Law School Predictor

2011 law school rankings leaked...

The 2011 U.S. News & World Report rankings have been leaked with documented evidence (alternative source here) and confirmed.  Full summary and comparison to last year’s rankings below.

It’s a happy day in Tempe… Arizona State jumped a phenomenal 17 spots, from #55 to #38, to move into the ranks of the top 50 law schools (Tier 1); Arizona State now ranks as the best law school in Arizona, beating out the University of Arizona (#42). After taking a drubbing (drop to #28) last year, George Washington moved back up to #20 this year. Also posting impressive gains within the Tier 1 were UC-Davis (#28), Georgia (#28), Wisconsin (#28), and Colorado (#35).

In Tier 2 action, Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles and St. John’s in New York each jumped 15 places in the rankings, while Hofstra jumped 14 places and New Mexico jumped 10 spots. Joining the Tier 2 (or rejoining the Tier 2 after a hiatus, as the case may be) are Hawai’i (#72), Syracuse (#86), Chapman (#93), Nebraska (#93), West Virginia (#93), Pacific (#98), and William Mitchell (#98).

Not all schools fared so well. The biggest loser was the University of Missouri at Columbia, which dropped 28 places from #65 to #93. Within the top 14 law schools, NYU, Berkeley, Duke, and Northwestern each slipped a spot in the rankings. Within the Tier 1 schools, Indiana dropped four spots, rekindling the debate as to whether their #23 ranking last year was just a fluke. Fordham also slipped four spots, although it still easily retained its status as the third-best law school in New York City. Alabama’s free-iTunes-gift-card-if-you-apply scheme must not have worked out as well during the last admissions cycle as they fell eight places to #38. Maryland’s ranking dipped five spots to #48, and Kentucky dropped nine places to #64.

And a few schools lost their coveted status as a Top 100 law school: Buffalo (SUNY), Marquette, South Carolina, St. Louis, Louisville, Gonzaga, and Maine.

Until USNWR confirms, take it with a grain of salt. That said, spot-checking LSAT and GPA scores would suggest that it’s authentic; the fact that Nebraska and Hawaii return to the Tier 2 after reporting issues last year and that all schools that just received full accreditation are now ranked (as Tier 4 schools) lends further credibility. The only defect I found that weighs against the leak being the real thing is that UC-Irvine isn’t included in the disclaimer listing provisionally-accredited schools, but this could well be an deliberate decision on USNWR’s part, perhaps because UC-Irvine is only in its second year of existence and hasn’t been formally provisionally accredited.  USNWR has confirmed the rankings.

As a reminder, Version 3.0 of Law School Predictor launches June 22, 2010 and will include the new 2011 rankings and data. You can continue to find Law School Predictor on two of your favorite social-networking websites: Facebook and Twitter. Become a fan of the Facebook Page or follow LSP on Twitter to get the latest updates, and to show your support. For applicants who are just beginning to explore and research the law school application process, I highly recommend visiting Top-Law-Schools.com and the TLS forums.

Without further adieu, here’s the new top 100 law school in the United States. Special kudos to a few Top-Law-Schools.com (TLS) users: jl2032 (original scans of the new rankings), holybartender (posting scans online), and Nightrunner (compiling the top 100 list in text format). Bolded schools indicate notable changes in ranking.

