Who would be more competitive for a professorship? Forum

[Anonymous User]

"HYS (CCN: frowned upon) --> CoA clerk --> SCOTUS clerk (didn't get one: frowned upon) --> 2 to NO MORE THAN 4 years at big firm (doesn't have to be top firm, oddly) --> Meat Market!!"

The numbers do not work. According to this there would only be 36 newly hired law profs a year.

Many SCOTUS clerks do not go into academia decreasing the numbers.

http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal ... essor.html

has some other ideas

[flcath]

"HYS (CCN: frowned upon) --> CoA clerk --> SCOTUS clerk (didn't get one: frowned upon) --> 2 to NO MORE THAN 4 years at big firm (doesn't have to be top firm, oddly) --> Meat Market!!"

The numbers do not work. According to this there would only be 36 newly hired law profs a year.

Many SCOTUS clerks do not go into academia decreasing the numbers.

http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal ... essor.html

has some other ideas

There's no denying it's the archetypical career arc for a new professor at a top law school these days. Even your link acknowledges that in the first paragraph.

And obviously given my previous comments, I know there are other ways to do it (in fact I thought that everyone was so familiar w/ the above career arc that it didn't need to be posted), but EVERYONE recognizes the above career path and can name 5 profs at their (top) LS who followed it.

[A'nold]

What if you only ever had ambitions to teach at a Widener type school. T1/Federal Clerkship/Summa or Magna/Multiple publications.......in somewhere someday?

[conn09]

What if you only ever had ambitions to teach at a Widener type school. T1/Federal Clerkship/Summa or Magna/Multiple publications.......in somewhere someday?

From talking to my LRW professor, she said that once you go past, say the top 50, where you went to school and your publications are far less important than what you're actually able to teach. Schools that really have no chance of hopping up the US News rankings have a tendency to not care as much about what we're talking about. Just do a quick check of the faculty page at schools like John Marshall, Stetson, (insert TTT here).

[JurisDoctorate]

Whoa, this thread got kind of heated. I'm sorry that I assumed that I'd be able to be a very highly ranked student at a much lower ranked school, but I do believe that I'd have a much easier time. You have to think that an average student at Columbia (say a 173 and a 3.79) compared to Cooley (say a 147 and a 2.7) would be a far better student; from that basis, I think it is easy to assume that you would have an easier time competing against a lower caliber of students than a higher caliber student body.

But what do I know?

I'm surprised it is so competitive - it seems like all of academia is. I wasn't mentioning the PhD as if that would get me hired, just explaining two possible situations I would find myself in.

Also, can you get placed in your city? Say you go to school in NY and you do big law in NY, do you have a better chance of getting a professorship at a NY school? Does it work like big law in that regard?

[Danteshek]

Thanks for all of the replies.

I know the law review thing seems far-fetched but I am not talking about sole authorship, this would be with a law professor I am working with. Borderline ivy was my attempt to veil my school; let's just say that it's a school with a great reputation and it's one of the top 6 law schools. The PhD is in the social sciences and the dissertation is on a topic that combines psychology and the law.

Essentially, everything is controlled for (the same in both scenarios) because I am really asking if I would be better off going to a top school and being in the middle of the pack or if I should be a stud at a low ranked law school. After everything I read, I assumed that the prestige of the school is critical but a friend suggested that it might be better to be a top student at a lower ranked school. I was just wondering what others thought of this.

LOL at assumption that you would be a "stud" at low ranked school.

Don't be insecure, bro. It's OK.

I'm feeling on top of the world right now, actually.
I just had my article accepted by a journal at a T1 (not my school).

[A'nold]

Whoa, this thread got kind of heated. I'm sorry that I assumed that I'd be able to be a very highly ranked student at a much lower ranked school, but I do believe that I'd have a much easier time. You have to think that an average student at Columbia (say a 173 and a 3.79) compared to Cooley (say a 147 and a 2.7) would be a far better student; from that basis, I think it is easy to assume that you would have an easier time competing against a lower caliber of students than a higher caliber student body.

