2013 Rankings Forum

[chup]

The fact that George Mason is ranked behind Iowa completely 100% discredits these rankings

You're right, this is what totally discredits the rankings.

Man this was a relatively weak effort on Waterman's part and you guys still took the bait.

[Dale]

As I understand this, the only NEW rankings are from USNWR and all the other posted rankings are regurgitated old data. In other words, other than the new USNWR rankings everything else posted here is so forty-two seconds ago.

[JusticeHarlan]

The fact that George Mason is ranked behind Iowa completely 100% discredits these rankings

You're right, this is what totally discredits the rankings.

Man this was a relatively weak effort on Waterman's part and you guys still took the bait.

[Frattorney]

The fact that George Mason is ranked behind Iowa completely 100% discredits these rankings. But I'm glad to see GMU gain a spot I feel a lot better about going knowing the upperward rankings trend is back.

Iowa is 100% better than GMu in every way conceivable.

Your an idiot. Bring facts or stfu

1. "Your an idiot" - No comment necessary

2. Iowa is the best school in Iowa. George Mason is not even close to the best school in the area. The entire T14, GULC, GW, WL/WM are given priority over Mason. Mason is a peer with MD/American, in that it's an OK school in a wildly competitive region.

Yeah, because Maryland isn't the best law school in Maryland? You using the "Iowa is the best school in Iowa" argument in an attempt to discredit UMD= lulz.

[tennisking88]

1. "Your an idiot" - No comment necessary

2. Iowa is the best school in Iowa. George Mason is not even close to the best school in the area. The entire T14, GULC, GW, WL/WM are given priority over Mason. Mason is a peer with MD/American, in that it's an OK school in a wildly competitive region.

Yeah, because Maryland isn't the best law school in Maryland? You using the "Iowa is the best school in Iowa" argument in an attempt to discredit UMD= lulz.

Didn't realize my attempt to discredit the falsehood that GMU was a better school than Iowa was in fact an attempt to discredit UMD. There's no question that within the DC market, the primary market in which GM competes, it is on par with Maryland. If anything, the fact that UMD dominates MD and is competitive with GM COMPLEMENTS UMD. Dumbass.

[banjo]

NW's old dean was controversial. He metaphorically said "fuck you legal academia" in several ways. By hiring Ph'ds instead of just JDs and by following a more business school method of operation.

So what's the new dean like? Any rumors on what he plans to change / keep the same?

[09042014]

NW's old dean was controversial. He metaphorically said "fuck you legal academia" in several ways. By hiring Ph'ds instead of just JDs and by following a more business school method of operation.

So what's the new dean like? Any rumors on what he plans to change / keep the same?

Hard to tell. The only hiring people with PhD thing is going to change for sure. But it sounds like he likes the business oriented school thing.

[Redamon1]

West Coast!

[beardown_tho]

Response to AZ State @ 26:

First, I go to ASU so I may be biased; however, I visited ~a half dozen schools last year. Some that currently/formerly ranked higher and others ranked lower that accepted me. I went back and forth for months. Rank alone should not be the basis for anyone's decision. These jump around every year, and you have to weigh more factors than what's on a resume. Your scores will get you into law school, but (often) little of that matters once you're in the door.

With 1 being "completely inaccurate" and a 5 being "completely accurate," how would you characterize, on that 1-5 scale, ASU's claim that 98.2% of its graduates are employed 9 months after graduation?

[Easy-E]

Response to AZ State @ 26:

First, I go to ASU so I may be biased; however, I visited ~a half dozen schools last year. Some that currently/formerly ranked higher and others ranked lower that accepted me. I went back and forth for months. Rank alone should not be the basis for anyone's decision. These jump around every year, and you have to weigh more factors than what's on a resume. Your scores will get you into law school, but (often) little of that matters once you're in the door.

With 1 being "completely inaccurate" and a 5 being "completely accurate," how would you characterize, on that 1-5 scale, ASU's claim that 98.2% of its graduates are employed 9 months after graduation?

It'd be worth it to know how many of those are JD-required jobs, and how what percentage of the graduating class actually responded to the survey. Those are usually big points in determining the validity of that number.

[ScrabbleChamp]

Response to AZ State @ 26:

First, I go to ASU so I may be biased; however, I visited ~a half dozen schools last year. Some that currently/formerly ranked higher and others ranked lower that accepted me. I went back and forth for months. Rank alone should not be the basis for anyone's decision. These jump around every year, and you have to weigh more factors than what's on a resume. Your scores will get you into law school, but (often) little of that matters once you're in the door.

