2013 US News & World Report Law School Rankings Forum

[Citizen Genet]

These rankings don't matter to employers or law students...except that they totally do to law schools and 0Ls.

Used to think this, but firms sometimes base cutoffs on the ranking, so it does matter. It also matters for those who are at a good school, but want to get employment out of the region, where one of the primary signals about the school's quality will be its ranking.

[bdole2]

ATL didn't leak them....USNWR just released them a few hours early last year. No guarantee that will happen this year.

[Dany]

OMG ARE THEY GOING TO COME OUT AT MIDNIGHT?!

[padawanphil]

I can't wait til the rankings are released so I'll know where to send my deposit

[AriGoldButNicer]

I can't wait til the rankings are released so I'll know where to send my deposit

Lol

[rad lulz]

Rankings make me so aroused.

[FeelTheHeat]

Rankings make me so aroused.

I got a half chub

[Campagnolo]

Rankings make me so aroused.

FahQ

[rad lulz]

Rankings make me so aroused.

I got a half chub

Only half?

[Campagnolo]

Rankings make me so aroused.

I got a half chub

Only half?

...so that's a quarter, then?

[Ded Precedent]

OMG ARE THEY GOING TO COME OUT AT MIDNIGHT?!

OMG I'M SO EXCITED!

[005618502]

These rankings don't matter to employers or law students...except that they totally do to law schools and 0Ls.

Used to think this, but firms sometimes base cutoffs on the ranking, so it does matter. It also matters for those who are at a good school, but want to get employment out of the region, where one of the primary signals about the school's quality will be its ranking.

Law firms will not watch the rank each year and write how they change. They know that MVPB are top 10 schools but not ranked as highly as Columbia. I doubt many hiring attorneys can list the exact order of CCN MVPB from year to year as we can. I could be wrong but this is the impression I have gotten

[kaiser]

These rankings don't matter to employers or law students...except that they totally do to law schools and 0Ls.

Used to think this, but firms sometimes base cutoffs on the ranking, so it does matter. It also matters for those who are at a good school, but want to get employment out of the region, where one of the primary signals about the school's quality will be its ranking.

Law firms will not watch the rank each year and write how they change. They know that MVPB are top 10 schools but not ranked as highly as Columbia. I doubt many hiring attorneys can list the exact order of CCN MVPB from year to year as we can. I could be wrong but this is the impression I have gotten

This is exactly what I have seen as well. They know the general reputation and approximate ranking-range for any school they come across, but don't monitor the tiny changes from year to year. Discussion like "if N closer to CC or MVP tier?" are entirely off their radar, since they already have a preconceived notion of all of these top 10 schools and it would take years of massive rise or decline for it to be consequential to them. In speaking to many attorneys, they explicitly said that they don't use the terms "T10" or "T14" in a definite way and only mean to imply the notion of a top school, fully acknowledging that they didn't know whether or not there had been changes at the margins (which is why Texas becoming a "T14" would only be of consequence to students, and not employers).

[PDaddy]

This will be an interesting year, and next year is going to be even more interesting...now that schools know they can be sued for "fraudulent inducement". For this year, I'm interested in seeing where UCI winds up.

[lsatcrazy]

IT DOESN'T MATTER

/refreshfrefreshrefresh

[PDaddy]

The legal community has a long-standing view of which schools are considered "top" schools, and that view is largely uninformed by rankings. It is informed by lawyers/jurists and their real-world performances, as well as the reputations of colleges and universities that serve as homes to the law schools. Old reputations die hard. There are schools outside of the T14 that are extremely well-regarded, and by hearing lawyers talk you would swear that they should be at or near the T14 in ranking. The rankings are really just opinions, most of them informed but incomplete. Put all of the rankings together (and add a few currently excluded metrics) and you might begin to have a useful ranking system. This, of course, excludes Judge Brennan's rankings - which are absolutely a joke.

[stillwater]

Hopefully this is the year when USNWR catches up with the times and includes square footage in their methodology.

[005618502]

This will be an interesting year, and next year is going to be even more interesting...now that schools know they can be sued for "fraudulent inducement". For this year, I'm interested in seeing where UCI winds up.

UCI wont be ranked this year. Even when they are it will probably high 30s or low 40s nothing to exciting

[Citizen Genet]

Law firms will not watch the rank each year and write how they change. They know that MVPB are top 10 schools but not ranked as highly as Columbia. I doubt many hiring attorneys can list the exact order of CCN MVPB from year to year as we can. I could be wrong but this is the impression I have gotten

This is exactly what I have seen as well. They know the general reputation and approximate ranking-range for any school they come across, but don't monitor the tiny changes from year to year. Discussion like "if N closer to CC or MVP tier?" are entirely off their radar, since they already have a preconceived notion of all of these top 10 schools and it would take years of massive rise or decline for it to be consequential to them. In speaking to many attorneys, they explicitly said that they don't use the terms "T10" or "T14" in a definite way and only mean to imply the notion of a top school, fully acknowledging that they didn't know whether or not there had been changes at the margins (which is why Texas becoming a "T14" would only be of consequence to students, and not employers).

I attend a T20-T50, interviewed out of region. Was specifically told by a V25 that they base ranking cut-offs on a school's relative ranking. If you were in Top X% at a school in the Top Y, then you could be interviewed. Otherwise, you there was no chance of an offer. Asked an associate at another V25 and he said they had a substantially similar methodology.

Yes, being ranked 7 versus 9 won't matter much. But a big jump or a big drop (Emory? GW? Hastings?) can matter for GPA cut off purposes.

[20130312]

OMG ARE THEY GOING TO COME OUT AT MIDNIGHT?!

I, for one, will be pounding F5 from 11:30 until they are released.

[JusticeHarlan]

Tso excited.

[h2oplyer7]

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Thomas M. Cooley Law School IS RANKED #1 THIS YEAR.

[KevinP]

Surprised to see that Berkeley managed to stay in the top 10.

[TLS_noobie]

SPOILER ALERT!!!

THOMAS M. COOLEY LAW SCHOOL IS RANKED #1 THIS YEAR.

Why bother looking at USNWR rankings when we have these??

http://abovethelaw.com/2012/02/ranking- ... r-the-top/

[Gail]

I for one am excited to see who topped out at the specialty rankings