Schools that will drop in the 2008 US NEWS rankings...

[flyaway]

I forget what counts in the rankings.  Is it only the median?  Or is it the 25th/75th?

Duke 2005:
165/167/169
3.54/3.7/3.86
Duke 2006:
165/168/169 (median up)
3.66/3.78/3.85 (25th and median up, 75th slightly down)

Michigan 2005:
166/168/169
3.45/3.62/3.78
Michigan 2006:
166/168/170 (75th up)
3.57/3.66/3.8 (all up)

Virginia 2005:
167/169/171
3.53/3.68/3.83
Virginia 2006:
167/169/171 (identical)
3.49/3.68/3.82 (25th and 75th a little down)

[prelaw200]

I forget what counts in the rankings.  Is it only the median?  Or is it the 25th/75th?

Its only the median

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/about/07law_meth_brief.php

[flyaway]

So in that case, I guess it means Duke GPA and LSAT are up, Michigan GPA is up, and Virginia both are identical.

[Captain]

The biggest factor though is the peer and practitioner survey results, which I doubt will change much.

[prelaw200]

that is the biggest factor, but the schools are so closely ranked (see how many ties there are) that even a small change in medians or something as arbitrary as expenditures per student can cause a school to jump several spots.

[bamf]

A drop or increase will only affect the rankings if the median (now calculated by averaging the 75th and 25th percentiles) changes, which usually takes a pretty big shift.

I know USC and Vandy's 25th percentiles went up, and Fordham's went down but I think their medians remained the same.

is this new this year or something?
if this is a new policy WUSTL is screwed because their LSAT is something like 161-166-167.  Their averaged median vs their actual median would probably make a big difference.

[JTcc]

I'm not a big fan of giving Boalt, Virginia and Michigan the three-way "public-schools-are-special-too" 8 spot.  As lawyers, are we not supposed to have discriminating minds?

Any thoughts on how those might shake down if the rankings were an actual hierarchy instead of an exercise in placating entrenched interests at each institution?

[bamf]

I'm not a big fan of giving Boalt, Virginia and Michigan the three-way "public-schools-are-special-too" 8 spot.  As lawyers, are we not supposed to have discriminating minds?

Any thoughts on how those might shake down if the rankings were an actual hierarchy instead of an exercise in placating entrenched interests at each institution?

no
because everyone will give you a different answer.
because rankings are BS.
they are all great schools.
they all have some great and unique programs.
pick based on the professors and the clinics and the journals, not the f-ing rankings.

[JTcc]

My gripe has nothing to do with choosing where I will attend.

If you are going to go through the motions of creating a quantifiable evaluative system, why not trust it and rank the schools accordingly?

The fact that they are tied in the 8-9-10 slot has nothing to do with them all being great schools (which they are).  It has to do with placing at least three PUBLIC schools in the top 10.  If we had 12 fingers, they'd be 10-11-12!

[prelaw200]

My gripe has nothing to do with choosing where I will attend.

If you are going to go through the motions of creating a quantifiable evaluative system, why not trust it and rank the schools accordingly?

The fact that they are tied in the 8-9-10 slot has nothing to do with them all being great schools (which they are).  It has to do with placing at least three PUBLIC schools in the top 10!

ITS A CONSPIRACY!!!!!