When was your, 'Rankings mean nothing to me' moment?

[Manwithaplan]

Mine was when I realized that there are only a few national schools in the country, and those students there will have no problem finding a job anywhere in the country. My litmus test in determining if a law school is national is if I ask any joe schmo on the street what the best law schools in the country were. I think the only schools that would pass are HYS, and of course Princeton Law right . I would be willing to bet that though ucla has a great rep, only those outside the western half of the US know it has a law school. at best if I pulled someone off the sidewalk anywhere else, if asked if ucla had a law school the reaction would be, "maybe, most likely...their basketball team is doing good though."

After I realized this, agonizing over whether baylor or lmu were up or down seemed silly. those schools don't have the name cache outside of their regions. So, because I am not blessed with the best choices in law schools, rankings don't mean much to me at this point and things like fit and fututre job prospects pay a much bigger role.

[shae]

if i were you- i would choose USD.  I am from Texas and I recognize USD as a quality school over the other acceptances you are holding

[chevelle]

A lot of people in NY that know nothing about law school would guess Fordham is better than a place like UMich. A lot of people just think of those "University of ______" schools as just state schools that accept a lot of in-state students.

Like when you tell someone with little knowledge about colleges that U Penn is an Ivy League school.

[guyminuslife]

The entire purpose of picking out a law school being future job prospects, rankings minutiae are largely irrelevant. On the other hand, Joe Schmoe isn't a law firm, he's Joe Schmoe because he doesn't know anything about law schools.

[Mr. Pink]

The entire purpose of picking out a law school being future job prospects, rankings minutiae are largely irrelevant. On the other hand, Joe Schmoe isn't a law firm, he's Joe Schmoe because he doesn't know anything about law schools.

credited

[spanishpolice]

The entire purpose of picking out a law school being future job prospects, rankings minutiae are largely irrelevant. On the other hand, Joe Schmoe isn't a law firm, he's Joe Schmoe because he doesn't know anything about law schools.

credited

Mr. Schmoe promised me a job when I graduate from Princeton Law.

[catalyst81]

Mine was when I got my LSAT score back. 

[KSpW]

Mine was when I didnt get into T14 LS...Speaking in LSAT terms, letter of acceptance from a top school is not SUFFICIENT factor to succeed in your future career but just a nice bonus.

[jiggedyjared]

Hiring firms aren't the same as Joe Schmo.  I want to agree with you (as I'm not in at T14), but if you look at OCI's or Job Placement rates for different schools it changes my mind. 

[Bettn]

My moment - When I got off the waitlist at IU Bloomington and still decided to go to Denver because being in Colorado is a priority to me.

Denver's a great school. I considered going there, especially after I went for an informational and a tour. The building is gorgeous! I'm headed to CU, but I chose them because they're cheaper.

My moment for not caring about rankings was when I almost turned down CU for a 3rd tier because I fell in love with the town it's in. Then I realised that, to some extent, rankings must matter. If they didn't, why would they be out there. So I guess you could say that I stopped caring about rankings, and then started caring again.