With 1 being "completely inaccurate" and a 5 being "completely accurate," how would you characterize, on that 1-5 scale, ASU's claim that 98.2% of its graduates are employed 9 months after graduation?

The answer is 1. I really have no clue how ASU got away with reporting those numbers. If you go to the ASU website and look at the numbers, it is frightening. Of the 98% that were employed, only 79% were employed full-time, and another 12% were working in University-funded positions... So, in reality, they had around 67% of the class that had full-time employment not paid for by the school... But they reported 98% and profited.

[josh43299]

Response to AZ State @ 26:

First, I go to ASU so I may be biased; however, I visited ~a half dozen schools last year. Some that currently/formerly ranked higher and others ranked lower that accepted me. I went back and forth for months. Rank alone should not be the basis for anyone's decision. These jump around every year, and you have to weigh more factors than what's on a resume. Your scores will get you into law school, but (often) little of that matters once you're in the door.

With 1 being "completely inaccurate" and a 5 being "completely accurate," how would you characterize, on that 1-5 scale, ASU's claim that 98.2% of its graduates are employed 9 months after graduation?

The answer is 1. I really have no clue how ASU got away with reporting those numbers. If you go to the ASU website and look at the numbers, it is frightening. Of the 98% that were employed, only 79% were employed full-time, and another 12% were working in University-funded positions... So, in reality, they had around 67% of the class that had full-time employment not paid for by the school... But they reported 98% and profited.

Article about the new information to be reported by law schools (see the linked statement):
--LinkRemoved-- ... op+Stories

From the statement, (July 27, 2011):
"As to job data, the 2011 Annual Questionnaire will request from
law schools information on their graduates’ employment status,
employment types and employment locations. It will also request
additional and new information on whether a graduate’s
employment is long-term or short-term. Finally, it will ask how
many, if any, positions held by their graduates are funded by the
law school or university.

New data will also be collected in the spring of 2012 (soon after
February 15, 2012, the traditional nine-month-after-graduation
date), for the graduating class of 2011, including whether the
graduate’s job is part-time or full-time; whether the job requires
bar passage; whether a J.D. is preferred for the job; whether the
job is in another profession; and whether the job is a nonprofessional
one. Definitions for these categories will be developed
this coming fall. However, rather than wait until August 2012 to
collect these new data, our plan is to collect those data from the
schools soon after February 15, 2012 and display the data on our
website in the late spring/early summer."

Article from U.S. News (yesterday) about employment data and stating that next year they will use the more transparent data required from the ABA:
--LinkRemoved-- ... -jobs-data

Will be interesting to see what happens next year...

[jdamele76]

Could anybody post MSU, Oregon, Alabama, ASU and Nebraska's new stats (the peer/judicial review and all that). Thanks ahead of time!

[westinghouse60]

Just realized that Cooley's "Judging the Law Schools" ranking isn't out yet. I really hope they do it this year. Harvard's drop to #3 in the US News should be all Cooley need to claim the #1 spot in their own rankings, because they can introduce a new metric "relative change in ranking by other publications". It would be brilliant because Cooley, locked in as a TTTT, could never hurt themselves.

[futurejdgirl]

Given Emory's controversy in past few years regarding ranking, what do you guys think about its recent climb up the rankings this year?

[de5igual]

Given Emory's controversy in past few years regarding ranking, what do you guys think about its recent climb up the rankings this year?

Emory's always fluctuated around the T20-T30 range, and it places comparably to schools in that range. The only downside is that UGA, which is significantly cheaper, places similarly in Atlanta, so in many cases, there's not an argument for going to Emory absent a good scholarship that evens the cost.

[Artistry]

Just realized that Cooley's "Judging the Law Schools" ranking isn't out yet. I really hope they do it this year. Harvard's drop to #3 in the US News should be all Cooley need to claim the #1 spot in their own rankings, because they can introduce a new metric "relative change in ranking by other publications". It would be brilliant because Cooley, locked in as a TTTT, could never hurt themselves.

Which school ranks higher in the "Judging the Law Schools" rankings: Cooley-MI or Cooley-FL?

Probably #1 and #2 respectively, right?

[lawlcat4179]

Just realized that Cooley's "Judging the Law Schools" ranking isn't out yet. I really hope they do it this year. Harvard's drop to #3 in the US News should be all Cooley need to claim the #1 spot in their own rankings, because they can introduce a new metric "relative change in ranking by other publications". It would be brilliant because Cooley, locked in as a TTTT, could never hurt themselves.

Which school ranks higher in the "Judging the Law Schools" rankings: Cooley-MI or Cooley-FL?

Probably #1 and #2 respectively, right?

