Who actually reads USNWR? Forum

[gdane]

There's a lot of talk on this site about rankings and where USNWR has ranked ones school, but has anyone actually ever picked up or read a copy?

I ask this because there seems to be so much emphasis and presige on the rankings issued by a magazine that im pretty sure noone reads. Why care so much?

It seems like school rankings should come from actual authorities on schools or education, not a magazine. What if ESPN the mag came out with rankings of the best UG schools? Would prospective college students follow those rankings religiously as prospective law students do with USNWR?

Just curious. I have personally never read USNWR.

[DukeHopeful]

There's a lot of talk on this site about rankings and where USNWR has ranked ones school, but has anyone actually ever picked up or read a copy?

I ask this because there seems to be so much emphasis and presige on the rankings issued by a magazine that im pretty sure noone reads. Why care so much?

It seems like school rankings should come from actual authorities on schools or education, not a magazine. What if ESPN the mag came out with rankings of the best UG schools? Would prospective college students follow those rankings religiously as prospective law students do with USNWR?

Just curious. I have personally never read USNWR.

Just pointing out that your analogy already exists, in a way. Lots of people pick their UG school based on athletics, of which ESPN reports rankings. Especially athletes, (many of whom) base their choice on going to the best school possible to give them the best job prospects of making it to the professional level. Which, coincidentally, is the exact same thing prospective law students use the rankings for.

It really just comes down to the fact that USNWR has the foothold in the market. There are other rankings out, but everyone focuses effort on the one that everyone else pays attention to. It's an endless cycle.

[Cupidity]

Your mom.

[Grizz]

Rankings is the only relevant thing USNWR does. I'm pretty sure their actual readership/subscriptions are in the toilet.

[gdane]

Hahaaah. Yea I know ESPN the mag did something to the extent of ranking schools. Except that they did something like "Best Sports Experience" or something like that. It was a bunch of Big 10 schools. Lame...

The poster before me hit on the underlying point of my post, that USNWR may not have a lot of readers/subscriptions. One of the things that makes a magazine credible is its circulation. So if this magazine's circulation is weak or close to non existant, why do we pay so much attention to what they say? I wish an actual credible organization would come out and say: "Here are our rankings. These are tied more to what you do in and after law school than what you did before". In other words, rankings that include important factors such as post grad employment, bar passage rates, quality of life, summer associate/other opportunities, rather than USNWR criteria of LSAT, GPA, Yield, class size, etc etc.

[KibblesAndVick]

--LinkRemoved--
This is from 2007 but had it ranked 35th.

Also, according to Wikipedia: "In June 2008, citing the decline in overall magazine circulation and advertising, "U.S.News & World Report" announced that it will become a biweekly publication, starting January 2009.[5] It hoped advertisers would be attracted to the schedule, which allowed ads to stay on newsstands a week longer. However, five months later the magazine changed its frequency again, becoming monthly.[6]"

Everyone knows USNWR is TTT. I (as well as you, everyone else on TLS, and the majority of people in the legal world) will follow their rankings because everyone else does so. It's a vicious circle.

[afghan007]

i'm sure i'm in the minority on this one..

i actually heard about and read USNWR before I knew about the rankings. Albeit, this was around pre-teen years for me (just before turn of the 21st century) and it was a magazine my father ordered to read. Around my sophomore/junior year of high school my pops introduced me to the rankings, and coincidentally not long after he had cancelled his subscription and I've never picked up a print copy of the magazine. Yet both my parents and I have continued to monitor the rankings published online.

[holydonkey]

One of the things that makes a magazine credible is its circulation. So if this magazine's circulation is weak or close to non existant, why do we pay so much attention to what they say? I wish an actual credible organization would come out and say: "Here are our rankings. These are tied more to what you do in and after law school than what you did before".

AARP: THE MAGAZINE has the highest readership in the country. I want them to release rankings for this very reason.

"My grandson goes to Drexel Law and he's so smart. I don't know why he hasn't settled down and met a girl yet. When he's a rich lawyer they'll all see what they were missing!"

"That hussy that turned him down because of that ridiculous felony that goes to Harvard is too crazy to know what's good for her. A very poor reflection on the school!"

#1 Drexel
....
#87 Harvard

[jlnoa0915]

0Ls

[S de Garmeaux]

Everyone knows [strike]USNWR[/strike] Print Media is TTT..