Top Law Schools

Hi. Trying to determine peer schools and get some perspectives on why ranking fell the way they did. Focus is on BC/BU and WashU.

If knowledgeable, please share your conceptualization of the above 5 schools’ level of similarity. I would like to determine which of the above are peer schools and which other schools not in the above list you would consider peers and why.

Additionally, I would like to hear what people think is the reason for certain schools in the above list dropping, while others rose in the latest usnews rankings.

Feel free to add any additional information you might have on data. I am aware of LST reports and have compared employment stats across all the above but would be happy to see what you all have to add.

To answer your "focus" question: BC/BU and WashU aren't peer schools. WashU has stronger biglaw placement and a little more reach within its region (the Midwest as opposed to Boston).

That said, these are all regional schools, and their relative placement on USNWR is going to shift (sometimes fairly dramatically) from year to year, because USNWR rankings are only somewhat useful for determining bands of schools, not for comparing two relatively similar schools. For example, WashU and USC are in a similar ranking band, but they both service totally different regions. So whether or not they're "peer" institutions is irrelevant, because students should be selecting one or the other based on where they want to work.

If you're aware of LST and the relevant employment stats, then you already have everything you need to compare these schools on your own. If you're actively considering these schools, then it would help for you to provide your total cost of attendance at each, your career goals, and your current LSAT/GPA. There's very little value in talking about these things in the abstract.