Grading Policy and Class Rank Percentiles

Law students at the Dedman School of Law are not given an individual class rank until graduation.  Class rank percentiles are released for (1) the full-time first-year law class, (2) the full-time second-year law class, and (3) the full-time third-year law class.

Grading Policy:

SMU Dedman School of Law students are graded on a letter scale from A+ to F (4.3 scale). Prior to Fall 2022, students were graded on a letter scale from A to F (4.0 scale). When reviewing transcripts for students in the Classes of 2023 and 2024, please note that A+ grades were not given prior to Fall 2022. Students may choose whether or not to list their GPA on their resume.  The GPA listed must be the most current GPA as reported by the Office of the Registrar.  Students who list their GPA must report the grade to three decimal points.  Students may not round their GPA.  The table below shows the grades and their numeric equivalents:

After Fall 2022:

Prior to Fall 2022:

Class Rank Percentiles:

Law students at SMU Dedman School of Law are not given an individual class rank until graduation. The law GPA is used for rank and cumulative cut off purposes; this GPA excludes all courses taken outside of the law school.

Determine where a student's grade point average places him or her in the class by referring to the numeric cutoffs listed below.  SMU Dedman School of Law releases the numeric cut off for the top 10%, top 25%, top 33%, and top 50% for each class following each semester; however, in fall semester of the first year of law school only top 33% and top 50% are released. Visiting students are not included in the calculations.

Like many educational institutions across the country, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, SMU Dedman School of Law completely converted to online instruction as of March 23, 2020. In recognition of the significant challenges portions of the student body faced in that transition, the law faculty voted that a grading system of “Credit/No Credit” would be used for the Spring 2020 semester. No other grades were issued. Accordingly, the GPA percentiles shown below include letter grades earned on coursework up through the Fall 2019 semester and after the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters.

After Spring 2024 Semester:

Class Rank Percentiles: Graduating Classes 2018 – 2024

3L Class Percentiles After Spring 2023
246 Students (August 2023, December 2023, May 2024 Graduates)

10%: 3.803
25%: 3.629
33%: 3.526
50%: 3.378

3L Class Percentiles After Spring 2023
221 Students (August 2022, December 2022, May 2023 Graduates)

10%: 3.750
25%: 3.560
33%: 3.476
50%: 3.329

3L Class Percentiles After Spring 2022
268 Students (August 2021, December 2021, May 2022 Graduates)

10%: 3.711
25%: 3.570
33%: 3.484
50%: 3.303

3L Class Percentiles After Spring 2021
221 Students (August 2020, December 2020, May 2021 Graduates)

10%: 3.673
25%: 3.467
33%: 3.381
50%: 3.223

3L Class Percentiles After Spring 2020
215 Students (August 2019, December 2019, May 2020 Graduates)

10%: 3.638
25%: 3.477
33%: 3.407
50%: 3.238

3L/4E Class Percentiles After Spring 2019
272 Students (August 2018, December 2018, May 2019 Graduates)

10%: 3.676
25%: 3.462
33%: 3.410
50%: 3.257

3L/4E Class Percentiles After Spring 2018
240 Students (August 2017, December 2017, May 2018 Graduates)

10%: 3.673
25%: 3.451
33%: 3.384
50%: 3.239