Like I said, at the extremes, yes, there will be a difference. However, my example of the Temple and Duke students holds true generally. There are students from like Touro (basically a Cooley type school) that finish in the top 1% and transfer to Columbia and finish in the top 5-10%. There are many students with stats that could have gotten them into Harvard that choose to go to, say, Emory on a full-ride and finish around median. It really is a "you have it or you don't" kind of thing more than an "I'm technically smarter than my classmates" kind of thing.

[TheFriendlyBarber]

Thanks for all of the replies.

I know the law review thing seems far-fetched but I am not talking about sole authorship, this would be with a law professor I am working with. Borderline ivy was my attempt to veil my school; let's just say that it's a school with a great reputation and it's one of the top 6 law schools. The PhD is in the social sciences and the dissertation is on a topic that combines psychology and the law.

Essentially, everything is controlled for (the same in both scenarios) because I am really asking if I would be better off going to a top school and being in the middle of the pack or if I should be a stud at a low ranked law school. After everything I read, I assumed that the prestige of the school is critical but a friend suggested that it might be better to be a top student at a lower ranked school. I was just wondering what others thought of this.

LOL at assumption that you would be a "stud" at low ranked school.

Don't be insecure, bro. It's OK.

I'm feeling on top of the world right now, actually.
I just had my article accepted by a journal at a T1 (not my school).

Congratulations! By "T1" I assume you mean YHS. That is quite impressive!

[Danteshek]

I find it rather amusing that you found it necessary to respond.

[A'nold]

You guys are doing a lot of this: but for some strange reason I don't think it's genuine.....

[Danteshek]

You guys are doing a lot of this: but for some strange reason I don't think it's genuine.....

I actually have been laughing out loud. There is no way that douche is going to make me feel less than about my accomplishment.

[3ThrowAway99]

I think #1. School prestige seems to have a really strong correlation to becoming a substantive professor (at least at the top 50 schools I am most familiar with). Then again, it is mainly HYS prestige that seems to really do the trick, and I don't know if the prestige emphasis applies in exactly the same way at TT, TTT, and TTTT schools.

[A'nold]

You guys are doing a lot of this: but for some strange reason I don't think it's genuine.....

I actually have been laughing out loud. There is no way that douche is going to make me feel less than about my accomplishment.

Of course. That's messed up to try to demean somebody that is succeeding just b/c he has some kind of elitist bent.

[Danteshek]

As a result of my article, I was invited to join a listserve of whistleblower attorneys nationwide. Let's just say that it is going to yield dividends.

[flcath]

You guys are doing a lot of this: but for some strange reason I don't think it's genuine.....

I actually have been laughing out loud. There is no way that douche is going to make me feel less than about my accomplishment.

Of course. That's messed up to try to demean somebody that is succeeding just b/c he has some kind of elitist bent.

Was there a fight ITT that got edited out? I have no idea what this refers to.

[Danteshek]

See the "FriendlyBarber" post above

[TheFriendlyBarber]

You guys are doing a lot of this: but for some strange reason I don't think it's genuine.....

I actually have been laughing out loud. There is no way that douche is going to make me feel less than about my accomplishment.

As a result of my article, I was invited to join a listserve of whistleblower attorneys nationwide. Let's just say that it is going to yield dividends.

In all seriousness, I'm not hating. I think publishing is a fantastic thing, especially when you're a student! It's great that you're succeeding. I wish you much more success in the future. And plus, how can someone possibly make you "feel less than" about having your article published in the Yale Law Journal/Harvard Law Review/Stanford Law Review as well as being invited to join a listserve of whistleblower attorneys nationwide?! Congratulations, Danteshek!

[Danteshek]

You guys are doing a lot of this: but for some strange reason I don't think it's genuine.....

I actually have been laughing out loud. There is no way that douche is going to make me feel less than about my accomplishment.

As a result of my article, I was invited to join a listserve of whistleblower attorneys nationwide. Let's just say that it is going to yield dividends.

In all seriousness, I'm not hating. I think publishing is a fantastic thing, especially when you're a student! It's great that you're succeeding. I wish you much more success in the future. And plus, how can someone possibly make you "feel less than" about having your article published in the Yale Law Journal/Harvard Law Review/Stanford Law Review as well as being invited to join a listserve of whistleblower attorneys nationwide?! Congratulations, Danteshek!

I'm sorry your Note didn't get selected for publication. Of course, I assume you made Law Review.