Top Law Schools

fakemoney wrote:


Dean of ___________________ (insert SEC school here)

this is clearly the dean of Cooley

BC people are thinking the school might drop out:

http://eagleionline.com/2011/03/09/new- ... aw-top-25/

That would be a nightmare, given the recent NLJ250, recent isolated USnews rankings, and history. I went here b/c I was born and raised in MA and love the school's regional rep ... turned down equivalent scholly at Emory and near full-ride at Tulane. It would be a shame to see BC drop out. If the rankings don't get more in line with expected job prospects upon graduation, is the tail wagging the dog?

twintipping_bumps wrote:BC people are thinking the school might drop out:

http://eagleionline.com/2011/03/09/new- ... aw-top-25/

That would be a nightmare, given the recent NLJ250, recent isolated USnews rankings, and history. I went here b/c I was born and raised in MA and love the school's regional rep ... turned down equivalent scholly at Emory and near full-ride at Tulane. It would be a shame to see BC drop out. If the rankings don't get more in line with expected job prospects upon graduation, is the tail wagging the dog?

Thats just a listing of the recruiter rankings

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-gr ... aw-schools

rman1201 wrote:

twintipping_bumps wrote:BC people are thinking the school might drop out:

http://eagleionline.com/2011/03/09/new- ... aw-top-25/

That would be a nightmare, given the recent NLJ250, recent isolated USnews rankings, and history. I went here b/c I was born and raised in MA and love the school's regional rep ... turned down equivalent scholly at Emory and near full-ride at Tulane. It would be a shame to see BC drop out. If the rankings don't get more in line with expected job prospects upon graduation, is the tail wagging the dog?

Thats just a listing of the recruiter rankings

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-gr ... aw-schools

I think he's referring to the student comments beneath the article

njn3 wrote:

rman1201 wrote:

twintipping_bumps wrote:BC people are thinking the school might drop out:

http://eagleionline.com/2011/03/09/new- ... aw-top-25/

That would be a nightmare, given the recent NLJ250, recent isolated USnews rankings, and history. I went here b/c I was born and raised in MA and love the school's regional rep ... turned down equivalent scholly at Emory and near full-ride at Tulane. It would be a shame to see BC drop out. If the rankings don't get more in line with expected job prospects upon graduation, is the tail wagging the dog?

Thats just a listing of the recruiter rankings

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-gr ... aw-schools

I think he's referring to the student comments beneath the article

Yeah I failed. But I still wouldn't consider one or two random comments indicative of what might actually happen. That said, I do sincerely hope they fall to T40.

rman1201 wrote:

njn3 wrote:

rman1201 wrote:

twintipping_bumps wrote:BC people are thinking the school might drop out:

http://eagleionline.com/2011/03/09/new- ... aw-top-25/

That would be a nightmare, given the recent NLJ250, recent isolated USnews rankings, and history. I went here b/c I was born and raised in MA and love the school's regional rep ... turned down equivalent scholly at Emory and near full-ride at Tulane. It would be a shame to see BC drop out. If the rankings don't get more in line with expected job prospects upon graduation, is the tail wagging the dog?

Thats just a listing of the recruiter rankings

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-gr ... aw-schools

I think he's referring to the student comments beneath the article

Yeah I failed. But I still wouldn't consider one or two random comments indicative of what might actually happen. That said, I do sincerely hope they fall to T40.

Lame ... Boston weathers the economy's storm but random variables and lack of interest in gaming statistics drags BC down? Though, I seriously hope a potential drop gets the admin to realize they need to get on the field to let us play ball.

twintipping_bump wrote: Lame ... Boston weathers the economy's storm but random variables and lack of interest in gaming statistics drags BC down? Though, I seriously hope a potential drop gets the admin to realize they need to get on the field to let us play ball.

If they do fall I don't know if there will be any catching up in the near future. BU is reducing class sizes further (to 230-240 from 287) and building new facilities.

BC isn't like 10 ranks lower than BU because it's lower in medians. They pretty much have the same medians.

Meh, they're peer schools, unless BC drops more than 10ish spots and employment stats nose dive significantly.

alexb wrote:Meh, they're peer schools.

