Top Law Schools

PhantaManta wrote:FWIW, rankings leaked. UNLV goes from 75 to 78, not a big deal. The two schools I have depoists at both fell three spots, so no difference there. Arizona State jumped to 38 somehow which makes me question whether I should have withdrawn

I wonder how that happened. Hrm.

Vegas_Rebel wrote:

PhantaManta wrote:FWIW, rankings leaked. UNLV goes from 75 to 78, not a big deal. The two schools I have depoists at both fell three spots, so no difference there. Arizona State jumped to 38 somehow which makes me question whether I should have withdrawn

I wonder how that happened. Hrm.

I know, right? ASU passing a buttload of schools including UA is most surprising part of new rankings to me. Also Hawaii returning from the depths right back to the 70s. Also Buffalo getting pwned out of T100 (but that's just cuz I like Buffalo!!!)

Decided to withdraw today... I hope I made the right decision. Nathan Neely was so helpful during the entire process. Good luck to everyone else!

PhantaManta wrote:

yo! wrote:

PhantaManta wrote:FWIW, rankings leaked. UNLV goes from 75 to 78, not a big deal. The two schools I have depoists at both fell three spots, so no difference there. Arizona State jumped to 38 somehow which makes me question whether I should have withdrawn

Davis jumped to 28th, fuck! This will literally be a coin flip for me....

28th is nice. I read your decision-making thread but didn't get a chance to respond yet, but from what I remember, I thought Davis sounded like a pretty good fit for you. If you want to live in California eventually, I would just go there, unless the debt would crush you. Good luck making a decision, lol!

I don't know what to do now. These rankings didn't change my situation, I just wish my schools went up instead of down ;(. It also scares me that UNLV is only 4 points away from #100. Hawaii fell from the 70s to off the list last year, so it can happen. Then again, Tulane is only 9 points above UNLV... $60,000 difference... oy vey.

IMO, UNLV should be on the way up. They seem to be carefully selecting applicants, and handing out a bunch of full scholarships can do nothing but help. I guess we will see next year.

Nat1018 wrote:Decided to withdraw today... I hope I made the right decision. Nathan Neely was so helpful during the entire process. Good luck to everyone else!

Going to Ohio State Nat?

yo! wrote:

Nat1018 wrote:Decided to withdraw today... I hope I made the right decision. Nathan Neely was so helpful during the entire process. Good luck to everyone else!

Going to Ohio State Nat?

I'm leaning towards OSU. I really enjoyed my visit last weekend, but I'm still debating between Case Western and OSU and I have yet to hear from UC Davis! (which at this point is just annoying). I read your thread about UNLV vs. UCD and I think that if you're really set on returning back to CA, then I would probably go to UCD...but that's just my 2 cents. A big factor for me in turning down UNLV was the fact that their alumni base is so small and concenrated in Vegas and I'm just not sure if I want to be stuck there forever since such a huge element of finding a job is connections and networking. But ultimately, you have 2 amazing options and you can't really go wrong either way. Good luck!

So, I did some number crunching to compare the 2009 rankings to the 2010 rankings, for UNLV.

Most things stayed the same. Of the things that changed:

Peer assessment dropped .1 point, to 2.3.
GPA 25-75% dropped from 3.2-3.71 to 3.18-3.66 (that is, they accepted lower GPA's at the 25% and 75% mark.)
Acceptance rate dropped 1 point from 23% to 22%. (The school got harder to get into, which is good for rankings.)
The students employed at graduation jumped from 75.7 to 86.7. In a horrid job market, employment at graduation actually increased 9%. (Good)
Students employed 9 months out dropped .1%.
Bar passage rate increased 1.3% to 81.5% (Good)
Bar passage rate overall increased 3% in NV.

So, here's some important things to take from the rankings.

Compared to last year:
UNLV is harder to get into, but accepted lower GPA's.
UNLV placed significantly better at graduation.
Student / Faculty ratio remained the same despite budget problems for the UG.
Slightly more students passed the bar on the first go-round.

It's tough for me to conclude anything except that UNLV is a better school this year than last year, despite the drop in rankings. Perhaps it just didn't increase as much relative to other schools?

2009 Rankings Info: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/346 ... 0f39_o.gif
2010 Rankings Info: --LinkRemoved--

Edit: By harder to get into, I mean rejected more applicants. Because GPA 25-75 dropped, and LSAT remained the same, does that mean the school is easier to get into, but had more applicants with lower numbers?

Vegas_Rebel wrote:So, I did some number crunching to compare the 2009 rankings to the 2010 rankings, for UNLV.

