WTF Rankings

[Matthies]

If this is legit,  CU-Boulder falling 13 spots is pretty big.

The CU system is dying and I think a good number of people "in the know" realize that and it's negatively impacting their rep.

Meh, they got a big jump last year becuase of the new building = mucho money spent per stududent, so falling is not unexpeted given they don't have that expenidutre anymore

[non parata est]

IU-B also got a big donation this past year, big enough for them to name the school after the donor.  Don't know if that had anything to do with it, but it's something to consider.

[Good Teacher]

I'm amazed out how submitted some people are to the US News Rankings.  What makes this periodical so trustworthy that hundreds of people on this site logon everyday to discuss who's poised for a "bump" or what tier US News puts them in?  If I'm not mistaken, the rankings are largely based on the LSAT scores of the incoming class (which has nothing to do with the quality of its faculty or resources) and public perception (which is sometimes based on the respect brought by a good football/basketball team or a past history of being exclusive). 

In sum, the way they've chosen to rank law schools lacks credibility and it should not be recognized as such.  They would be less deceptive if they called their system "Top Scoring Incoming Law School Classes" or "America's Most Popular Law Schools"

[T. Durden]

haha if that were the case GW would be t18 (if not higher), not t, uh, 28. for the past 2 years, GW FT medians: 167, 3.75. fordham is right there with GW is terms of admit stats. apparently USNWR has adopted a new formula that factors in a host of other variables from the PT programs which explains the 28 and 30 rankings. seems a bit ridiculous to me. why penalize the FT programs with PT data? whatever, hardly matters. GW and Fordham still placed 43-45% of their graduating classes into NLJ 250 firms last year; this is the only stat that really matters.

[TeresaPinfold]

Actually I think the problem is that most of the ranking is not based on real, meaningful factors like LSAT. A ranking based purely on a LSAT/GPA index would probably be more accurate, but it wouldn't be worthy of a lucrative magazine edition.

[Remarq]

I'm amazed out how submitted some people are to the US News Rankings.  What makes this periodical so trustworthy that hundreds of people on this site logon everyday to discuss who's poised for a "bump" or what tier US News puts them in?  If I'm not mistaken, the rankings are largely based on the LSAT scores of the incoming class (which has nothing to do with the quality of its faculty or resources) and public perception (which is sometimes based on the respect brought by a good football/basketball team or a past history of being exclusive). 

In sum, the way they've chosen to rank law schools lacks credibility and it should not be recognized as such.  They would be less deceptive if they called their system "Top Scoring Incoming Law School Classes" or "America's Most Popular Law Schools"

40% of the ranking score comes from the lawyer and judge assessment score... so, pick another name for your rankings.

[Good Teacher]

I'm amazed out how submitted some people are to the US News Rankings.  What makes this periodical so trustworthy that hundreds of people on this site logon everyday to discuss who's poised for a "bump" or what tier US News puts them in?  If I'm not mistaken, the rankings are largely based on the LSAT scores of the incoming class (which has nothing to do with the quality of its faculty or resources) and public perception (which is sometimes based on the respect brought by a good football/basketball team or a past history of being exclusive). 

In sum, the way they've chosen to rank law schools lacks credibility and it should not be recognized as such.  They would be less deceptive if they called their system "Top Scoring Incoming Law School Classes" or "America's Most Popular Law Schools"

40% of the ranking score comes from the lawyer and judge assessment score... so, pick another name for your rankings.

To that truth I've already offered "America' Most Popular Law Schools" as a possible name so I'm covered. 

[m1ss_uNdeRst00d]

There are a few surprises to me

IU-Indianapolis- Big fall
Buffalo- Big jump
Syracuse- Drop out of T2

I am sure there are more, but this will get us started

Where is UB now?

[m1ss_uNdeRst00d]

Nevermind. I found it. Up 85 - go UB!!!

[Number81]

Actually I think the problem is that most of the ranking is not based on real, meaningful factors like LSAT. A ranking based purely on a LSAT/GPA index would probably be more accurate, but it wouldn't be worthy of a lucrative magazine edition.

Good point, but I disagree.

USN&WR isn't simply listing the "most selective law schools" (and even in that case, merely factoring LSAT/GPA is insufficient).  It is listing the 'best' schools.  Your academic experience will be enhanced when you have a library with plenty of resources and space, when your professors are of high quality, when the school spends money on enhancing your experience, when the school provides the ability to summer in a good firm that will give interesting work (employment %), and when other students are very smart.  All of these factors are relevant in assessing the quality of the legal education.


That said, I don't think USN&WR is perfect.  I think it could add some measurements, use different proportions to come up with rank, and measure things differently.