Feature
Law School Rankings By Joshua Nave In recent weeks we’ve talked a lot in this column about what influences law school rankings. A recent survey conducted by Kaplan Test Prep shed some light on what influence the rankings have on students. Kaplan surveyed 1,383 students who took the LSAT in October and asked a variety of questions about their pre law experience and expectations.
When asked about the factors they were evaluating in choosing a law school, the most popular response was rankings. 30% of respondents thought rankings were more important than factors like cost (12%) or even job placement statistics (8%). Of course if you’ve read this column recently you already know that post graduation employment statistics play an important part in the rankings themselves. 86% of those surveyed said that rankings were either ‘’very important’’ or ‘’somewhat important’’ in choosing a law school. Not surprisingly, students planning to go to law school are self confident. Over 60% believe that their Facebook profile, if
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viewed by admissions officers, would enhance their prospect of getting that all important letter of acceptance. Over half are ‘’very confident’’ that they will find a job in the legal field after graduating but only 16% think that a majority of their classmates will find legal work. Interestingly, for 36% of respondents, the decision to attend law school happened within the last year. In a period where the legal job market is taking a beating (head counts at the AM 100 are down for the second year in a row) law school still has enormous appeal, even to students for whom the law has not been a long term goal.
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