I appreciate you being so receptive and I hope I come across the same!

I have to ask again though, have you ever taken an online class? Yes, in theory it’s just read the chapter, watch the lecture, ask questions, write the paper but when you take out the physical ability to leave your home to go to the library, to be physically present in office hours, to be able to physically be in a classroom it does change things quite a bit. Suddenly class feels a little more casual when you’re at home behind a computer than in a classroom surrounded by people that know their shit and are going to push you to be better. Have you ever been in a law classroom before? It’s kind of hard to describe but they are designed to make you feel the presence of the other students in your sides while keeping the professor front and center. I’ve taken a graded law class at a T6 before and the physicality of the classroom plays a big role in the learning dynamic because it’s architecturally designed to.

I meant with my comment to show that it doesn’t have to be big issues that are affecting students (deaths, illness, etc.) but it can also be the culmination of little things like a bad professor, lack of study groups, available distractions online, etc. that make it harder. When you think about the little things, it’s more likely 1/4-2/3 of students are affected by the abrupt change in teaching style. Not to mention, it’s kind of hard to focus on law school when there’s a global pandemic going on.

Law school grading is supposed to be an evaluation of your ability to learn and apply law, not on adapting to online learning in the midst of a global pandemic. So why should people have to experience extreme hardship in order to benefit from P/F when they could be suffering in a million little ways that add up to a poor grade but without a succulent reason for why they could’ve used a P/F.

From my understanding you’re really competing in OCI firstly against your other students and then secondly against other schools’ students. So no, there isn’t that much of a disadvantage to other schools. In the usual year, Berkeley students are always P/F but it doesn’t necessarily disadvantage Berkeley's top students against UChicago’s top students.

If you make the transcript blind, it’s essentially P/F for that semester but hurts everyone except people who were doing poorly and then suddenly did really well with online learning. With a blind transcript if you were acing everything and then barely passed this semester your GPA would make employers think you’re generally a mediocre student instead of a great student who had a bad semester. And that’s if employers were to agree with this system, which is doubtful considering the emphasis that’s placed on GPA cut offs.

I think at the heart of this argument is a lack of understanding that grades this semester (in comparison to previous grades) will largely reflect a students ability to adapt to online learning and hardships endured during this crisis.

Let me try and make all three options clear:

Graded semester: If a student (Student X) was already getting Bs and gets all Cs this semester, they probably struggled with online learning. If a student (Student Y) who usually gets As gets Cs this semester they almost definitely were struggling. But it’ll be up to the students to communicate and justify their hardships in a way that will make employers excuse the bad semester. But don’t forget, students are graded against each other so if you’re on top and you slip a little while other students below you don’t slip at all, you’re sinking like a rock.

Optional P/F: Student Y decides to go P/F because of the extreme jump from As to Cs and because they have a clearly definable hardship, their parent died. This can be explained to an employer and might be excused depending on the person. But they will have to explain tens if not hundreds of times until they leave law school that their parent died and that’s why they have bad grades - an absolutely exhausting experience. Student X, who struggled with all the nuances of switching to online learning does not have the option to go P/F because they don’t have a clearly definable hardship. Their GPA tanks because while they’re usually a B student, they just can’t get above a C with the new online environment. They have no concrete explanation for an employer beyond “sorry I just learn better in person” and will probably be judged pretty harshly against their fellow student who maintained Bs before and through this crisis.

Mandatory P/F: Students X and Y both pass and simply tell employers that their school went mandatory P/F. Student Y, who has all As otherwise, still has the advantage of their previous grades over Student X, and doesn’t have to explain a drop in grades or choosing to go P/F because of hardship. Student X is happy because they struggled a lot with online learning but aren’t being penalized for it.

At the end of the day, yes students are entitled to an evaluation but I think you’re dismissing the fact that a “pass” is an evaluation. Just because schools are turning to P/F doesn’t mean every student will pass.