Harvard Law School Changes

From Cavlier Daily:

"So when Harvard Law School decided this past week to overhaul its entire grading system, it was a big deal. To put it concisely, faculty will no longer give letter grades, instead offering a modified pass-fail method with four possible marks: Honors, Pass, Low Pass, and Fail. Traditionally, most law schools have used the same grading system we’re familiar with here at the University, with letter grades and pluses and minuses. When and where this practice changes, if it does, a legal education and its job placement sequence could change fundamentally.

There are reasons to believe a widespread changeover won’t happen. For one, HLS isn’t pioneering this trend, but is simply switching to a style of grading that Yale Law School has used since the 1960s. Additionally, Stanford Law announced in May that it would take up this method. In that sense, it isn’t a revolutionary idea; it’s been around for a while. Still, you can bet that if Harvard is altering its game, other schools will give pass-fail a second look. "