Top Law Schools

Does any one know why Wake Forest dropped in the rankings. I really wanted to go there. Parents advising against it! Please help

who cares?

Wake had a huge drop in employment rate after 9 months from this previous class. When I talked to the dean at wake he essentially said this was due to a large portion of the class not passing the bar on their first attempt. They seem to be confident they have addressed the issue with a new 1L class devoted to bar passage and employment/ interview strategies.

I was very high on wake before I found this information out. after more research Wake Forest seemed much more regional in my opinion. They also dont seem to focus their graduates on big law. They target more mid range firms as far as I can tell.

ilikebaseball wrote:who cares?

Heh. Sounds like many of the SMU law grads I have to deal with on many occasions.

rdawkins28 wrote:

ilikebaseball wrote:who cares?

Heh. Sounds like many of the SMU law grads I have to deal with on many occasions.

ya that 4 rank drop is surely gonna kill SMU!

ilikebaseball wrote:

rdawkins28 wrote:

ilikebaseball wrote:who cares?

Heh. Sounds like many of the SMU law grads I have to deal with on many occasions.

ya that 4 rank drop is surely gonna kill SMU!

Heh. A little sensitive there, buddy? Anyhoo, I was talking about the attitude, not SMU's ranking. But it seems like you would fit in nicely. Congrats.

The "who cares" attitude about rankings that are virtually completely irrelevant after the top 20? Sounds more like a judgmental, lack of knowledge attitude on your end than anything else.

Bar passage problem one year - some of which was possibly related to the ExamSoft fiasco. I wouldn't be surprised to see them jump right back up into the 30s next year. I think it's still a very good regional school.

Look at employment rates, what you wanna do with your degree, and how much its gonna cost at WF to do it. The rankings are pointless otherwise. There isn't a "oh no, we dropped out of the top 50 so now I can't get a good job" stipulation or something.

ilikebaseball wrote:The "who cares" attitude about rankings that are virtually completely irrelevant after the top 20? Sounds more like a judgmental, lack of knowledge attitude on your end than anything else.

Apparently 1 person cared enough to ask and (at least) 1 person cared enough to answer.

The rankings, as an absolute indication of the school's quality based on a number, are not very helpful. However, the large drop in rankings can be an indication of a deeper problem. But in this instance, Wake is what it always has been - a typically expensive school that provides a relatively miniscule shot at a high paying job and a decent chance at a low paying job. Nothing has changed. No snark intended. You should place more emphasis on the information provided by LST. According to the most recent ABA report, only 16 students ended up in a firm with 250 or more attorneys - AKA firms that pay well. Self selection out of high paying jobs is not the explaination for this low number.

SquedTheScholar wrote:The rankings, as an absolute indication of the school's quality based on a number, are not very helpful. However, the large drop in rankings can be an indication of a deeper problem. But in this instance, Wake is what it always has been - a typically expensive school that provides a relatively miniscule shot at a high paying job and a decent chance at a low paying job. Nothing has changed. No snark intended. You should place more emphasis on the information provided by LST. According to the most recent ABA report, only 16 students ended up in a firm with 250 or more attorneys - AKA firms that pay well. Self selection out of high paying jobs is not the explaination for this low number.

The only thing I would change from your statement is that I think people should look at the percentage of people employed in bigly, not the number. 16 sounds low, but when you look at how small Wake is as a school, it makes it a little different.

Wake's fall in the rankings largely has to do with their weak employment numbers. Wake has tiny class sizes but still struggles to place 60% of people into legal jobs. That is a big red flag.

That being said, at least Wake Forest is really generous with merit aid. The past couple cycles, they've been throwing out full rides to people at their medians.

I was about to say that they aren't very generous compared to other schools that are ranked higher and place better, but maybe it was just something about my application.

VPlaw wrote: Parents advising against it!

is ur mom an expert on law school

No my parents are not experts on law school, but are concerned about the drop in the rankings for Wake Forest and I am as well. But, I think it would be a good school.

VPlaw wrote:No my parents are not experts on law school, but are concerned about the drop in the rankings for Wake Forest and I am as well. But, I think it would be a good school.

such a sweet kid