Clinic Grades Forum

[spicer123]

Since I happily struck out during OCI, I am officially a hostage of grades again. So quick question from someone considering doing a clinic this semester. What are the median like? How likely it is to get a B+ or lower? Is it more competitive or less competitive than a doctrinal class or seminar?
I haven't yet taken any litigation-related class (evidence, trial evidence, etc.) Would that destroy me?
Btw, I'm at NU if that is relevant.
Thank y'all!

[albanach]

Since I happily struck out during OCI, I am officially a hostage of grades again. So quick question from someone considering doing a clinic this semester. What are the median like? How likely it is to get a B+ or lower? Is it more competitive or less competitive than a doctrinal class or seminar?
I haven't yet taken any litigation-related class (evidence, trial evidence, etc.) Would that destroy me?
Btw, I'm at NU if that is relevant.
Thank y'all!

So I am not and was not an NU law student. Our clinics were graded and curved, and I assume yours are too. Because they were curved, someone has to win and someone has to lose. At least at UVA, it seemed everyone else was very likely to find themselves at median.

To that end, it's very difficult to be the winner - usually there's someone in a clinic whose heartfelt desire is to practice that kind on law and they'll work twice as hard as the next student.

Not being the loser that gets a B is a bit like encountering a bear on a hike. You don't need to outrun the bear, you only need to outrun the slowest person in your hiking party. In other words, by being engaged and making sure you're doing a bit more than the worst performing student, you should be able to keep yourself in the safe zone.

Hopefully someone from NU can chime in with some direct experience.

[nixy]

^this was my clinic experience too, though also not at NU, and I definitely ended up at median (TBF I was definitely middle of the pack in the group). I don’t think not having the doctrinal classes already is so much of an issue as just attitude and work ethic, though - if the clinic doesn’t require taking evidence etc first, they shouldn’t expect you to know that stuff and should be willing to teach you.

The star in my clinic was a non-K-JD woman who works really hard and is just someone who’s really sensible and really good with people. So she was very good at approaching problems. I don’t think we had any real duds because almost everyone had something to offer, but probably the least engaged/most socially awkward did worst.

The other thing to keep in mind is that clinics can be more credits than other courses (I did a year-long one) so can have a significant impact. I think they’re definitely worth doing, especially if there are any that match your particular area of interest, but they can be a grades risk.

(TBH, since you mention striking out, most people I knew in clinics weren’t aiming for generic biglaw but wanted to do something related to the clinic field. But if you want to pivot to something more specific than generic biglaw, a clinic can be really helpful. And I’m sure if you want biglaw lit, any litigating clinic is helpful. There just aren’t always a lot of options pertinent to corporate, though there are some.)

[Wubbles]

The difference maker here is whether clinics are on the curve at NU. At my school, if they were under a certain number of students they were off the curve, and thus I found them to be great grade-padders.

[nwtransfer]

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[spicer123]

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I can't PM because I am too new here. Can you PM me? Sorry!

[spicer123]

Thanks everyone! Super helpful insights and really appreciate it!