Understanding Law School Rankings
If you're thinking about attending law school, you've probably heard the expressions "first-tier", "third-tier" and so on, thrown about. But what's the big deal? Is it really necessary to attend a top tier law school to get a good job after graduation? Here's a little more information on the current law school ranking system and what it means for you:
First, while there are a number of different law school ranking systems, the one that's most widely referred to is the US News and World Report's system. When a law school calls itself a first-tier law school, it's usually referring to the rankings given by this system. The US News and World Report uses a number of different criteria in order to establish these rankings:
- Quality Assessment – Roughly 40% of a school's score comes from an assessment of its quality as determined by peer institutions and practicing lawyers and judges. These different constituents are asked to rate different areas of the program or respond "don't know" to questions they feel unqualified to answer.
- Selectivity – The Report decides about 25% of a school's score from its selectivity as measured by student's median LSAT scores, median undergraduate GPA and the percentage of students accepted into the program.
- Placement Success – Another 20% of a school's score is determined from the success it has at placing students in jobs following graduation. This portion takes into account placement immediately after graduation, nine months after graduation, and the number of students that successfully pass the bar examination.
- Faculty Resources – The final 15% is attributed to such faculty resources as expenditures per student, the overall student to faculty ratio and the library resources available to students.
The top 100 schools according to this point system are given a ranking of "first-tier" in addition to their corresponding score. Schools that don't make this list are divided into two groups – third and fourth tiers – and are listed alphabetically within their tiers. In addition, a school must be accredited and approved by the American Bar Association, and must draw most of its population from the United States.
Looking at a school's ranking is an important factor in your law school search process, but it shouldn't be your only consideration. It's true that the big law firms tend to recruit primarily from top tier schools, so you're more likely to get a prestigious job after graduating from one of these schools. If working for one of these firms is your goal, do everything in your power to get into one of the Ivy League schools.
However, ranking isn't everything. The US News and World Report survey – as well as other ranking systems – has been criticized for not taking into account the whole student experience and for weighing too harshly against schools without the financial resources of larger institutions. Therefore, it's best to take these rankings with a grain of salt – consider them, but focus more on finding a school that meets your personal and educational needs. Your true success as a lawyer will come from your willingness to work hard – not from the name on your diploma!
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