General Information
- Current grading system and class standing tables
- Law School Rules (Chapter 2. Grading Rules for 2005 & Later Matriculants)
- Average grades (Rule 2.07)
- Grade distributions (Rule 2.08)
- Rules 2.07 and 2.08 are often described as "the curve."
- Student Handbook (Chapter 9. Grades, GPAs, Class Standing & Honors)
- Past grade distributions for some instructors are available via the Faculty Directory. To access them, click on the instructor, then "Courses," then the course, then "Past Grade Distributions," then the term.
Final Grade Reporting
Deadline
Final grades for the Fall 2024 Term are due from instructors by Thursday, January 9, 2025.
Grade Reporting Process
After the final exam period ends, the Law School begins the grade reporting process:
- Instructors submit grades to the Law School Academic Affairs Office (LSAAO) by the above deadline.
- The LSAAO reviews all submitted grades to ensure compliance with Law School grading rules. If approved, the LSAAO continues with the grade reporting process. If not, the LSAAO follows up with the instructor.
- Twice a day, around noon and 4:00 p.m., the LSAAO reports all approved grades for posting. If none, no grades will be reported that day.
- Almost immediately after reporting, students can view final grades via MyUW, as well as on their UW-Madison unofficial transcripts and official transcripts (your UW-Madison unofficial and official transcripts do not list your Law School GPA and they are different from Law School unofficial transcripts).
- After all grades for all courses have been reported, updated Law School unofficial transcripts will be uploaded in Symplicity for students who have signed the transcript release authorization form. If you have questions about your Law School unofficial transcript, please contact career@law.wisc.edu.
Grades Reported
Approved grades will be reported for posting to students’ transcripts twice per day, around noon and 4:00 p.m. and the Grades Reported page will be updated accordingly. If no grades were approved by 4:00 p.m. on any given day, no grades will be reported that day.
Almost immediately after reporting, you should see your final grades in MyUW. If one of your courses is listed on the Grades Reported page and you are not able to see your grade for that course via MyUW within one business day from the date it was reported, please contact Jenner McLeod at jenner.mcleod@wisc.edu.
Grades reported from the previous semester will appear on this list until at least one course from this semester has reported grades.
Pass/Fail Option
Eligibility
To be eligible to use the Pass/Fail Option this semester, you must be a J.D. student, have earned 25 or more Law School credits prior to this semester, and have used fewer than two Pass/Fail Options so far in your Law School career.
Deadlines
The Pass/Fail Option deadlines vary by course as follows:
| course title | Faculty | Option Opens | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| All A1 Session Pass/Fail Option Eligible Courses | Varies | October 21 | December 5 at 11:59 PM (Central) |
Details of Pass/Fail Option
Choosing the Pass/Fail Option will NOT impact your graduation or Wisconsin Diploma Privilege progress. However, choosing the Pass/Fail Option may affect your eligibility for Dean's List, Order of the Coif and graduation honors. You'll find more information about Dean's List and Order of the Coif eligibility in the Student Handbook section 9.7.2 and section 9.7.4, along with Law School Rule 8.05 and Law School Rule Appendix D.
Spring 2020 courses that used Satisfactory-Disruption (SD)/Unsatisfactory-Disruption (UD) grades do NOT count as exercising the Pass/Fail Option; similarly, any mandatory pass/fail courses (shown as "PF only" on the course schedule) also do NOT count as exercising the Pass/Fail Option.
Professors do not know which students have exercised the Pass/Fail Option until the grading process is complete.
The following chart summarizes how the Pass/Fail Option operates:
| Law School letter grade reported by instructor | Grade recorded on transcript if use Pass/Fail Option | Factored into your GPA? | Counts as one of your two Pass-Fail Options? |
|---|---|---|---|
| B+, A-, A, or A+ | B+, A-, A, or A+ | Yes | Yes |
| C, C+, B-, or B | S | No | Yes |
| F, D-, D, D+, or C- | F, D-, D, D+, or C- | Yes | Yes |
For more information on the operation of the Pass/Fail Option, see the Student Handbook section 9.3 and Law School Rule 2.03.
Choosing the Pass/Fail Option for a course
Please visit the following website if you would like to choose the Pass/Fail Option for an eligible course this semester: https://secure2.law.wisc.edu/grades/addons/pf/
After logging in with your NetID and password, you will see:
- Course(s) ELIGIBLE for Pass/Fail Option:
- These are the courses that you are eligible to choose the Pass/Fail Option for this semester only. Your instructor determines whether a course is eligible for the Pass/Fail Option.
- Course(s) APPLIED for Pass/Fail Option:
- These are course(s) that you have already chosen as a Pass/Fail Option for this semester only.
- If you choose the Pass/Fail Option for a course this semester and it appears here as "applied," that means it's been applied to the course and your option is confirmed (and you will NOT receive any further confirmation).
- If you choose the Pass/Fail Option for a course, you may cancel it until the deadline. If canceled, you may re-request the Pass/Fail Option until the deadline.
- Course(s) PREVIOUSLY CONFIRMED for Pass/Fail Option:
- These are course(s) you chose as a Pass/Fail Option in a previous semester, if applicable.
- If you haven't chosen any Pass/Fail Options in your Law School career, you will see "No previous pass/fail confirmations found."
If you have any technical issues, please contact the Law School Help Desk at help@law.wisc.edu.
The process outlined above is the only way to exercise the Pass/Fail Option for a Law School course; you cannot do so through MyUW and/or the Course Search and Enroll App as non-Law students can.
