More fake rankings Forum

[emkay625]

http://abovethelaw.com/2016/06/schools- ... t-article/

Discuss.

[Nachoo2019]

This shit is criminal.

[Barack O'Drama]

I don't understand why the ABA allows this shit. Granted, there is information out there via the internet, but honestly I know more than a few other wise intelligent people who ended up at lower ranked schools because of these fake ratings. I will agree that in 2016 there is no excuse not to thoroughly research law schools you would like to attend, but even so, if part of that research leads you to these types of fake ratings, one may be inclined to ignore good advice because they think they have objective data.

A kid from my undergrad with a 3.75 GPA ended up going to a regional TTT half away across the country because it was ranked top 5 in some obscure field of law. Again, I am nuanced on the subject because prospective students should research, but if they are researching and run into a ranking saying Cooley Law is second to Harvard...I sometimes forget when talking to other 0Ls that this forum has educated me immensely over the past 3 years and how much of an advantage it has given me.

This shit is criminal. It is beyond an infomercial saying a Shamwow is the best shammy.

[Shootin]

I dont think its that big of a deal. Doubt anybody perceives Nova as a better school to attend than FIU/UM etc. Same applies to other schools in there. It would be much more of an issue if a decent school did that. Then people would start giving it more weight. But nova claiming to be a top law school? You have to really be out of touch with the world to buy that. And if you are so out of touch, then nothing will help you. The world cant be THAT idiot proof.

[Barack O'Drama]

I dont think its that big of a deal. Doubt anybody perceives Nova as a better school to attend than FIU/UM etc. Same applies to other schools in there. It would be much more of an issue if a decent school did that. Then people would start giving it more weight. But nova claiming to be a top law school? You have to really be out of touch with the world to buy that. And if you are so out of touch, then nothing will help you. The world cant be THAT idiot proof.

Yeah I can't really disagree with that logic. Most people that buy this shit are probably too far gone.

[Nachoo2019]

I dont think its that big of a deal. Doubt anybody perceives Nova as a better school to attend than FIU/UM etc. Same applies to other schools in there. It would be much more of an issue if a decent school did that. Then people would start giving it more weight. But nova claiming to be a top law school? You have to really be out of touch with the world to buy that. And if you are so out of touch, then nothing will help you. The world cant be THAT idiot proof.

I totally agree with all of this. The only issue I have is that these people who are so far gone are borrowing tax $$ that they will never be able to pay back. If they were ruining their own lives at their own risk I wouldn't have an issue at all.

[speed_the_loot]

.

[Shootin]

I dont think its that big of a deal. Doubt anybody perceives Nova as a better school to attend than FIU/UM etc. Same applies to other schools in there. It would be much more of an issue if a decent school did that. Then people would start giving it more weight. But nova claiming to be a top law school? You have to really be out of touch with the world to buy that. And if you are so out of touch, then nothing will help you. The world cant be THAT idiot proof.

People don't know what they don't know. And if every lay person in region X tells you that regional law school Y is a good school, why would you challenge that assumption?

The thing is, these schools are so inherently bad that even in those regions people would not be telling you that these are great schools. In fact, you will be challenging everyone by claiming that, for example, nova is indeed a top law school. Its kind of like trying to convince everyone that toyota corolla is a better car than mercedes c class. Even if you have no experience with either car you can probably guess that corolla can't be better than c class. And if the person still manages to somehow come to a different conclusion, then what can you do? If one is absolutely incapable of applying some reasoning and spending 10 mins on the internet researching the school (which they did if they found the bogus article), then I can't think of anything that will shield these people from making catastrophic decisions as their life progresses and costing us tax $ anyway. At the same time, I agree that its immoral practice and that it shouldn't happen. But who cares about morals in 2016

I think it would be a big problem if decent schools started doing that because then its much easier to take it seriously and give it more weight.

[jnwa]

The problem isn't neccessarily comparative though. Even if a hypothetical 3.75 GPA student was aware that FIU was better, if he 150'd the LSAT and was accepted to Nova Southeastern, shit like this might convince him that it's okay to attend. I mean it's still a top school and not everyone can get into FIU.

[PeanutsNJam]

What is FIU and what is Nova

[lymenheimer]

The thing is, these schools are so inherently bad that even in those regions people would not be telling you that these are great schools. In fact, you will be challenging everyone by claiming that, for example, nova is indeed a top law school.

This isn't necessarily true though. I'd be going to a TTTT with a FTLT JD employment of around 40%, or paying a premium for an out of state school with 10-15% chance of my career goal if I wouldn't have delved into the forum (because most people around me think the first is a good school and the second was ranked better). While they may not be hidden on every school's site, the ABA reports aren't common knowledge to the average KJD and even if they are, there's not much context for them. OCI and legal hiring aren't explained well, and pre-law advisors don't help explain these things. This forum is the best resource that I've found, and the formatting of this site is kind of odd so that even if you make it to the home page, you wouldn't necessarily go straight to the forums to see what people are talking about. For instance, I found a number of threads by google searching that I would read, but it took me a few months after that to actually parse through the rest of the information. Of course, that's not to say that everyone is excused from discovering information, but I don't think forums are the first expected to share that information when a "reputable" magazine says a school is great and people around you say a school is good.

[Mack.Hambleton]

What is FIU and what is Nova

nova scotia

[reasonable_man]

I say this as a graduate of a very prestigious regional 4th Tier Flaw school... So no prestige whoring or highhandedness is implied...

People attending schools ranked at the very bottom grasp at anything they can to justify the investment they've made or the one they are about to make. Go into a TLS thread about any random TT or TTT "waiting for decision" thread and post anything factual and negative about the school and then fucking run for cover as an angry horde of 0Ls come looking for blood. Articles like this "help" these people to feel a little better and a little more secure about their decision and confirm the horse shit marketing released by their school's administration.

These lower ranked schools don't use a secret formula. They all tout the same shit. Small class sizes, practice ready curriculum, local focus with national attention (hysterical), faculty with "real world experience," multiple simulation courses/externships, a neat student gym, lots of books in the library and an awesome book store. They beg people to focus on "what matters," on "quality" and not "US News Rankings" etc. etc. etc. Its obviously all nonsense. But part of the play book for some of these schools also includes planting articles and "rankings." Its sad that a once somewhat credible source like Newsweek (and you have to back pretty far to find credibility here), is willing to help them do it for $5,000 or $10,000.

But whatever. I guess don't hate the player, hate the game. The schools only pull this sorta stuff because they can get away with it.

[timbs4339]

People have to remember that most people don't come at law school like they are dispassionately analyzing some investment (the "rational actor") theory. Most people come in assuming that law school is a good idea and then looking for any information that can justify that decision and looking for ways to discount any information that cuts against it.

Sometimes this can just mean not thinking critically about information presented by the law schools or other "reputable" publications, other times this can mean actually feeling solidarity with the pitch put forward by lower-ranked schools: "I'm not some rich smartypants nerd that gets into an Ivy League school, I don't even want to work 100 hours a week slaving away for a corporate law firm, I've got street smarts and Legally Blonde blah blah."