2012 U.S. News Rankings (March 15th... It's official)

[Barbie]

Dang, you guys all think Illinois is going to be bumped down quite a bit

[FiveSermon]

Dang, you guys all think Illinois is going to be bumped down quite a bit

No, if anything up. They seem to spending tons of $ on attracting students to bump their medians.

[northwood]

duh- cuz barbie wont be there

[northwood]

in the sake of selection sunday- which 4 schools will be the last ones in on the top100?
who will be the first 4 out?

[Barbie]

in the sake of selection sunday- which 4 schools will be the last ones in on the top100?
who will be the first 4 out?

I'm still pulling for Stetson to jump into the top 100. It places very well regionally, and is a pretty awesome school. I think it deserves its place in the bottom of tier 2.

[super6]

Dang, you guys all think Illinois is going to be bumped down quite a bit

No, if anything up. They seem to spending tons of $ on attracting students to bump their medians.

This is what I'm thinking. Alabama is doing the same thing and they had a false dip in the rankings last time from what I heard because USNWR says they never got their employment data.

[wdk3618]

Dang, you guys all think Illinois is going to be bumped down quite a bit

yea but they have no reason to do so. Illinois bumped its median to a 167 finally. and this year they are probably going to hit a 168. with the shrinking class size and slowly recovering chi market illinois is on the rise.

but all these guesses are rediculous no one has any idea but if people are going to speculate use facts to back it up.

[northwood]

i think too much emphasis is put on the rankings. Sure it gives a good indication about the school and its reputation, but once you get out of the top 6 or so ( id even say you can make a case for the top14) the schools become more regional, especially the lower you go. I would look at the rankings for a good indication about the schools reputation in its home market, and see if and how much competition is around. That being said- it should come down to a variety of factors, with the rankings being one of the lesser factors (assuming of course you arent looking at t50 and TTTT). Its a good starting point but for a majority of people in this thrad, and on this site- you are further along your law school decision making process than a newbie- so i would place less emphasis on them.

[dr123]

Agreed, the usnews rankings should be treated as guide, not set in stone fact, imo

[jdemmitt]

I am hoping utah moves up.

[danquayle]

Where are the Harvard jokes? I've met some Harvard law school grads and was not impressed at all. In fact I was pretty disappointed. The hype just doesn't make sense. The grads I've met couldn't find their way out of a paper bag without their hands being held.

Hey, paper bags are no joke. Those things are ruthless.

The Harvard people I've met aren't impressive. As much hate as it gets on here, the most impressive people I've met are probably Georgetown people. Now granted, this is a tiny sample...

The thing with Harvard Law grads is I think the best students go on to careers as professors, advisers and other non-practicing type careers. That means the grads that I come into contact with as a practicing attorney are probably not the best students/attorneys from Harvard, whereas most people I meet from say, Penn State, will probably be amongst the best that school has produced. This is the same dynamic that people used pretty effectively to debunk the Vault Law school rankings...

It's been said before, the skills that get people into good law schools are not the same skills that it takes to be a good practicing attorney. That being said, people from Harvard can still progress in their careers without those skills (because the prestige/presumed intellectual capability tied with a Harvard degree compensates), whereas someone from Penn State probably won't pull off the same trick as easily.

[rundoxierun]

Where are the Harvard jokes? I've met some Harvard law school grads and was not impressed at all. In fact I was pretty disappointed. The hype just doesn't make sense. The grads I've met couldn't find their way out of a paper bag without their hands being held.

Hey, paper bags are no joke. Those things are ruthless.

The Harvard people I've met aren't impressive. As much hate as it gets on here, the most impressive people I've met are probably Georgetown people. Now granted, this is a tiny sample...

The thing with Harvard Law grads is I think the best students go on to careers as professors, advisers and other non-practicing type careers. That means the grads that I come into contact with as a practicing attorney are probably not the best students/attorneys from Harvard, whereas most people I meet from say, Penn State, will probably be amongst the best that school has produced. This is the same dynamic that people used pretty effectively to debunk the Vault Law school rankings...

It's been said before, the skills that get people into good law schools are not the same skills that it takes to be a good practicing attorney. That being said, people from Harvard can still progress in their careers without those skills (because the prestige/presumed intellectual capability tied with a Harvard degree compensates), whereas someone from Penn State probably won't pull off the same trick as easily.

The ppl from Harvard I met were super impressive. Now we have a terrible dilemma. Whose anecdote is worth more?

[danquayle]

Where are the Harvard jokes? I've met some Harvard law school grads and was not impressed at all. In fact I was pretty disappointed. The hype just doesn't make sense. The grads I've met couldn't find their way out of a paper bag without their hands being held.