2011 USNWR Top 100 Law Schools:
Law School (2010 ranking, change in rank)
1. Yale (1, -)
2. Harvard (2, -)
3. Stanford (3, -)
4. Columbia (4, -)
5. Chicago (6, +1)
6. NYU (5, -1)
7. UC-Berkeley (6, -1)
7. Penn (8, +1)
9. Michigan (9, -)
10. Virginia (10, -)
11. Duke (10, -1)
11. Northwestern (10, -1)
13. Cornell (13, -)
14. Georgetown (14, -)
15. UC-Los Angeles (15, -)
15. Texas (15, -)
17. Vanderbilt (17, -)
18. USC (18, -)
19. Washington University – St. Louis (19, -)
20. George Washington (28, +8)
21. Illinois (23, +2)
22. Boston University (20, -2)
22. Emory (20, -2)
22. Minnesota (20, -2)
22. Notre Dame (23, +1)
26. Iowa (26, -)
27. Indiana-Bloomington (23, -4)
28. Boston College (26, -2)
28. William & Mary (28, -)
28. UC-Davis (35, +7)
28. Georgia (35, +7)
28. North Carolina (30, +2)
28. Wisconsin (35, +7)
34. Fordham (30, -4)
34. Ohio State (35, +1)
34. Washington (30, -4)
34. Washington & Lee (30, -4)
38. Arizona State (55, +17, moved up to Tier 1)
38. Alabama (30, -8)
38. Colorado (45, +7)
38. Wake Forest (40, +2)
42. Brigham Young (41, -1)
42. George Mason (41, -1)
42. Arizona (43, +1)
42. UC-Hastings (39, -3)
42. Utah (45, +3)
47. Florida (51, +4)
48. American (45, -3)
48. SMU (49, +1)
48. Tulane (45, -3)
48. Maryland (43, -5)
——————–
52. Pepperdine (55, +3)
52. Yeshiva – Cardozo (49, -3, moved down from Tier 1)
54. Florida State (52, -2)
54. Connecticut (52, -2)
56. Case Western Reserve (55, -1)
56. Loyola – Los Angeles/Marymount (71, +15)
56. Cincinnati (52, -4)
56. San Diego (61, +5)
60. Georgia State (65, +5)
60. Houston (59, -1)
60. Miami (71, +11)
60. Tennessee (59, -1)
64. Baylor (65, +1)
64. Lewis & Clark (61, -3)
64. Kentucky (55, -9)
67. Brooklyn (61, -6)
67. Kansas (65, -2)
67. New Mexico (77, +10)
67. Pittsburgh (71, +4)
67. Villanova (61, -6)
72. Pennyslvania State (65, -7)
72. Seton Hall (77, +5)
72. St. John’s (87, +15)
72. Temple (65, -7)
72. Hawai’i (NR, moved up from Tier 3)
72. Oklahoma (71, -1)
78. Loyola – Chicago (87, +9)
78. Nevada-Las Vegas (75, -3)
80. Chicago-Kent (77, -3)
80. Louisiana State (75, -5)
80. Rutgers-Camden (77, -3)
80. Rutgers-Newark (87, +7)
80. Denver (77, -3)
80. Oregon (77, -3)
86. Hofstra (100, +14)
86. Indiana-Indianapolis (87, +1)
86. Northeastern (94, +8)
86. Seattle (77, -9)
86. Syracuse (NR, moved up from Tier 3)
86. Arkansas-Fayetteville (94, +8)
86. Richmond (77, -9)
93. Chapman (NR, moved up from Tier 3)
93. Santa Clara (85, -7)
93. Missouri-Columbia (65, -28)
93. Nebraska (NR, moved up from Tier 3)
93. West Virginia (NR, moved up from Tier 3)
98. Catholic (94, -4)
98. DePaul (87, -9)
98. San Francisco (98, -)
98. Pacific (NR, moved up from Tier 3)
98. William Mitchell (NR, moved up from Tier 3)

Dropped out of Top 100 into Tier 3
- Buffalo, SUNY (85)
- Marquette (87)
- South Carolina (87)
- St. Louis (94)
- Louisville (98)
- Gonzaga (100)
- Maine (100)

Check out the Law School Predictor Version 3.0 Trailer for more information. Version 3.0 releases on June 22, 2010.

Law School Predictor should be compatible with the newly-released Apple iPad.

Given the formatting of Law School Predictor, the website and prediction models should be compatible for the newly-released Apple iPad. I don’t personally have one that I can use for testing, but since Law School Predictor doesn’t use Flash or anything fancy, iPad users should be good to go. My hope is that Law School Predictor will also be compatible with Microsoft Courier when it is released. This is all part of an effort to ensure that LSP users have greater access to LSP at all times.

