Law School Rankings Methodology
How we rank law schools
There were also changes made in how the employment rates and bar passage rates calculations were done. Those are explained fully in the Placement Success section above.
Part-time J.D. Program Ranking
This year, for the first time, U.S. News is ranking 87 part-time J.D. law programs. These rankings are based solely on the rating of law school academics.
Reader Comments
ranking inflation
US News ranking system is a perpetual feedback system, where high input contributes to high output, which gets fed right back into the input and this cycle continues indefinitely... thus, the rankings are eternally skewed.
consider this parallel;
US News rankings is like the Federal Reserve... they print currency and whatever value they put on the paper (input) is what value that paper will have (output); and since they don't have their money backed with gold, they can keep printing more (input) and the currency is thus inflated (harvard, yale, berkeley keeps staying in the top)...
the top 20 is definitely inflated... full of hot air and BS...
Suffolk Grades
Suffolk's grading policy compared to the "better ranked" schools is ridiculous. It makes no sense for lower tier schools to freely give C grades, those that go to lower tier schools need all the help they can get in the job market. My guess is Suffolk has ruined many a pro legal career with its grading system.
including 'reputation' as part of the ranking methodology
..is nothing but a self fulfilling prophecy.
It is obvious that that most notorious schools will rank highly again and again - regardless of the actual quality of lawyers they produce.
Also - it's high time that the rankings reflect the difficulty of study - or in more laymen terms - the grading curve.
Just one look at NYU Law's grading curve will explain why 57% of graduates graduate with a gpa of 3.4 or higher - it's required.
Columbia for example, requires that 30-33% receive grades higher than B+.
A look at the 'lower ranked schools' will show you that the grading curves require class averages at the 2.75 area..
This is an important factor for those selecting a school - knowing that even those who receive a B+ score on the final (and only) exam of the semester are likely to take home a B- grade.. (W/O mentioning the school, in one class I received 92 on the only exam for the semester and took home a B) - anyway - just for that reason - it's better to try to get accepted to the higher ranked schools since they are very generous with their grading.
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