Law Students

U.S. World News Rankings.

By Steve Pirates

Well, March 28th has come and gone. The U.S. World News has published a list of law schools and ranked them. That’s right, not graded, or evaluated, just ranked. Once again my beloved school has failed to crack into the Top 14 schools in the nation. We’ll get you next year, Yale!!

A large number of people feel that the rankings are deeply flawed, that it creates a huge perceived gap between schools when in actuality the quality of education between many schools is quite comparable. Granted, the schools ranked at the top probably are qualitatively better than the schools ranked at the bottom, but the difference between #50 and a “4th Tier” school probably isn’t as drastic as the difference between the #50 ranked sprinter in America, and some run of the mill jogger.

But, here’s the thing, there’s really no other way to do it. There are fewer than 200 law schools accredited by the American Bar Association. As a result, ranking makes more sense than “grading” where there would still be only so many “A”s “B”s “C”s etc. Frankly, the ridiculously funny thing is that the ranking system mirrors how law school students at most schools are ranked from 1 - last. The U.S. News Rankings is numeric from 1-100 then splits into Tier 3 and Tier 4. Most schools give numeric ranks till a certain point and then designate people Top Third, Top Half, and “Bottom Half”. It’s the “Revenge of the Curve”. I don’t understand how a school that ranks and curves its students, resulting in that student’s resume having a number or score that can make or break employment, can complain about being ranked and curved.

Look, the reality is that law is a prestige profession. In order to land a prestige job, you need to be prestigious. The easiest way to do that is to come from a prestige law school. But that’s not the only road to Heaven, as it were. Law review, judicial internships, moot court competitions, publication. There are lots of ways to stand out from the pack.

BUT, the rankings are flawed in one very large way. They don’t actually tell you anything ABOUT the school. If, next to each school’s name, there was a little paragraph highlighting the actual strengths and weaknesses of the program, that would be infinitely better for prospective students than just a number. “Great student services, relatively inactive alumni base”, or “well regarded journal, few clinical opportunities”, or “active career services, not well known outside of home market”, would let students qualitatively discern the differences rather than quantitatively. There are some students who know they want to have the best shot at academic theoretical research, and others who know they just want every advantage when it comes to getting a job. So, why isn’t there a blurb explaining whether the school is more research and publication oriented, clinic and practice oriented, or in the middle? To refer back to the “student resume” example. There is more to the resume than just numbers. Sure, some employers only care about Top 10%. But many don’t, and for a student whose “numbers” are middle to lower on the pack, items like work experience, competition scores, and writing samples can give a prospective employer a better idea of who that student is, and what they can do. For students looking for a school that will suit them well, a qualitative portion would be really helpful.

For instance, I was most concerned with going to a school that would #1 teach me to pass the bar, #2 get me a job, and #3 be attentive to me. California Western School of Law matched that wish list really well. But from reading the rankings I would have never known that. I wouldn’t have even known that Cal Western tries to do that. So, my suggestion to Mr. Morse is include a category listing at least one genuine strength and sure, one genuine weakness of each school. With no qualitative data, the only thing to focus on IS the numbers. So that is what people start focusing on, leading to a great deal of needless anxiety over the number of the school, rather than the actual school itself. I think that the numbers are a great way to figure out the general range of schools that you can reasonably expect to be admitted to, and I think they can help students weigh offers from schools with a little more insight. But when your only real insight is a number, it leads to less depth in the consideration.

edit: I am making this suggestion for the actual list of rankings, not the more extensive website where “school profiles” are available.

Full post as published by Jolly Lawger on March 29, 2008 (boomark / email).