grow/Sun ('97), Julian Poon ('99). Since 2008, to address the difficulty of obtaining the summa cum laude distinction, in a year where no student manages to meet the GPA cut-off, Harvard will now award summa cum laude to the top student of the year (a rank that did not guarantee summa cum laude in the past). *
Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...
– uses a scale of 72–100; the mandatory mean range for first-year courses is 81–83. Below are the class rankings: *
Northeastern University School of Law Northeastern University School of Law (NUSL) is the law school of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as an evening program to meet the needs of its local community, NUSL is nationally recognized for its cooperative legal ed ...
– written evaluations given for each course with honorifics (High Honors and Honors) awarded "for strong academic performance." * Stanford Law School – pass/no pass system with honors and distinctions, with a hard limit of 30% honors in lecture classes and 40% in seminars *
University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dist ...
– uses unusual numeric grade with median of 177 *
Wake Forest University School of Law The Wake Forest University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of Wake Forest University. Located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Wake Forest University School of Law is a private American Bar Association (ABA) accredited ...
– curved at 85 (ended with the Class of 2017). Beginning with the Class of 2018: curved at 88. *UPDATE - Beginning with the Class of 2019: A+ 4.00; A 4.00; A- 3.67; B+ 3.33; B 3.00; B- 2.67; C+ 2.33; C 2.00; C- 1.67; D+ 1.33; D 1.00; D- 0.67; F 0.00; H Honors; P Pass; LP Low Pass; F Fail. *
Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
– honors/pass/fail system with no fixed curve * University of Wisconsin Law School - GPA calculated based on a 4.3 scale


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Law School Gpa Curves Educational assessment and evaluation Law schools in the United States