Top Law Schools

A negative means it went up in ranking a positive means it went down.


Biggest movers
-19 IIT (Chicago-Kent)
-19 U Richmond (VA)
-19 Catholic U (DC)
-15 Northeastern U (MA)
-14 DePaul U (IL)
-12 Pennsylvania State U
-11 Seton Hall U (NJ)
-11 Temple U (PA) 
11 U San Diego
11 Chapman University (CA)
12 U Kansas
12 U New Mexico
14 Syracuse University
14 U Missouri-Columbia
17 U Miami (FL)
17 Villanova U (PA) 
23 St. John's U (NY)
23 U Hawaii
37 William Mitchell College of Law (MN)

I have all the data but I can't figure out a good way to present it so here are the big movers.(10+ or 10-)

Anyone know the story with Kent? I applied as a safety, and it looks like a fairly decent option now if I don't get into one of the 23rds or OSU. Not that this is the only thing to go by but a 19 place jump can only mean good things.
Also, I'm curious to know what the deal is with William Mitchell. I know nothing about the school

Wisdom: Choosing a school based solely on a "jump" (and likewise not choosing a school because of a similar "decline") is utter nonsense.

If IIT was a safety before, it should still be a safety now.

While "jumps" don't matter, does movement from T3 to T2, or T2 to T1 matter?

zonto wrote:Wisdom: Choosing a school based solely on a "jump" (and likewise not choosing a school because of a similar "decline") is utter nonsense.

If IIT was a safety before, it should still be a safety now.

Yeah +1. I was accepted to Kent but am mostly considering SMU and Rutgers. I haven't got the package from Kent, but it would have to be a damn fine scholarship to make me consider it, despite its rise in the rankings. This of course is given the horrible state of the Chicago legal market.

gens1tb wrote:While "jumps" don't matter, does movement from T3 to T2, or T2 to T1 matter?

No, I don't believe it does. Generally speaking the school's reputation and power won't change in its respective region. Let's look at Michigan State for example: Good local school before the rise to 95th and still a good local school now. Despite USNWR now classifying it as a national school, it would be hard to believe that one's MSU degree could carry them to prestigious jobs in far corners of the country. That said, its nice, and certainly speaks well of the University.

jdfrisby wrote:Anyone know the story with Kent? I applied as a safety, and it looks like a fairly decent option now if I don't get into one of the 23rds or OSU. Not that this is the only thing to go by but a 19 place jump can only mean good things.
Also, I'm curious to know what the deal is with William Mitchell. I know nothing about the school

Probably two things: the job market in the TC hit WM particularly hard and UST is crowding them out.

Look at UPenn making that big jump!

Did Villanova fall 17 spots using false data ? If so, then imagine the fall if the real numbers had been given to USNews. Equally painful to Villanova is that cross-town rival Temple soared 11 spots to #61 while Villanova fell to #84. Also noteworthy is Penn State's dramatic rise of 12 positions.

It would be really nice to know why the movement happened.

I think if USNWR had a supplemental to go with the changes it would make their evaluation much more helpful.

I also think it would help them sell more subscriptions and magazines.



Is it lame to suggest a petition, or something similar, in order to open up the process so we can understand the volatility etc?

I am just very happy that GWU held onto #20. Was a little worried with all the talk of the DC legal market getting slaughtered.

jdfrisby wrote:Anyone know the story with Kent? I applied as a safety, and it looks like a fairly decent option now if I don't get into one of the 23rds or OSU. Not that this is the only thing to go by but a 19 place jump can only mean good things.
Also, I'm curious to know what the deal is with William Mitchell. I know nothing about the school

I meant that if it was indicative of something more substantial, such as better faculty or something that actually matters, it might be worth putting a little more research into. It was my 6th or 7th choice then and it still is, unless the new ranking reflected something more important than an arbitrary number.