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CompetitionInPreparationForCareersTalk 6 - 20 Feb 2008 - Main.AmandaHungerford
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="GradingCurveTalk" |
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The question is, should law school be teaching us competition in preparation for our careers? I think this question harks back in many ways to whether we think law school is a "vocational school." If you really think law school is just about making you into a good associate at X firm, then maybe depriving us of sleep and pitting us against one another early on is a great thing. But, if law school is about teaching you how to think critically about the law and getting you to thoroughly analyze the material that you're working with, then a system which discourages collaboration is antithetical to that idea. | | | 3) This is how it has always been and it is what everyone does. It is difficult to resist that inertia. | |
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< | | | | -- SandorMarton - 20 Feb 2008 | |
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> | Sandor,
I think you're probably right about points (1) and (2). But what, exactly, are firms measuring us by with the curve? Our ability to take one standardized test? Surely there are better ways of predicting how well we'll fair as lawyers. All of the public interest organizations I interviewed with not only didn't ask to see my grades, but refused them when I offered them. I don't know what it means that firms care more about your grades, while public interest organizations care more about your previous work experience, but I think it must mean something.
As for your point (3), I don't know if that's true. I know the CLS only instituted the A, B, C, F grading system in December 1994; I don't know what method of evaluation they used before that (Eben, do you know?). Also, neither Berkley nor Yale use grades, and most other schools use a less strict curve than we do. | | | | |
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< | -- MiaWhite - 20 Feb 2008 | >
> | -- AmandaHungerford - 20 Feb 2008 | | |
I was in the elevator with a fellow student last month who excitedly asked "have you checked your Civ Pro grade? They just came in!" My heart began to pound. I didn't even realize they were in--how could I have possibly missed the email from the registrar? Then he said, "don't worry, you got a B. We all got Bs." He was right.
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