Hey, paper bags are no joke. Those things are ruthless.

The Harvard people I've met aren't impressive. As much hate as it gets on here, the most impressive people I've met are probably Georgetown people. Now granted, this is a tiny sample...

The thing with Harvard Law grads is I think the best students go on to careers as professors, advisers and other non-practicing type careers. That means the grads that I come into contact with as a practicing attorney are probably not the best students/attorneys from Harvard, whereas most people I meet from say, Penn State, will probably be amongst the best that school has produced. This is the same dynamic that people used pretty effectively to debunk the Vault Law school rankings...

It's been said before, the skills that get people into good law schools are not the same skills that it takes to be a good practicing attorney. That being said, people from Harvard can still progress in their careers without those skills (because the prestige/presumed intellectual capability tied with a Harvard degree compensates), whereas someone from Penn State probably won't pull off the same trick as easily.

The ppl from Harvard I met were super impressive. Now we have a terrible dilemma. Whose anecdote is worth more?

Looks like you can't read. No wonder you were impressed.

[rundoxierun]

Looks like you can't read. No wonder you were impressed.

There were two quotes regarding Harvard quoted for a reason. It was a comment on the general premise rather than either specific post.

[bayvcroberts]

1. Yale
2. Harvard
3. Stanford
3. Columbia
5. Chicago
6. NYU
8. Berkeley
8. Penn
9. Michigan
9. Northwestern
11. UVA
12. Duke
13. Cornell
14. GULC
15. Vandy
16. Texas
16. UCLA
18. USC

[dpk711]

1. Yale
2. Harvard
3. Stanford
3. Columbia
5. Chicago
6. NYU
8. Berkeley
8. Penn
9. Michigan
9. Northwestern
11. UVA
12. Duke
13. Cornell
14. GULC
15. Vandy
16. Texas
16. UCLA
18. USC

egregious Columbia trolling

[jeremysen]

1. Yale
2. Harvard
3. Stanford
3. Columbia
5. Chicago
6. NYU
8. 7. Berkeley
8. 7. Penn
9. Michigan
9. Northwestern
11. UVA
12. Duke
13. Cornell
14. GULC
15. Vandy
16. Texas
16. UCLA
18. USC

At the very least, be consistent.


(passive aggressive way of disagreeing with you )

[005618502]

1. Yale
2. Harvard
3. Stanford
3. Columbia
5. Chicago
6. NYU
8. 7. Berkeley
8. 7. Penn
9. Michigan
9. Northwestern
11. UVA
12. Duke
13. Cornell
14. GULC
15. Vandy
16. Texas
16. UCLA
18. USC

At the very least, be consistent.


(passive aggressive way of disagreeing with you )

Plus showing the fact he cant count, which is embarrassing I must say.

I was really hoping the real rankings would come out before the 15th, but it is looking like we are going to have to wait.

[TheTopBloke]

That's funny. the people I met from Harvard were very disappointing. So much so that I didn't even bother to apply.

[dpk711]

That's funny. the people I met from Harvard were very disappointing. So much so that I didn't even bother to apply.

I guess you got accepted regardless?

[TheTopBloke]

That's funny. the people I met from Harvard were very disappointing. So much so that I didn't even bother to apply.

I guess you got accepted regardless?

Umm, yeah. Ok, sure.

[DMBFan]

i think too much emphasis is put on the rankings. Sure it gives a good indication about the school and its reputation, but once you get out of the top 6 or so ( id even say you can make a case for the top14) the schools become more regional, especially the lower you go. I would look at the rankings for a good indication about the schools reputation in its home market, and see if and how much competition is around. That being said- it should come down to a variety of factors, with the rankings being one of the lesser factors (assuming of course you arent looking at t50 and TTTT). Its a good starting point but for a majority of people in this thrad, and on this site- you are further along your law school decision making process than a newbie- so i would place less emphasis on them.

I'd like to know more about this. I live in GA. How big a difference would going to Emory/UGA/GA State/Mercer make? Does a median Emory student beat out a top 10% student at Mercer? I realize networking/connections are important, but controlling for these factors?

[TheTopBloke]

Networking and connections in this 'business' are ridiculously overrated.

[justifytheparadox]

1. Yale
2. Harvard
3. Stanford
3. Columbia
5. Chicago
6. NYU
8. Berkeley
8. Penn
9. Michigan
9. Northwestern
11. UVA
12. Duke
13. Cornell
14. GULC
15. Vandy
16. Texas
16. UCLA
18. USC

egregious Columbia trolling

TITCR, +1

[mac87]

A preview of the Top 10 is up.

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