New US News Rankings...

[bl825]

GWU will recover. These rankings are just musical chairs, and we are the only ones who care about them, besides the schools and some employers. And for those who don't know, IUB has been ranked that high before, I just didn't expect it to jump out of nowhere back into the top-25.

I'd say that even saying some employers care about them is an exaggeration.  I think employers care about where you went to school, but I don't think they look at the USNWR religiously to determine what they think about schools. 

[vap]

GWU will recover. These rankings are just musical chairs, and we are the only ones who care about them, besides the schools and some employers. And for those who don't know, IUB has been ranked that high before, I just didn't expect it to jump out of nowhere back into the top-25.

I'd say that even saying some employers care about them is an exaggeration.  I think employers care about where you went to school, but I don't think they look at the USNWR religiously to determine what they think about schools. 

I've had an attorney recruiter pull up the rankings while I was in the room.

[non parata est]

I feel like I read something from DOJ Honors that factored in top-20 USNews status.

[bl825]

GWU will recover. These rankings are just musical chairs, and we are the only ones who care about them, besides the schools and some employers. And for those who don't know, IUB has been ranked that high before, I just didn't expect it to jump out of nowhere back into the top-25.

I'd say that even saying some employers care about them is an exaggeration.  I think employers care about where you went to school, but I don't think they look at the USNWR religiously to determine what they think about schools. 

I've had an attorney recruiter pull up the rankings while I was in the room.

Oh for goodness sakes.

Maybe it's just me.  Maybe I just live in my own delusional little world.

Can I ask if there was some kind of context for pulling out the rankings before I quit life?

[vap]

Oh for goodness sakes.

Maybe it's just me.  Maybe I just live in my own delusional little world.

Can I ask if there was some kind of context for pulling out the rankings before I quit life?

When I was deciding between law schools, I asked the recruiter's advice about where to go.  When I named the schools, it's the first thing the recruiter did.

[vap]

I should mention, though, that given various reasons, the recruiter actually suggested going to the low tier 2 school rather than the top 25.  He said that both schools were regional, and I'd need a better GPA to get an interview coming from the lower ranked school, but it wasn't as big of a difference as I thought (top 25% vs. top 15%).

[Speedzie]

tag (i.e., brag about little rankings boost  -  tied with IU-B!)

[SwampFox]

Maybe it's just me.  Maybe I just live in my own delusional little world.

No, I'm with you, too.  The overarching importance of these rankings is treated like holy dogma at this site.  It's repeated ad nauseum.  Realistically, how many people here who preach the word of rankings have any substantial knowledge of this?  Given that most everyone here is either a law student or a soon-to-be law student, how can any of them have experience hiring someone?  Even people who have been interviewed cannot know how much their education plays into the decision.  This discussion with an actual recruiter is the first I have heard anyone offer any real proof.
I personally am skeptical of the rankings' importance in getting hired as 1) it does not jive at all with my experience in other fields, and 2) the handful of attorneys I have spoken with on this say it really hasn't mattered.
Is there some statistical evidence that being, say, attending #42 in the rankings is so much better in pay and hot jobs than #59?

[nealric]

Is there some statistical evidence that being, say, attending #42 in the rankings is so much better in pay and hot jobs than #59?

Absolutely not. There is likely no difference whatsoever except that can be attributed to regional variations.

But this does not mean that it's meaningless to go to a better opportunity generating school (note I don't say a higher ranked school). The fact of the matter is that job opportunities vary greatly by school. The US news tracks the differences only in the most rough manner.

As far as talking to attorneys about whether school rank is important: the answer you get is going to vary GREATLY based on what type of attorney you are talking to. If you are talking to a small town DA, they will likely tell you that the school you go to does not matter. In their context, it doesn't. If you were to talk to the hiring partner of a large New York law firm, he would tell you that school rank is essential. In his world, it is.

[Matthies]

Is there some statistical evidence that being, say, attending #42 in the rankings is so much better in pay and hot jobs than #59?

Absolutely not. There is likely no difference whatsoever except that can be attributed to regional variations.

But this does not mean that it's meaningless to go to a better opportunity generating school (note I don't say a higher ranked school). The fact of the matter is that job opportunities vary greatly by school. The US news tracks the differences only in the most rough manner.

As far as talking to attorneys about whether school rank is important: the answer you get is going to vary GREATLY based on what type of attorney you are talking to. If you are talking to a small town DA, they will likely tell you that the school you go to does not matter. In their context, it doesn't. If you were to talk to the hiring partner of a large New York law firm, he would tell you that school rank is essential. In his world, it is.

Agree, except people on here somtimes forget the the small town DAs (or other jobs where rabkings dont matter) far out number the 250 big law hiring partners. In the big sceme of things I have not seen it matter much if any in Denver, but becuase most students are hoping for big law and thinking big law then think that mentaility exsists everywhere, it does not. Even if you took all top 250 bigest firms gave them each 1000 lawyers they would still only add up to 25% of the totall lawyer work force out there. It matters to all big law, but that's the minority of where the vast magority of law students and lawyers actually work.