NYU's Journal Ranking System Forum

[Belili]

It's about that time in the 1L year... applying for journals/moot court.

Any 2L/3Ls out there who can explain this system? It doesn't quite make sense.

First they tell you there is no way to game the system, and to rank according to your true preference. But then each journal besides Law Review tells you they virtually only accept applications if you rank them 1-2.

Well that puts a student in a pickle... especially if his/her true preference is like mine.

1. Law Review
2. Moot Court
3. Topic Journal 1... etc

That's betting everything on the two most competitive orgs at NYU. I'm probably not grading onto Law Review (~top 20%, I'm guessing only top 1-2% grade on), but I'd still like to give it a shot to write on/combo on! But if I rank it 1-2, that eliminates any other journal as a possibility. So if my writing sample is great but I play it safe, I miss out on my only opportunity to be on Law Review! But if my writing sample isn't great (enough) and I take the chance, I could miss out on any journal whatsoever?!

Now if that doesn't make sense here's another strange aspect...

50-80% of NYU students are accepted to a journal. And there are some people who don't apply at all, so statistically it seems the vast majority of 1Ls who apply get something. But how is this so? Do most people rank topic journals as 1-2? Or are these 1-2 only rules a big-giant-lie?

[/nervous twitching]

[spondee]

Maybe it's not a big-giant-lie but just a mini-lie? I dunno. It all seems fishy and weird. I only know two people that intend to rank a topic journal #1.

[NYU2011]

Might be able to give you more info when we get our write-on grading instructions for the summer but I don't know when that will happen. I have to think the top 1-2 thing is a bit of an exaggeration as I assume 80% of those who enter the competition put LR first and very few get it. I wouldn't be surprised if journals could fill up their roster with people who ranked them 2 or 3 though.

You really should just put your true preferences though, you don't want to wonder if you could have gotten something you wanted more.