The Almighty Law School Grading Curve

More than two years ago, the online edition of The Wall Street Journal "Law Blog" included a post entitled, "Grading the Law School Grading Curve."  The initial question posed in the brief entry was, "...do curves — whether they have low or high C distributions — even matter?"

Law students have long complained about the artificiality inherent in grading curves. Many maintain that their chances of landing the dream job (or perhaps ANY job) may be sabotaged by a curve that makes their achievements appear less valuable than those of a comparable student at a "competitor" school with a more lenient grading policy.

A Wikipedia list, purportedly updated in August of 2010, claims to show where 78 law schools set the 50% mark.

You ought to be aware of your law school's grading policy. But even awareness may not be enough.  For example, "One day next month every student at Loyola Law School Los Angeles will awake to a higher grade point average," reported the New York Times online edition on June 21, 2010.  According to the New York Times article, this is but one example of many ... and it is not "grade inflation."  That's because the law schools refuse to call it that.  Rather, this is "grade reform."

"Some schools," the article (written by Catherine Rampell) explains "bump up everyone’s grades, some just allow for more As and others all but eliminate the once-gentlemanly C."

The "curve" has it proponents, its detractors, and its inherent flaws.  One way to beat the curve?  Excel.