2012 US News & World Report Law School Rankings Forum

[gtrwanka]

anyone know when the print edition comes out?

Anyone know?

[neonx]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... dition=all

[neonx]

Code: Select all

2012 ... 2002 USN&WRP (AVERAGE)

Yale			1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1.00
Harvard		2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	3	3	3	2.36
Stanford		3	3	3	2	2	2	3	3	2	2	2	2.45

Columbia		4	4	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4.09
NYU			6	6	5	5	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5.00
Chicago		5	5	6	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5.91

Penn			7	7	8	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	10	7.27
Michigan		7	9	9	9	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7.82
Berkeley		9	7	6	6	8	8	11	13	10	7	9	8.55
UVA			9	10	10	9	10	8	8	9	9	7	7	8.73

Duke			11	11	10	12	10	11	11	10	10	12	10	10.73
NU			12	11	10	9	12	12	10	10	12	11	13	11.09
Cornell		13	13	13	12	13	13	11	12	12	13	12	12.45
GULC		14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14.00

[neonx]

I e-mailed US News. This is the response I received:

"I apologize for the inconvenience. The 2012 Best Grad Guidebook will be available on newsstands starting April 5."

[LiveFreeOrLaw]

I think only 0Ls are this conscientious about law school rankings. In real life, people who went to regionally respected schools do just fine in life.

[DeeCee]

I think only 0Ls are this conscientious about law school rankings. In real life, people who went to regionally respected schools do just fine in life.

Yes I agree. I try not to get overly emotional about the rankings, I'm going to go to a strong #30 (who dropped from 28 to 30 this year, as I saw ITT) in my region that I want to practice in for CHEAP, so I'm not too worried about these rankings anymore.

[existenz]

WTF

...so when do I get published?

[drummerboy]

those who live by the rankings die by the rankings ... whatever that means.

[coldshoulder]

This is making me look more seriously at California...I'd be above the 75th LSAT and right below the median on GPA. Do you think I could get good scholarship/merit at UC Davis?

[jck4487]

This is making me look more seriously at California...I'd be above the 75th LSAT and right below the median on GPA. Do you think I could get good scholarship/merit at UC Davis?

To my understanding, UC schools are strapped for money. Check out the UC Davis thread in the waiting forum.

[jacobadam]

Yea i have read from US news. That is............


School Name (State)
Columbia University (NY)
Harvard University (MA)
New York University
Stanford University (CA)
University of California--Berkeley
University of Chicago
University of Michigan--Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia
Yale University (CT)

[jamcdowell]

I think only 0Ls are this conscientious about law school rankings. In real life, people who went to regionally respected schools do just fine in life.

Exactly. Someone called a troll earlier today for this type of statement. They were trying to talk someone out of a full ride scholarship to try to go to a school that's ranked higher as opposed to no debt upon graduation, and graduating from a city with a strong legal field.

[whymeohgodno]

Even Deans of law schools use the term Top 14 around publicly. I remember seeing the Dean of Cornell use it in one of his letters.

[JamMasterJ]

Even Deans of law schools use the term Top 14 around publicly. I remember seeing the Dean of Cornell use it in one of his letters.

Because the whole point of the rankings and the distinction T14 is as a selling point to 0Ls

[jamcdowell]

Even Deans of law schools use the term Top 14 around publicly. I remember seeing the Dean of Cornell use it in one of his letters.

Because they need these rankings to show their worth. As far as a law firm, I do not think they hold as much weight.

[bk1]

I laugh at the fact that USNWR has the gall to list whether schools are regional or national and the fact that there are upwards of 30+ national schools.

[rayiner]

I think only 0Ls are this conscientious about law school rankings. In real life, people who went to regionally respected schools do just fine in life.

When I was doing callbacks I met more than a few partners who were just as rankings-conscious as your typical 0L. One partner at an east-coast firm told me something to the effect of "Northwestern is a solid regional school, you should have a good chance at a job in Chicago." Another pointed out that his firm moved their recruiting schedule back that year specifically because they didn't get enough Harvard grads the year before (who had a relatively later OCI).

Partners definitely know the pecking order. They may not know the year-to-year variations, but I'd imagine most of the ones who graduated in the last 20 years could identify the T10/T14 as a group even if they didn't know the label.

[Cade McNown]

Code: Select all

2012 ... 2002 USN&WRP (AVERAGE)

Yale			1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1.00
Harvard		2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	3	3	3	2.36
Stanford		3	3	3	2	2	2	3	3	2	2	2	2.45

Columbia		4	4	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4.09
NYU			6	6	5	5	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5.00
Chicago		5	5	6	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5.91

Penn			7	7	8	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	10	7.27
Michigan		7	9	9	9	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7.82
Berkeley		9	7	6	6	8	8	11	13	10	7	9	8.55
UVA			9	10	10	9	10	8	8	9	9	7	7	8.73

Duke			11	11	10	12	10	11	11	10	10	12	10	10.73
NU			12	11	10	9	12	12	10	10	12	11	13	11.09
Cornell		13	13	13	12	13	13	11	12	12	13	12	12.45
GULC		14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14.00

You forgot Texas.

