The 2022 US News law school rankings have been released, setting the “official” standard by which schools will be compared to one another for the next twelve months. In this episode, Jon and Dave offer their take on this year’s rankings, including the controversial metrics and weighting involved, the most prominent winners and losers as schools rise and fall, and—above all—exactly what these rankings mean to you as an applicant!
Timestamps
0:00 – Intro. Jon and Dave discuss how their March Madness brackets are fairing, and set the tone for today’s discussion with “It’s A Long Way To The Top” by AC/DC.
6:18 – This week in the LSAT world. April Flex sign-up times are going live on Thursday (additional listening – “How To Choose The Ideal LSAT-Flex Time”) and the final Flex exam is right around the corner in June! (additional reading – “The June LSAT And The Law School Waitlist”)
2022 US News Law School Rankings
11:17 – Controversies. Dave and Jon recount the various issues with this year’s process including last minute changes, problems with diversity rankings, inaccurate library hours, and the pulling of certain teaching credit hours.
18:50 – How serious should law school hopefuls take these rankings? A chat about the subjectivity that goes into some of these ranking aspects, how the new debt measurement changes things, and more. (additional reading – “Why Did the 2022 US News Law Rankings Change?”)
29:03 – The broad strokes. A quick rundown of the rankings and biggest changes we saw this year from last, broken down by Top 14, Top 25, and Top 50 schools.
42:05 – This year’s winners and losers. Highlighting the particularly interesting jumps and declines, and discussing the nature that went into that movement. (additional reading – “Scholarship vs. Prestige: When To Take The Money And Run”)
1:16:36 – Outro.
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