I guess part of the beauty (and stupidity) of the rankings is that they are self-fulfilling. BU and BC are peer schools in every way. Yet if BU continues to rise in rankings due to reduced class size and the new building they are putting up, and BC falls for whatever irrelevant reason that in no way reflects the great quality of education there, students deciding between the 2 will lean toward BU and BUs recruiting classes become stronger than BCs. So the rankings end up being self-fulfilling in that way.

dakatz wrote:

alexb wrote:Meh, they're peer schools.

I guess part of the beauty (and stupidity) of the rankings is that they are self-fulfilling. BU and BC are peer schools in every way. Yet if BU continues to rise in rankings due to reduced class size and the new building they are putting up, and BC falls for whatever irrelevant reason that in no way reflects the great quality of education there, students deciding between the 2 will lean toward BU and BUs recruiting classes become stronger than BCs. So the rankings end up being self-fulfilling in that way.

+1, agreed.

dakatz wrote:

alexb wrote:Meh, they're peer schools.

I guess part of the beauty (and stupidity) of the rankings is that they are self-fulfilling. BU and BC are peer schools in every way. Yet if BU continues to rise in rankings due to reduced class size and the new building they are putting up, and BC falls for whatever irrelevant reason that in no way reflects the great quality of education there, students deciding between the 2 will lean toward BU and BUs recruiting classes become stronger than BCs. So the rankings end up being self-fulfilling in that way.

I kind of wonder if there's actually a difference in the educational quality between schools even of largely different rank, though. It seems like the biggest difference between schools T1 and T2 is the caliber of the students you're competing against, and not the "educational quality." Maybe a transfer student can weigh in on this?

Who do you guys predict falls out of T100 or climbs into it?

I wonder if there any sick frrrreaks around who host "rankings release" parties/mixers.

fakemoney wrote:I wonder if there any sick frrrreaks around who host "rankings release" parties/mixers.

Oh yeah, I'm all set. Should be a blast.

twintipping_bumps wrote:BC people are thinking the school might drop out:

http://eagleionline.com/2011/03/09/new- ... aw-top-25/

That would be a nightmare, given the recent NLJ250, recent isolated USnews rankings, and history. I went here b/c I was born and raised in MA and love the school's regional rep ... turned down equivalent scholly at Emory and near full-ride at Tulane. It would be a shame to see BC drop out. If the rankings don't get more in line with expected job prospects upon graduation, is the tail wagging the dog?

I don't see how anyone could make a solid prediction about this stuff. I'm sure it's impossible to measure all of the variables they use in determining ranking. On that website, there was only one or two people thinking that BC might drop out of the T30. I've seen some people on TLS argue that it could jump to the T25.

...I'm hoping that it moves up because I'm a current 0L ...though, I plan on practicing Public Interest Law, so I guess rankings won't affect me too much.

So close.

helloperson wrote:

dakatz wrote:

alexb wrote:Meh, they're peer schools.

I guess part of the beauty (and stupidity) of the rankings is that they are self-fulfilling. BU and BC are peer schools in every way. Yet if BU continues to rise in rankings due to reduced class size and the new building they are putting up, and BC falls for whatever irrelevant reason that in no way reflects the great quality of education there, students deciding between the 2 will lean toward BU and BUs recruiting classes become stronger than BCs. So the rankings end up being self-fulfilling in that way.

I kind of wonder if there's actually a difference in the educational quality between schools even of largely different rank, though. It seems like the biggest difference between schools T1 and T2 is the caliber of the students you're competing against, and not the "educational quality." Maybe a transfer student can weigh in on this?

There really isn't. About 90% of professors went to YHSCC and clerked somewhere big. The one downer about going to the top, top schools is that professors are so prestigious/self-important that teaching/accessibility isn't the focus. The inverse is something like BU where its all about teaching, but because of that we don't have nearly as many heavy hitters as other schools may have (minus admin law and IP where BU is baller for some reason).

There has to be something awesome about going to HYS and being taught con law by one of the top in the field, but I doubt they'd be super accessible.

Blindmelon wrote:

helloperson wrote:

dakatz wrote:

alexb wrote:Meh, they're peer schools.

I guess part of the beauty (and stupidity) of the rankings is that they are self-fulfilling. BU and BC are peer schools in every way. Yet if BU continues to rise in rankings due to reduced class size and the new building they are putting up, and BC falls for whatever irrelevant reason that in no way reflects the great quality of education there, students deciding between the 2 will lean toward BU and BUs recruiting classes become stronger than BCs. So the rankings end up being self-fulfilling in that way.