[whymeohgodno]

Code: Select all

2012 ... 2002 USN&WRP (AVERAGE)

Yale			1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1.00
Harvard		2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	3	3	3	2.36
Stanford		3	3	3	2	2	2	3	3	2	2	2	2.45

Columbia		4	4	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4.09
NYU			6	6	5	5	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5.00
Chicago		5	5	6	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5.91

Penn			7	7	8	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	10	7.27
Michigan		7	9	9	9	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7.82
Berkeley		9	7	6	6	8	8	11	13	10	7	9	8.55
UVA			9	10	10	9	10	8	8	9	9	7	7	8.73

Duke			11	11	10	12	10	11	11	10	10	12	10	10.73
NU			12	11	10	9	12	12	10	10	12	11	13	11.09
Cornell		13	13	13	12	13	13	11	12	12	13	12	12.45
GULC		14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14.00

You forgot Texas.

No, I don't think he did.

[Cade McNown]

No, I don't think he did.

[lsatextreme]

is there a place where we can view the top 100 usnwr rankings of the past decade?

[run26.2]

I think only 0Ls are this conscientious about law school rankings. In real life, people who went to regionally respected schools do just fine in life.

When I was doing callbacks I met more than a few partners who were just as rankings-conscious as your typical 0L. One partner at an east-coast firm told me something to the effect of "Northwestern is a solid regional school, you should have a good chance at a job in Chicago." Another pointed out that his firm moved their recruiting schedule back that year specifically because they didn't get enough Harvard grads the year before (who had a relatively later OCI).

Partners definitely know the pecking order. They may not know the year-to-year variations, but I'd imagine most of the ones who graduated in the last 20 years could identify the T10/T14 as a group even if they didn't know the label.

What a joker. Unbelievable. Where did this person go to school?

[rayiner]

I think only 0Ls are this conscientious about law school rankings. In real life, people who went to regionally respected schools do just fine in life.

When I was doing callbacks I met more than a few partners who were just as rankings-conscious as your typical 0L. One partner at an east-coast firm told me something to the effect of "Northwestern is a solid regional school, you should have a good chance at a job in Chicago." Another pointed out that his firm moved their recruiting schedule back that year specifically because they didn't get enough Harvard grads the year before (who had a relatively later OCI).

Partners definitely know the pecking order. They may not know the year-to-year variations, but I'd imagine most of the ones who graduated in the last 20 years could identify the T10/T14 as a group even if they didn't know the label.

What a joker. Unbelievable. Where did this person go to school?

HYS, but to be fair, he went to school back in a time when hiring at the prestigious firms was even more a Harvard/Yale+local top school thing, b/c they hadn't gotten so leveraged that they needed to recruit bodies nationally.

Also to be fair, most the partners I met who were prestige conscious where not so in a snooty way. It wasn't "I'm better than you b/c I went to a top school." It was more like my asian parents: "of course the smart people who work the hardest go to the top schools."

[danquayle]

I think only 0Ls are this conscientious about law school rankings. In real life, people who went to regionally respected schools do just fine in life.

When I was doing callbacks I met more than a few partners who were just as rankings-conscious as your typical 0L. One partner at an east-coast firm told me something to the effect of "Northwestern is a solid regional school, you should have a good chance at a job in Chicago." Another pointed out that his firm moved their recruiting schedule back that year specifically because they didn't get enough Harvard grads the year before (who had a relatively later OCI).

Partners definitely know the pecking order. They may not know the year-to-year variations, but I'd imagine most of the ones who graduated in the last 20 years could identify the T10/T14 as a group even if they didn't know the label.

What a joker. Unbelievable. Where did this person go to school?

HYS, but to be fair, he went to school back in a time when hiring at the prestigious firms was even more a Harvard/Yale+local top school thing, b/c they hadn't gotten so leveraged that they needed to recruit bodies nationally.

Also to be fair, most the partners I met who were prestige conscious where not so in a snooty way. It wasn't "I'm better than you b/c I went to a top school." It was more like my asian parents: "of course the smart people who work the hardest go to the top schools."

I've had people outright ask me what the current rank of my school was during interviews. I sense a lot of it is just curiosity --> people love a horse race. But even if people don't place much stock in the ranks beyond the spectacle, they are interested in them and I have to imagine there's some effect.

[run26.2]

Because they need these rankings to show their worth. As far as a law firm, I do not think they hold as much weight.

I've had people outright ask me what the current rank of my school was during interviews. I sense a lot of it is just curiosity --> people love a horse race. But even if people don't place much stock in the ranks beyond the spectacle, they are interested in them and I have to imagine there's some effect.

By chance I met a recruiting coordinator from a respectable Texas firm while I was choosing a law school to attend. She asked which schools I was considering. When I told her, she said, "Oh, those are good schools. We take from the top ##% at school X and ##% at school Y." We discussed school rankings and she told me that they had a spreadsheet with a percentage cut-off for interviewees from each school.

Firms probably care a lot less once you have the job. But they are conscious of the school you attend and the GENERAL signal it sends about your quality as a candidate when you are interviewing.