With the release of the U.S. News Best Graduate Schools rankings, including the top law schools, prospective law school students awaiting their admissions offers are likely eagerly waiting to see which schools have risen and fallen.
Those applying in the fall will also be keenly watching so that they can make informed decisions about where to apply.
[Find out how to use rankings, statistics to narrow your law school choices.]
The overall rankings, program-specific rankings, and LSAT and GPA ranges are correctly regarded as the most important numbers that U.S. News provides annually. But prospective students can glean additional useful information from the full rankings.
For instance, students can use the bar passage rates and employment percentages to make an informed decision about where to attend law school. These numbers look beyond law school to the beginning of one’s legal career.
Bar Passage Rates
The bar exam is a rite of passage for almost every law school graduate, and passing a state bar exam is generally required to be a practicing attorney. Ask any lawyer about it and you’ll hear tales of a monotonous and stressful few months of memorizing legal doctrine from every area of law.
To put a school’s bar passage rate into context, a bit more research is required. First, look at the ABA Employment Summary Reports to see in which states most of that school’s graduates end up working.
The most popular places are New York, California, Illinois and the District of Columbia. As you work your way down the list, schools tend to be regional, and the vast majority of their graduates find work in the state where the school is located or an adjacent state.
[Determine whether bar passage rates should influence a law school decision.]
Next, look at state-by-state bar passage rates that the National Conference of Bar Examiners provides. Make sure to look at the statistics for first-time exam takers, which is the same statistic U.S. News provides on a school-by-school basis.
Compare a school’s bar passage rate with the passage rate for the state that employs the most graduates from that school. If the school’s bar passage rate is significantly lower than the state rate, beware — this indicates that the school might not prepare you adequately to take the bar exam.
Keep in mind that bar passage rates vary significantly from state to state. California’s bar examination, for example, is notoriously difficult, with only 54 percent of first-time exam takers in 2016 passing.
Farther up the coast in Washington, however, first-time takers enjoyed a 74 percent passage rate in 2016. Schools that send most of their graduates to California will likely have lower passage rates than schools that send their graduates to other states.
Employment Percentages
The U.S. News Best Law Schools rankings provide two statistics regarding graduate employment: the percentage of those employed at graduation and the percentage of those employed 10 months after graduation. Each is instructive in terms of what you can expect as a graduate of that law school.
For purposes of these percentages, for a job to count 100 percent in the U.S. News ranking model, you must have “a full-time job not funded by your university or school lasting at least a year for which bar passage was required or a J.D. degree was an advantage.” So if you graduate from law school and work at a management consulting firm or for your family’s small business, for example, your job wouldn’t count 100 percent in the U.S. News ranking, but it would still be weighted at a lower percentage.
[Consider how a law school’s location can affect employment prospects.]
The first number — those employed at graduation — gives you a good sense of the opportunities that are available to graduates during law school. Many law students, for example, take an internship at a law office the summer after their second year and receive an offer for postgraduation employment at the end of that summer.
Others interview for permanent positions during their third year and have offers in hand before they graduate. If this number is high, you can count on having many such opportunities and likely much less stress after you graduate.
The second number — those employed 10 months after graduation — tells you how graduates ultimately fare in the job market. If this number is low, this likely indicates that the school doesn’t have a strong reputation, alumni network or career services office.
As you look at the new rankings, don’t forget to go beyond the obvious numbers and think beyond your experience as a student. The numbers discussed above will help you anticipate your experience as a graduate and practicing attorney.
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Key Data Points to Consider When Choosing a Law School originally appeared on usnews.com