A firm launch date for Law School Predictor Version 3.0 will be set in the near future, incorporating 2011 U.S. News & World Report rankings and data, and possibly some new prediction features, too. More details will be announced soon.

You can continue to find Law School Predictor on two of your favorite social-networking websites: Facebook and Twitter. Become a fan of the Facebook Page or follow LSP on Twitter to get the latest updates, and to show your support. An online video tutorial remains available for viewing at YouTube. For applicants who are just beginning to explore and research the law school application process, I highly recommend visiting Top-Law-Schools.com and the TLS forums.

Visit the Support page for more details and to purchase your very Law School Predictor own t-shirt for $12.95 (plus $4.95 S&H).

Also, I will try and get to my backlog of emails within the next two weeks.

The LSAC started emailing score notifications at about 06:55am EST this morning. Those who sat for the December 2009 LSAT should receive their score by email/through the LSAC website by midnight tonight.  You can log in here to see if your LSAT score has been posted.

Good luck!

Law School Predictor wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! May your day be filled with delicious morsels and the blissful awareness that no admissions office is open on Thanksgiving. Hence, there’s no sense in worrying about your law school applications, and the only thing you should be worrying about is whether you want the pumpkin pie or cranberry tart (or both).

Law School Predictor also wishes everyone a joyous holiday season, and one that will hopefully bear tidings of acceptance for those who are awaiting decisions on their pending law school applications.

For those of you considering applying early decision at a law school, there’s still a few law schools that will let you do so. I know that early decision applications for the University of Virginia School of Law must be complete by December 15, 2009.

Bid on an Ultimate Law School Admissions Consulting Package from the creator and developer of Law School Predictor, Evan Didier. Bidding starts at $99.95.

The Ultimate Package is for a current law school applicant, or a person purchasing the package on behalf of a law school applicant, seeking comprehensive “start-to-finish” assistance with the law school application process for an unlimited number of law schools and for an unlimited number of application documents. A number of other law school consulting services charge $4,200+ for a similar service.

Best of all, 100% of the proceeds (less eBay/MissionFish fees) from this auction will be donated to the non-profit University of Virginia Law School Foundation and, more specifically, the University of Virginia Public Interest Law Association (PILA). PILA provides students with stipends and assistance in pursuing public interest legal work targeted to help those people who lack the means and resources to consult legal counsel.

eBay Auction Details
- Auction ends at 22:00 EST / 19:00 PST on Monday, November 16, 2009.
- Bidding starts at $99.95 with no reserve.
- Buy It Now option (before any bids are placed) for $3,995.95.
- Bidder information and the winning bidder’s identity will remain confidential.

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- Comprehensive “start-to-finish” application assistance for an unlimited number of American law schools for the 2009-2010 application cycle for admission into the Class of 2013.
- Unlimited email and phone consultation with Evan Didier, the creator and developer of Law School Predictor, on matters related to law school admissions.
- Individual attention and timely responses to your questions and concerns.
- Exploration and analysis of your goals in the context of your strengths and your weaknesses
- Advice and assistance in selecting a list of law schools.
- Detailed personal feedback and assistance in drafting and revising your:
- Personal Statement,
- Diversity Statement,
- Addendum(s) (e.g. low GPA, disciplinary issues, etc.),
- “Why X?” and other school-specific statements,
- Resume,
- Letters of Continuing Interest for schools where you are waitlisted.
- Review and detailed personal feedback for an unlimited number of revisions for the above documents.
- Advice on who to approach to write a Letter of Recommendation and what to give your recommender.
- Assistance in navigating LSAC resources.
- Advice on how to proceed through your senior year of undergraduate studies (if applicable).
- Assistance in evaluating financial aid offers, including scholarships and grants.
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