gregh  2008-07-03 11:15  curve  gradeinflation  grades  Law_School  usf   

So, what's the impact of USF's new, unnecessary, inflated curve?

Obviously, it has greatly increased GPAs, which stands to reason. However, it should also be clear how much the altered curve will disadvantage those who have less opportunity to make use of it.

This year's 2nd-year part-timers had an entire first year under the harsher curve, but their class ranking will be negatively impacted during recruiting because, for ranking purposes, they'll be bunched in with students who have had an entire, full-time first-year under the new curve.

This year's 4th-year part-timers like me entered this year, with the gentler curve, with fewer units to take (and one semester entirely scheduled, even if we wanted to do something about it) before graduation.

All told, slipstreaming such a massive change in on everyone else with no method of correcting for the changes is wildly unfair. Next spring, when this year's 2nd-year part-timers are in the same pool as this year's first-year full-timers for rank, what are they going to tell employers who couldn't care less about GPAs (most of them) when their rank is lower, because they had a tougher curve?

The administration claimed they did this immediately because it was the best solution. I think it's pretty clear that they actually did it because it was the expedient solution. Well, they got what they wanted. People have higher GPAs. Yay.

gregh  2008-07-02 15:29  grades  Law_School  rank   

For those who have been looking for them, I've posted them. I expect this to be the last time that I'll post this information. It's a funny time of year, because my page view counts go through the ceiling, and search keywords give away the worries and curiosities of people.

As for the Spring 2008 numbers, you may note that they've gone from 3 decimal places to 2. You probably already noticed this on your transcript or grade report, anyway. I asked the registrar's office if that's permanent, and I was told that it's not clear.

Next, for those on the cusp of graduation honors: there's not necessarily a direct correlation between these numbers and graduation honors. Not everyone in the grade band graduates; most everyone must, however. The breakdown lists 217 people in the class, and I thought that 218 graduated. The honors, perhaps, are an issue because of people who transfer in. I don't really know. I know that I'm right on one of the boundaries, within an upward rounding range; I only know my exact GPA because I track it to 3 places on my own.

Anyhow, that's it. After this semester, I expect things to migrate to Citizen Kendrick, unless they've changed their minds (or come to their senses.)

gregh  2008-07-02 15:15  grades  Law_School  rank  usf   

This table shows the breakdown of percentile ranks by GPA for the University of San Francisco School of Law as of the Spring 2008 semester, i.e., as of the end of the 2007-2008 school year.

	5%	10%	15%	20%	25%	33 1/3%	40%	50%	60%	80%
1FT & 1PT = 236	3.63 & above	3.46 - 3.62	3.38 - 3.45	3.31 - 3.37	3.20 - 3.30	3.09 - 3.19	3.02 - 3.08	2.87 - 3.01	2.71 - 2.86	2.38 - 2.70
2FT, 2PT & 3PT = 228	3.55 & above	3.42 - 3.54	3.33 - 3.41	3.21 - 3.32	3.16 - 3.20	3.06 - 3.15	2.99 - 3.05	2.84 - 2.98	2.75 - 2.83	2.55 - 2.74
3FT, 4FT & 4PT = 217	3.54 & above	3.43 - 3.53	3.38 - 3.42	3.29 - 3.37	3.23 - 3.28	3.15 - 3.22	3.07 - 3.14	3.01 - 3.06	2.93 - 3.00	2.72 - 2.92

gregh  2008-06-09 11:35  grades  Law_School  waiting_for_grades   

Sure wouldn't mind getting that last grade, so I could finally put an end to this aspect of waiting and start worrying about bar exam results waiting. Got my big "CR" in my one credit/no credit class today, which means I still have a graded class to go. And then there's the waiting for the registrar's office to post the final class position numbers.

Hmm. Lots of waiting.

gregh  2008-01-28 21:25  grades  Law_School  usf   

	5%	10%	15%	20%	25%	33 1/3%	40%	50%	60%	80%
1FT & 1PT = 241	3.660 & above	3.553 - 3.659	3.393 - 3.552	3.250 - 3.392	3.200 - 3.249	3.100 - 3.199	3.040 - 3.099	2.880 - 3.039	2.707 - 2.879	2.300 - 2.706
2FT, 2PT & 3PT = 232	3.515 & above	3.388 - 3.514	3.279 - 3.387	3.205 - 3.278	3.095 - 3.204	2.975 - 3.094	2.893 - 2.974	2.810 - 2.892	2.670 - 2.809	2.435 - 2.669
3FT, 4FT & 4PT = 233	3.500 & above	3.419 - 3.499	3.330 - 3.418	3.266 - 3.329	3.212 - 3.265	3.080 - 3.211	3.027 - 3.079	2.960 - 3.026	2.869 - 2.959	2.673 - 2.868

For a fun exercise, check out the 1L differences from Fall 2006 (under the old curve) under the new curve.

gregh  2007-08-07 21:09  curve  grades  Law_School   

First Year Courses

	Maximum	Minimum
A+ (4.3 grade points)	2%	0%
A- and above	20%	10%
B- and above	70%	55%
C- and below	12%	8%
D and below	5%	0%

All Other Required Courses (Constitutional Law and Evidence, not not Legal Ethics)

