Should BYU Law be ranked No. 2? Forum

[OGR3]

Malcolm Gladwell is a pseudo scientific blowhard and frankly, a moron in almost all things

[Hey-O]

So, in true TLS fashion, this topic has been co-opted by a few nerds who are seriously arguing about accuracy in statistics. I seriously hope all of you guys end up as law school faculty somewhere and exchange endless emails about each others' publishing. Talk about masturbatory.

Back to the real purpose of this thread (and to masturbate a little, myself), I think, having not read the article, that Gladwell was demonstrating that rankings can be based on anything, and the most valuable ranking to any individual is the one that heavily weights the criteria they care about most.

USNWR are good for some people, and since there could be as many different ranking systems as there are 0Ls, it is a good place to start to figure out how some other people feel about it. For those of us who haven't even looked at the T14 because it wasn't ever realistically an option, USNWR is good for little more than feeling good about ourselves and giving us latitude to make snide comments to our friends at lower ranked schools. For instance, in FL, we psychologically eliminate all non-FL schools from USNWR and then look at what's left and say to ourselves, "I am so glad that UF is number 1." I'm sure in other regions it is similar, but someone who went to YHS probably isn't competing with us for jobs at FL firms, and the stray Vandy grad doesn't seem like much of a threat because the managing partner is a UF alum.

And I reckon that's how it will stay as long as USNWR has UGA and Alabama ahead of UF. Then, if we ever become the highest ranked public in the SEC, we might add that to our resume. The point is, once you're at the school that will define your career, you can make it number 1 in the rankings as long as your can define the criteria. That's why rankings mostly matter to 0Ls.

So with that said, I feel superior to all the rest of you who aren't at the #1 ranked University of Florida Levin College of Law. SUCKAS!

+1 This is very reasonable. I think people are arguing with wildly different goals and assumptions. If you have ambition of working in NYC at big law then it doesn't make sense to go to the University of Florida, but if you want to work in Florida then it makes more sense to go there with a full scholarship than Columbia at sticker. I mean, the rankings are a tool to analyze reality and like any analytical tool they have pros and cons.

[98234872348]

but if you want to work in Florida then it makes more sense to go there with a full scholarship than Columbia at sticker. I mean, the rankings are a tool to analyze reality and like any analytical tool they have pros and cons.

This would really depend WHAT you wanted to do in Florida. In almost all cases I think Columbia wins by a landslide.

[flcath]

but if you want to work in Florida then it makes more sense to go there with a full scholarship than Columbia at sticker. I mean, the rankings are a tool to analyze reality and like any analytical tool they have pros and cons.

This would really depend WHAT you wanted to do in Florida. In almost all cases I think Columbia wins by a landslide.

Actually in almost all cases UF wins. What you mean is, "assuming you want to do the most high-end work you can get."

[09042014]

DF rankings:

% of a class making over the "market" big law rate of the area they are in + % of people working for the Fed Gov + 1/3(% of people working in public interest)

[98234872348]

but if you want to work in Florida then it makes more sense to go there with a full scholarship than Columbia at sticker. I mean, the rankings are a tool to analyze reality and like any analytical tool they have pros and cons.

This would really depend WHAT you wanted to do in Florida. In almost all cases I think Columbia wins by a landslide.

Actually in almost all cases UF wins. What you mean is, "assuming you want to do the most high-end work you can get."

This is TLS...

[flcath]

but if you want to work in Florida then it makes more sense to go there with a full scholarship than Columbia at sticker. I mean, the rankings are a tool to analyze reality and like any analytical tool they have pros and cons.

This would really depend WHAT you wanted to do in Florida. In almost all cases I think Columbia wins by a landslide.

Actually in almost all cases UF wins. What you mean is, "assuming you want to do the most high-end work you can get."

This is TLS...

I know, bro, and it's the way I think to.

But truth be told, going to CLS in this hypo is the same "keeping your options open" logical fallacy that causes ppl to constant waste money and effort on unnecessary education.