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Interesting article about school rankings

chrijani7chrijani7 Alum Member
edited August 2014 in General 827 karma
Today I came across this article regarding school rankings in general. I have always been one (maybe because I live Canada) to say that people are WAY to obsessed over school rankings. I have friends that have move up to 4 hours away just to get a business undergrad at school that ranks higher than our local University. I would always say that it is ultimately their choice, but it is not something I would consider doing. Most of the time I would always get the argument back that "it is for the experience". Sorry, but I am not interested in an experience that carries thousands of dollars of extra debt and only makes my life more stressful.

Anyways on to the point, the article states that rankings do not matter as much for basically any type of education OTHER THAN LAW! Essentially, going to a top school is a critical to at least ensuring a successful career post-grad. Give it a read. I'd love to hear what others think.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bentaylor/2014/08/14/why-law-school-rankings-matter-more-than-any-other-education-rankings/
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Comments

  • CFC152436CFC152436 Alum Member
    edited August 2014 284 karma
    For law:
    1. Ignore U.S. News Rankings. You want to minimize debt while maximixing employment outcomes. Unfortunately, the rankings do very little to help students achieve either of these.
    2. Focus on LST's employment scores. Law school is expensive, and paying anything close to sticker for a 20% chance of biglaw (the only way to pay off those loans) and a 50% chance of employment is a bad decision.
    3. It depends on how debt-averse you are, but personally I'm in favor of attending a Top-14 with at least 60% tuition, or a strong regional (in a region where you want to practice) with at least 75% tution. Obviously I'm pretty debt averse, but there's no sense in making a bad investment when there are other options available (get work experience, retake the LSAT, etc).

    Edit: those numbers assume the student is paying for law school solely through loans. Savings / parental donations / ability to get a job through family definitely change things. Overall, I'm just against taking over 150,000 in loans for a school (Yale / Stanford excluded).
  • AliasIncAliasInc Alum Member
    18 karma
    I'd say that rings pretty true to everything I've read as well and heard from all the attorneys I work with. I've always heard go top 50 or don't go at all. That statement hardly considers the value of regional schools for those who want nothing more than to stay right where they are, however. Nonetheless, when it comes to law school, unfortunately, rankings cannot be entirely dismissed.
  • chrijani7chrijani7 Alum Member
    edited August 2014 827 karma
    Is it the same in Canada as it is for the US? I know there are less schools, but does the whole ranking thing apply just as heavily for Canadian law schools and employment?

    @CFC, I am debt averse as well. I don't mind taking on debt to follow my dreams and pursue a career I am interested in. But, I am also not very keen on taking unnecessary debt just so I can brag about what school I went to. Who knows, maybe I am naive...
  • CFC152436CFC152436 Alum Member
    284 karma
    I don't know much (if anything) about Canadian law schools. I know someone from Canada who is pretty familiar with the topic, however; if you would like, I can have that person get in contact with you. Searching / making a topic on TLS (top-law-schools.com) would also probably be a good idea.
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