Most things stayed the same. Of the things that changed:

Peer assessment dropped .1 point, to 2.3.
GPA 25-75% dropped from 3.2-3.71 to 3.18-3.66 (that is, they accepted lower GPA's at the 25% and 75% mark.)
Acceptance rate dropped 1 point from 23% to 22%. (The school got harder to get into, which is good for rankings.)
The students employed at graduation jumped from 75.7 to 86.7. In a horrid job market, employment at graduation actually increased 9%. (Good)
Students employed 9 months out dropped .1%.
Bar passage rate increased 1.3% to 81.5% (Good)
Bar passage rate overall increased 3% in NV.

So, here's some important things to take from the rankings.

Compared to last year:
UNLV is harder to get into, but accepted lower GPA's.
UNLV placed significantly better at graduation.
Student / Faculty ratio remained the same despite budget problems for the UG.
Slightly more students passed the bar on the first go-round.

It's tough for me to conclude anything except that UNLV is a better school this year than last year, despite the drop in rankings. Perhaps it just didn't increase as much relative to other schools?

2009 Rankings Info: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/346 ... 0f39_o.gif
2010 Rankings Info: --LinkRemoved--

My only thoughts are: I do not trust UNLV (or really, any) school's employment data at graduation unless they give a very detailed report (% reporting, % reporting salary, etc). I just have a hard time believing Tulane had 15% less employment at time of graduation, and there is huge variation up and down the rankings without much order.

The one thing that worries me about UNLV's rankings is the poor peer assessment. I think they'd move up some spots if they got better in that area!

PhantaManta wrote:My only thoughts are: I do not trust UNLV (or really, any) school's employment data at graduation unless they give a very detailed report (% reporting, % reporting salary, etc). I just have a hard time believing Tulane had 15% less employment at time of graduation, and there is huge variation up and down the rankings without much order.

The one thing that worries me about UNLV's rankings is the poor peer assessment. I think they'd move up some spots if they got better in that area!

Employment stats are suspect for everyone, as you say. 9% of 158 students is only 14-15, but USNWR doesn't specify what they were employed in. I, too, would like to see detailed employment stats.

The peer assessment ranking might have suffered because of the UG, or might have just been arbitrary. It's a small enough difference that I wouldn't worry too much about it.

having your peer assessment even drop .1 could have a big effect on the school's rankings as it weighs 40% of the school's overall score. I wish they would put less of an emphesis on that and more on placement success. Isn't that the goal of law schools? To produce successful lawyers? Yet it only accounts for 20% of the ranking

Edit: I'm posting a review of a contracts class I sat in in the c/o 2013 thread.

still 'in review'....ugh!!

waiting4unlv wrote:still 'in review'....ugh!!

My understanding is that Nathan Neely was out this week at a conference (or at least that's what I was told yesterday when I sat in on classes.)

I'm sorry it's taking so long, I know that it sucks

Vegas_Rebel wrote:

waiting4unlv wrote:still 'in review'....ugh!!

My understanding is that Nathan Neely was would this week at a conference (or at least that's what I was told yesterday when I sat in on classes.)

I'm sorry it's taking so long, I know that it sucks

some verb confusion there, so i have no idea what you're saying.

usuaggie wrote:

Vegas_Rebel wrote:

waiting4unlv wrote:still 'in review'....ugh!!

My understanding is that Nathan Neely was out this week at a conference (or at least that's what I was told yesterday when I sat in on classes.)

I'm sorry it's taking so long, I know that it sucks

some verb confusion there, so i have no idea what you're saying.

Post-sleep writing fail.

Fixt. Would=Out. NN is gone this week, so no decisions.

All of the UNLV waiting room originals are going to other schools; it's kind of sad Roguey is going to Case Western, Zoomba is going to Utah, usuaggie is going to Oregon, Nat1018 is probably going to Ohio State, and it looks like I'm headed to Davis. At least Phanta and VR will be living it up in Vegas without any debt while the rest of us are living just above the poverty line Hopefully a member of our thread gets my spot and $$$$.

Edited to add zoomba

yo! wrote:All of the UNLV waiting room originals are going to other schools; it's kind of sad Roguey is going to Case Western, Zoomba is going to Utah, usuaggie is going to Oregon, Nat1018 is probably going to Ohio State, and it looks like I'm headed to Davis. At least Phanta and VR will be living it up in Vegas without any debt while the rest of us are living just above the poverty line Hopefully a member of our thread gets my spot and $$$$.

Edited to add zoomba

I still might go to Tulane, though. I have been about 75% / 25% in favor of UNLV because I am scared shitless about taking on $120,000 debt and then either sucking at law school or sucking at a law job. I know there is government loan programs, but it feels a lot like (what I assume) skydiving feels like --- yeah, there is a parachute, HOPEFULLY... and I'm not sure it would be worth it to put myself in that situation when as of right now I have very little interest in biglaw (or, even, private firms in general).