One thing I've wondered about Cooley is how they compute their library square footage into the equation. Do they add up the square footage at all 38 of their campuses? Or is it some sort of average? We may need to investigate to see if Cooley is cooking the books on their own rankings.

[checkster]

Just realized that Cooley's "Judging the Law Schools" ranking isn't out yet. I really hope they do it this year. Harvard's drop to #3 in the US News should be all Cooley need to claim the #1 spot in their own rankings, because they can introduce a new metric "relative change in ranking by other publications". It would be brilliant because Cooley, locked in as a TTTT, could never hurt themselves.

Which school ranks higher in the "Judging the Law Schools" rankings: Cooley-MI or Cooley-FL?

Probably #1 and #2 respectively, right?

One thing I've wondered about Cooley is how they compute their library square footage into the equation. Do they add up the square footage at all 38 of their campuses? Or is it some sort of average? We may need to investigate to see if Cooley is cooking the books on their own rankings.

I assume that they use the "logic" that since their students have access to each campus, that the total size of all of their libraries should count.

[wskbarrett]

Frequently Asked Questions
1. When should I apply?
2. Do I need to take the LSAT (Law School Admission Test)?
3. Does Cooley 'average' scores if I take the LSAT more than once?
4. What if I receive an Honors Scholarship based on LSAT score, but I retake the LSAT to increase my scholarship?
5. Is there a minimum LSAT score required for admission?
6. Do I need to register for the JD CAS (Credential Assembly Service)?
7. How important is the LSAT Writing Sample?
8. Do I need letters of recommendations with my application?
9. How specific must I be about my answers to questions on the law school application?
10. Does Cooley require a personal statement and letters of recommendation?
11. What is the tuition cost?
12. If I am accepted to Cooley, what's next?
13. What about deferments? If I cannot attend classes when I originally planned, how can I defer enrollment?
14. What if I left another law school not in good academic standing?
15. How do I get in touch with Cooley alumni?

Clever answers any/all appreciated.

[TMC116]

Frequently Asked Questions
1. When should I apply?
2. Do I need to take the LSAT (Law School Admission Test)?
3. Does Cooley 'average' scores if I take the LSAT more than once?
4. What if I receive an Honors Scholarship based on LSAT score, but I retake the LSAT to increase my scholarship?
5. Is there a minimum LSAT score required for admission?
6. Do I need to register for the JD CAS (Credential Assembly Service)?
7. How important is the LSAT Writing Sample?
8. Do I need letters of recommendations with my application?
9. How specific must I be about my answers to questions on the law school application?
10. Does Cooley require a personal statement and letters of recommendation?
11. What is the tuition cost?
12. If I am accepted to Cooley, what's next?
13. What about deferments? If I cannot attend classes when I originally planned, how can I defer enrollment?
14. What if I left another law school not in good academic standing?
15. How do I get in touch with Cooley alumni?

Clever answers any/all appreciated.

12 and 15 are ripe for comedy.

[Kurst]

7. How important is the LSAT Writing Sample?

Cooley Law School will, in some cases, score the writing sample.
It is important that you do your very best to demonstrate your ability to write clearly and logically.

[romothesavior]

Given Emory's controversy in past few years regarding ranking, what do you guys think about its recent climb up the rankings this year?

I think you should apply in DROVES.

No but seriously, Emory is the same school now as it was last year, or even three years ago before they fell. FLUCTUATIONS LIKE THIS ARE MEANINGLESS.

[T00L]

Frequently Asked Questions
1. When should I apply?
2. Do I need to take the LSAT (Law School Admission Test)?
3. Does Cooley 'average' scores if I take the LSAT more than once?
4. What if I receive an Honors Scholarship based on LSAT score, but I retake the LSAT to increase my scholarship?
5. Is there a minimum LSAT score required for admission?
6. Do I need to register for the JD CAS (Credential Assembly Service)?
7. How important is the LSAT Writing Sample?
8. Do I need letters of recommendations with my application?
9. How specific must I be about my answers to questions on the law school application?
10. Does Cooley require a personal statement and letters of recommendation?
11. What is the tuition cost?
12. If I am accepted to Cooley, what's next?
13. What about deferments? If I cannot attend classes when I originally planned, how can I defer enrollment?
14. What if I left another law school not in good academic standing?
15. How do I get in touch with Cooley alumni?

Clever answers any/all appreciated.

12 and 15 are ripe for comedy.

12: Give up law. Move to a stone monastery somewhere on the edge of a jungle, preferably at the top of an impossibly-long staircase, and become a high-order monk of a peacefully-minded, yet esoteric religion that specializes in the salvation of people of a certain height.

15: You have monk powers now. Seance.

[noleknight16]

Can someone please post Emory's stats