	Maximum	Minimum
A+ (4.3 grade points)	2 students	0
A- and above	25%	10%
B- and above	75%	55%
C- and below	15%	0%

Bar Electives

	Maximum	Minimum
A+ (4.3 grade points)	2 students	0
A- and above	25%	10%
B- and above	75%	55%
C- and below	10%	0%

Seminar and Small Elective Course (all seminar courses, including Legal Ethics, and to all non-bar courses with 20 or fewer students)

	Maximum	Minimum
A+ (4.3 grade points)	2 students	0
A- and above	50%	15%
B- and above	100%	50%
C- and below	10%	0%

All Other Courses

	Maximum	Minimum
A+ (4.3 grade points)	2 students	0
A- and above	40%	15%
B- and above	100%	50%
C- and below	10%	0%

gregh  2007-08-07 20:55  gradeinflation  grades  Grading  Law_School   

I'm not really sure I buy into the idea that grade inflation leads to better job opportunities for law students. In fact, in "The one goes to 11," I mocked the practice. I pointed out, "Recently, there was a limited push by the SBA at USF to look at raising the median; I think it's withered on the vine." Therefore, it gives me no great pleasure to report that USF has decided to repaint the numbers on our grading dial. All current students should have received an email from Dean Micon today informing them of the change. Specifically, we are told that the new policy allows grades to "accurately reflect student achievement, provide students reliable information about their academic progress, and establish a basis for meaningful comparison with both classmates and counterparts from other institutions."

I'm at a loss to explain how any of those things is better accomplished by this changed policy. As I look at the tables, here's what I see: 1) One or two students, who would likely get the CALI anyway, not get an A+; 2) Professors no longer have to give out anything lower than a B- in any elective; and 3) The middle is fatter. There are some other changes, but they seem considerably less significant. Two classes saw the greatest impact. Constitutional Law and Evidence previously had 10% to 20% of students receiving grades of C- and below. Now, it's possible that no students will receive a C- or below.

I know that many students will be jumping for joy over this. A number will be thrilled with the changes to the grading of bar elective courses. I, personally, don't have a huge problem with it, other than that it throws of my spreadsheets and with the 4.3 value afforded A+'s, potentially my class rank extrapolations. That, and that I don't really see the point.

gregh  2007-06-22 17:46  grades  Law_School  rank  usf   

This table shows the breakdown of percentile ranks by GPA for the University of San Francisco School of Law as of the Spring 2007 semester, i.e., as of the end of the 2006-2007 school year.

	5%	10%	15%	20%	25%	33 1/3%	40%	50%	60%	80%
1FT & 1PT = 221	3.552 & above	3.386 - 3.547	3.195 - 3.374	3.110 - 3.190	3.017 - 3.100	2.914 - 3.010	2.869 - 2.911	2.728 - 2.866	2.579 - 2.721	2.274 - 2.555
2FT, 2PT & 3PT = 250	3.496 & above	3.374 - 3.492	3.304 - 3.369	3.233 - 3.302	3.159 - 3.224	3.043 - 3.156	2.972 - 3.013	2.865 - 2.968	2.738 - 2.854	2.544 - 2.724
3FT, 4FT & 4PT = 189	3.505 & above	3.394 - 3.493	3.343 - 3.393	3.259 - 3.340	3.174 - 3.252	3.060 - 3.167	3.013 - 3.056	2.951 - 3.012	2.876 - 2.944	2.680 - 2.873

gregh  2007-06-22 17:25  grades  Law_School  usf   

I've updated the data for the Grade/Percentile Charts with Spring 2007 data, which I'll be posting under separate cover shortly.

Big movement visible from the charts? Check out the graduating class. That's where the big action was.

And many thanks to my "fan" (I'm just going to have to print out that email and show people: "See, my blog has a fan!") for providing the data electronically, straight from the horse's mouth. Next semester, I'll bear in mind that I could just go ask them for it...

gregh  2007-06-11 23:45  grades  Law_School  rank  usf   

As I continue my recent foray into law school grades, one thing I've been interested in over the years are the variations in the percentile ranks between years. With a curve in place, one would expect these to be relatively constant. However, the curve has a lot of room for professors to play with, and based on limited empirical data but lots of anecdotes, some classes have harsh professors while others do not. That may be one reason for variances.

What I've done, then, is take the data and chart it. The first thing that becomes clear when it's charted is that the differences aren't that great. Of course, with a range that effectively begins at 2.0 and ends at 4.0, there won't be too much going on, anyway. Depending on where you fall and how much you care, these little changes can indeed be meaningful. What's more, even some of these little differences can be interesting.

I've pulled the cut-offs for each of the percentiles and charted them. I've done two different types of charts. The first type is a combined chart by year of the numbers as distributed by the registrar. The second type is a multi-year chart by class, so see where the variations are there. I've included the Fall 2006 combined chart, even though it's the only Fall data I've kept. Because it's the only one, and also because most of the interesting stuff happens at year-end, I didn't do anything with Fall data in the class-by-class breakdowns.

• Spring 2007 Combined
• Fall 2006 Combined
• Spring 2006 Combined
• Spring 2005 Combined
• 3FT-4PT By Year
• 2FT-2PT-3PT By Year
• 1FT-1PT By Year

Combined Charts

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Class Charts

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