I will spend a lot of time this weekend trying to make up my mind.

It's sad for me, but ya'll are making the best decisions for you. No one should do any differently.

Besides, networking is huge, and if all UNLV did is throw us together in the same thread and give us people to know from around the country, that's not such a bad thing.

ETA: Besides, everyone comes to Vegas. We'll go out for beers yet.

Vegas_Rebel wrote:It's sad for me, but ya'll are making the best decisions for you. No one should do any differently.

Besides, networking is huge, and if all UNLV did is throw us together in the same thread and give us people to know from around the country, that's not such a bad thing.

ETA: Besides, everyone comes to Vegas. We'll go out for beers yet.

Im already in Vegas and ready for mass consumption of alcohol at this point. The stress of waiting makes me want to drink heavily.

You are definitely right VR, the thread has been fun and I've met some pretty cool people (both on here and during my visits). Phanta, I've jumped out of a plane, and let me tell you: This is 10000000000000000X scarier. Good luck everyone, I'll definitely check in.

VegasRebel, is there a second deposit deadline, or is it just the one?

I feel bad that I haven't posted in here for awhile. Has everyone decided where they are going? I finally decided on Case Western, which kinda flew outta nowhere. I applied because of a fee waiver and then researched the school after I was admitted with a good scholarship. In a way I'm sad that I won't be going to UNLV, but I'm also excited because Cleveland is really really cool (and there's a large body of water there). Although I have to say that I don't get the same sense of fun out of the Case people that I did from here. I haven't seen much talk of booze, so I'm not sure if they are the party type. And you can't smoke in bars in Ohio

TaliaT wrote:Im already in Vegas and ready for mass consumption of alcohol at this point. The stress of waiting makes me want to drink heavily.

Well, that's easy enough to remedy. Hit me up and we'll grab a beer or hit up Fremont Street or something. Are you on the FB group?

PhantaManta wrote:VegasRebel, is there a second deposit deadline, or is it just the one?

My paperwork just mentions the one, so I think that's it.

roguey wrote:I feel bad that I haven't posted in here for awhile. Has everyone decided where they are going? I finally decided on Case Western, which kinda flew outta nowhere. I applied because of a fee waiver and then researched the school after I was admitted with a good scholarship. In a way I'm sad that I won't be going to UNLV, but I'm also excited because Cleveland is really really cool (and there's a large body of water there). Although I have to say that I don't get the same sense of fun out of the Case people that I did from here. I haven't seen much talk of booze, so I'm not sure if they are the party type. And you can't smoke in bars in Ohio

I'm sure you'll do well in Cleveland, rougey.

Here's a nice tourism video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY j/k

I'm sure you'll have a good time, and vacationing in Vegas is never a bad plan.

PhantaManta wrote:These rankings didn't change my situation, I just wish my schools went up instead of down ;(. It also scares me that UNLV is only 4 points away from #100. Hawaii fell from the 70s to off the list last year, so it can happen. Then again, Tulane is only 9 points above UNLV... $60,000 difference... oy vey.

Though Hawaii fell off the top 100 because there was an error in reporting their employment data and USNWR decided to not correct this, so the "big jump" they apparently had this year was more so them getting back to where they were previously. However, Missouri I think actually did have a near 30 spot drop as well. So considering Hawaii's circumstance would this be an actual decline in quality or another error.

Vegas_Rebel wrote:

TaliaT wrote:Im already in Vegas and ready for mass consumption of alcohol at this point. The stress of waiting makes me want to drink heavily.

Well, that's easy enough to remedy. Hit me up and we'll grab a beer or hit up Fremont Street or something. Are you on the FB group?

PhantaManta wrote:VegasRebel, is there a second deposit deadline, or is it just the one?

My paperwork just mentions the one, so I think that's it.

roguey wrote:I feel bad that I haven't posted in here for awhile. Has everyone decided where they are going? I finally decided on Case Western, which kinda flew outta nowhere. I applied because of a fee waiver and then researched the school after I was admitted with a good scholarship. In a way I'm sad that I won't be going to UNLV, but I'm also excited because Cleveland is really really cool (and there's a large body of water there). Although I have to say that I don't get the same sense of fun out of the Case people that I did from here. I haven't seen much talk of booze, so I'm not sure if they are the party type. And you can't smoke in bars in Ohio

I'm sure you'll do well in Cleveland, rougey.

Here's a nice tourism video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY j/k

I'm sure you'll have a good time, and vacationing in Vegas is never a bad plan.

OMG!!!! That video is awesome!!! Thank you!