Top Law Schools

I couldn't find a topic SPECIFICALLY on this issue, but I'm curious, anyone have any decent hypotheses on the cause of the recent rise in UC Davis USN ranking and if it can manage to hold top 30 for an extended period of time (5+ years) ? Does it deserve this rise? Is the quality of the education any better/worse than other schools in the top 20s?

Also, with splitter scores of 167 / 3.4 what are my chances of getting some scholarship money after they finalize their stats from deposits? Has anyone with similar scores been given money (I saw in one post a common amount of $12.5k and $25k, but I think it was from 2009)?

** What is everyones feeling on the advantage of smaller class sizes? Does it warrant ANY consideration while thinking about which school to attend?

Quality of education is the same. The rise is irrelevant considering nobody necessarily "deserves" their USNWR ranking and they are all gaming the system. Nobody knows whether they can maintain their ranking. They are probably overranked, but that is only because they place into an especially tough market (CA, and specifically NorCal). It is still a peer of Hastings no matter the rankings.

Offering another point for possible discussion, but do people think UCD's rise in the ranking because of the new law building, which increases the $ per student spending?

tea_drinker wrote:Offering another point for possible discussion, but do people think UCD's rise in the ranking because of the new law building, which increases the $ per student spending?

Someone with a USNWR subscription and access to the data that is used to compile the rankings could give an answer to this one.

Employers who hire from Davis aren't gonna give a fuck about this rankings minutiae so why should you

rad law wrote:Employers who hire from Davis aren't gonna give a fuck about this rankings minutiae so why should you

DINGDINGDINGDINGDING. We have a winner.

There is precious little qualitative difference between any school ranked, say, 20-40. Pick based on $, feel, and where you want to work. Whether a school is or isn't "T25" doesn't matter. Picking Davis over Hastings, money being equal, because of the ranking might (emphasis, MIGHT) be a good idea since they feed into the same markets and are regarded more or less equally. But picking Davis over, say, BC if you want to work in Boston because it's "ranked higher" is just plain stupid.

SBL wrote:

rad law wrote:Employers who hire from Davis aren't gonna give a fuck about this rankings minutiae so why should you

DINGDINGDINGDINGDING. We have a winner.

There is precious little qualitative difference between any school ranked, say, 20-40. Pick based on $, feel, and where you want to work. Whether a school is or isn't "T25" doesn't matter. Picking Davis over Hastings, money being equal, because of the ranking might (emphasis, MIGHT) be a good idea since they feed into the same markets and are regarded more or less equally. But picking Davis over, say, BC if you want to work in Boston because it's "ranked higher" is just plain stupid.

I think that qualifies for just about every school outside the T14. I don't feel like anybody TRULY chooses a school ranked 30 over 45 if the 45th ranked school is in their geographically preferred area and the 30th is across the country.

pelkin000 wrote:I couldn't find a topic SPECIFICALLY on this issue, but I'm curious, anyone have any decent hypotheses on the cause of the recent rise in UC Davis USN ranking and if it can manage to hold top 30 for an extended period of time (5+ years) ? Does it deserve this rise? Is the quality of the education any better/worse than other schools in the top 20s?

Also, with splitter scores of 167 / 3.4 what are my chances of getting some scholarship money after they finalize their stats from deposits? Has anyone with similar scores been given money (I saw in one post a common amount of $12.5k and $25k, but I think it was from 2009)?

** What is everyones feeling on the advantage of smaller class sizes? Does it warrant ANY consideration while thinking about which school to attend?

They report overly optimistic employment at graduation data that USNWR takes at face value... and they have a very small class size meaning they can more easily maneuver their admissions strategy to maximize USWNR criteria.


Will it stay in the top 30? Who knows... that depends on what criteria USNWR uses year from year, and whether the ABA will finally require accurate employment data.

FeelTheHeat wrote: [/b]

I think that qualifies for just about every school outside the T14. I don't feel like anybody TRULY chooses a school ranked 30 over 45 if the 45th ranked school is in their geographically preferred area and the 30th is across the country.[/quote]


The powerful statement above is really helping to reassure me to choose 51st or 49th over 29th because the former are in my geographically preferred area. I mean all 3 are in the same state, but it's a stretch between L.A. and Sacramento.