Updated class ranks for the Classes of 2008 and 2009 are now available, per an email from Dean O. Shockingly, it's well in advance of the stated March deadline!
While I appreciate Boalt's de-emphasis on grades and class rank, there's no denying that grades are important for certain jobs. I'm not advocating that Boalt change its grading system or allow students to disclose class rank for most purposes -- I think those policies are important to maintaining Boalt's non-competitive character and forcing employers to look beyond numbers on a resume. But students shouldn't be ostracized and sneered at for wanting to know where they stand when, in fact, it matters.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
13 comments:
I'm pleasantly surprised that the Registrar's office actually put the ranks out when they said they would. I mean, no offense, and I'm happy and all, but after being skeptical for so long about so much, getting the real deal is kind of like waking up and finding Jesus in your kitchen, making waffles.
Can any 3Ls offer any guidance/pointers to resources for what class ranks seem to make you viable or not for different kinds of clerkships?
based on my experience, top 15 or 20% w/o Law Review is not very competitive for circuit or district court clerkships in most non-flyover districts
top 10% or bust! Of course, as Dean O will tell you, many losers with lower rankings have gone on to do important things with their lives.
It's ludicrous to me that the school still bows to pressure from judges to rank students despite so much emphasis being placed on the alternate/non-competitive grading system, and for students to be non-competitive with their peers.
Many other top schools don't rank students and their students place equally well for clerkships (if not better).
I'm torn on whether the school should rank students for clerkships/academia jobs. I have no "moral" problem with the use of ranks; I think the school should do whatever makes us most competitive for these positions.
On one hand, it's true that schools like Harvard, Northwestern, and Georgetown don't rank their students before graduation (or do so on a very limited basis, i.e. only breaking down top 10%, 33%, and 50%), so judges can't use their class rank when selecting clerks. However, their grading systems might be a lot easier to understand. I just fear that without rank, judges would automatically dismiss a Boalt application because it's too hard to decipher. (On the other hand, the ranking system seems to now let them automatically dismiss any application that doesn't meet their numeric cut off, which hurts some applicants and helps others.)
10:23 - you are right that rankings allow judges to easily screen out qualified boalt applicants (especially with OSCAR). This sucks.
I think you are wrong that a failure to rank would cause judges to automatically dismiss Boalt applications. Admittedly, our grading system is difficult to decipher, but I cannot imagine judges (or more accurately, their clerks) blindly screening out Boalt resumes.
We don't exactly clean up on the clerkship circuit, but we have too many qualified applicants for our applications not to be taken seriously. Plus, judges in the major markets like CA, NY, and D.C. have enough experience already with Boalt apps to know how to interpret our wacky system.
what is a non-flyover district?
non-flyover district = major city. Not just CA, DC, NY, but also big cities like Miami, Denver, Boston, Houston, Baltimore. Flyover cities are those that are less cosmopolitan, like Tampa, Albany, Springfield, etc. I don't know anyone who applied to those types of cities, so I can't speak to their competitiveness.
does anyone know what the top 10% cutoff for the class of '09 is?
How do judges/clerks consider CLR compared to rank for clerkship applications? Is it worth X percent, so CLR and top 15% = no CLR and top 10%, or is CLR a must-have regardless of rank?
1:59 - As CLR membership is granted on a highly subjective basis, most judges (and employers) are less impressed with it than they are with LR membership at schools that use merit-based admissions.
A higher ranking will always trump CLR membership combined with a lower ranking, "political" considerations aside.
There are a good number of non-CLR people who got 9th cir. clerkships, so membership is clearly not a "must-have."
I think 3:39 put it a bit too strongly, but I agree with the overall idea and the last paragraph. Some judges might be impressed with CLR, some won't care at all for any number of reasons (including the aforementioned one). Each judge picks people to interview differently, but it is definitely true that people who aren't on CLR have gotten good clerkships.
wow. as an alumnus sitting in a flyover federal appellate clerkship, having graduated in the top 10 in my class, i warmly welcome you to think that if you're in the top 10% you're a shoo-in for a 9th circuit clerkship. you're not. apply broadly or don't bank on clerking. really, kids, get over yourselves.
Post a Comment