I kind of wonder if there's actually a difference in the educational quality between schools even of largely different rank, though. It seems like the biggest difference between schools T1 and T2 is the caliber of the students you're competing against, and not the "educational quality." Maybe a transfer student can weigh in on this?

There really isn't. About 90% of professors went to YHSCC and clerked somewhere big. The one downer about going to the top, top schools is that professors are so prestigious/self-important that teaching/accessibility isn't the focus. The inverse is something like BU where its all about teaching, but because of that we don't have nearly as many heavy hitters as other schools may have (minus admin law and IP where BU is baller for some reason).

There has to be something awesome about going to HYS and being taught con law by one of the top in the field, but I doubt they'd be super accessible.

This is really school dependent. UVA has an open door policy and virtually all of my professors have been extremely accessible. Even those at the very tip top of their field.

Blindmelon wrote: There really isn't. About 90% of professors went to YHSCC and clerked somewhere big. The one downer about going to the top, top schools is that professors are so prestigious/self-important that teaching/accessibility isn't the focus. The inverse is something like BU where its all about teaching, but because of that we don't have nearly as many heavy hitters as other schools may have (minus admin law and IP where BU is baller for some reason).

There has to be something awesome about going to HYS and being taught con law by one of the top in the field, but I doubt they'd be super accessible.

I doubt the bolded statement (bolded by me) is true. I go to a T20 school, and out of the seven professor's I've had so far, there's been one Boaltie, two U Penn, and one UCLAer. I took a quick gander at a random sampling of lower-tiered schools out of curiosity, and it I definitely think it's not true that 90%, or even a majority of professors, came from HYSCCN.

However, all my professors either clerked on a federal appellate court or SCOTUS, so that might be the cutting line. Also, I don't think that being taught by a superstar professor is necessarily indicative of educational quality. IMO, the best teacher I'd had thus far is the teacher who objectively is not as prestigious as the others. Furthermore, I've been taught by a professor who is a superstar in his field and publishes a seminal textbook in his field, but I find his lectures slightly dull and meandering.

This isn't to say that students at top law schools don't receive a better education than students at lower-ranked law schools - I think they do. I think people play to their competition (other students of high caliber) and people play to standards set for them (by professors who set expectations based on the quality of students present).

All my professors have been super-accessible - yes, even the superstars.

jay115 wrote:

Blindmelon wrote: There really isn't. About 90% of professors went to YHSCC and clerked somewhere big. The one downer about going to the top, top schools is that professors are so prestigious/self-important that teaching/accessibility isn't the focus. The inverse is something like BU where its all about teaching, but because of that we don't have nearly as many heavy hitters as other schools may have (minus admin law and IP where BU is baller for some reason).

There has to be something awesome about going to HYS and being taught con law by one of the top in the field, but I doubt they'd be super accessible.

I doubt the bolded statement (bolded by me) is true. I go to a T20 school, and out of the seven professor's I've had so far, there's been one Boaltie, two U Penn, and one UCLAer. I took a quick gander at a random sampling of lower-tiered schools out of curiosity, and it I definitely think it's not true that 90%, or even a majority of professors, came from HYSCCN.

However, all my professors either clerked on a federal appellate court or SCOTUS, so that might be the cutting line. Also, I don't think that being taught by a superstar professor is necessarily indicative of educational quality. IMO, the best teacher I'd had thus far is the teacher who objectively is not as prestigious as the others. Furthermore, I've been taught by a professor who is a superstar in his field and publishes a seminal textbook in his field, but I find his lectures slightly dull and meandering.

This isn't to say that students at top law schools don't receive a better education than students at lower-ranked law schools - I think they do. I think people play to their competition (other students of high caliber) and people play to standards set for them (by professors who set expectations based on the quality of students present).

All my professors have been super-accessible - yes, even the superstars.

Actually, it's about 82%. http://leiterrankings.com/new/2011_LawTeachers.shtml.

Damn, Penn and Northwestern had a lot fewer prof's than I would have thought

No leaks yet?!?! TLS is failing us.

To be fair, the very fact they're releasing them online March 15th instead of even bothering with late-April is a testament to the mad skills of leakers.