What schools are underrated by US News?

[paran0id]

UIUC has the 17th best placement in biglaw firms but is ranked 26:

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1126256708738

[140am]

fordham is the 15th most selective school in the nation.  they are ranked around 30...

Yeah, but it's a school for New York.  It's not well represented in most other markets, and even if that is self-selection, it hurts the ranking because the rankings are national rankings.

[mae8]

True of most schools. In denver DU has avery very positive image. Step outside the state however and you'll get a very different picture. For all but the very best schools regional rankings would make more sense.

[140am]

True of most schools. In denver DU has avery very positive image. Step outside the state however and you'll get a very different picture. For all but the very best schools regional rankings would make more sense.

I agree.

[Happy_Weasel]

True of most schools. In denver DU has avery very positive image. Step outside the state however and you'll get a very different picture. For all but the very best schools regional rankings would make more sense.

Yeah. ...and by what do you mean "a different picture"? Will people not hear of it or will people just say that their graduates are phuck ups?

[140am]

True of most schools. In denver DU has avery very positive image. Step outside the state however and you'll get a very different picture. For all but the very best schools regional rankings would make more sense.

Yeah. ...and by what do you mean "a different picture"? Will people not hear of it or will people just say that their graduates are phuck ups?

He means that in Denver, it's a great school to go to.  In California or Virginia, it's not going to open as many doors/be viewed as well.

There is no point in saying Denver is a 2nd tier school if your ambition is to study, work, and live in Denver -- then going to Denver, for that person, is probably just as good a decision as leaving to go elsewhere simply because of rank.

These examples get more gray in certain regions (like Philadelphia, where some t14 grads want to be, where there is a t14 law school, etc.) but even in these cases, regional rankings would mean more/make more sense because if your goal is to live/study/work in one area, it doesn't really matter as much that 50-90 law schools might be nationally ranked ahead of the school(s) in your area.

[Lurking Third Year]

Temple is consistently underrated. Anyone who has visited the school in the past two years and taken time to actually look at the place would realize that it is far better than its #65 ranking implies.

It's the "reptutation" scores that do us in every single year. A 2.6 peer review score? Ridiculous. In objective factors we're as good as most of the 39-50 tier 1 schools, and in some cases, better.

I find it a little odd that you put reputation in quotes, as if lawyers' perception of a school is not an important aspect of any ranking system.

[Happy_Weasel]

Maybe schools just look at the stats of other schools.

[SuicideNixon]

Temple is consistently underrated. Anyone who has visited the school in the past two years and taken time to actually look at the place would realize that it is far better than its #65 ranking implies.

It's the "reptutation" scores that do us in every single year. A 2.6 peer review score? Ridiculous. In objective factors we're as good as most of the 39-50 tier 1 schools, and in some cases, better.

I find it a little odd that you put reputation in quotes, as if lawyers' perception of a school is not an important aspect of any ranking system.

it's just that their survey is really bad. it has a terrible response rate, and it's biased against regional schools and schools in smaller cities

[Tulane1L]

Tulane is obviously underrated.

GMU, Maryland, and Emory are obviously overrated.

Just saying