Law Schools, Rankings, U.S. News

Open Thread: 2013 U.S. News Law School Rankings (1 - 14)

The latest U.S. News law school rankings are out, and you know what that means. It’s time to allow students and alumni to weigh in on their law school and their brand new rank.

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The latest U.S. News law school rankings are out, and you know what that means. It’s time to allow students and alumni to weigh in on their law school and their brand new rank.

As is customary here at Above the Law, we will be posting a series of open threads, running through at least the top 100 law schools. These open threads offer you a chance to compare and contrast different schools, praise (or condemn) your alma mater, and talk trash about rival law schools.

With the rankings shake-up among the nation’s top law schools, there’s a lot to talk about this year….

Here are the top 14 law schools, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report:

1. Yale
2. Stanford
3. Harvard
4. Columbia
5. Chicago
6. NYU
7. Berkeley
7. Penn
7. UVA
10. Michigan
11. Duke
12. Northwestern
13. Georgetown
14. Cornell

The “HYS” (Harvard, Yale, Stanford) group still deserves top billing, but so does the “CCN” cluster (Columbia, Chicago, and NYU). While the rest of the T14 played musical chairs, as we noted previously, there were several big upsets this year.

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First, let’s chat about the switcheroo between Harvard and Stanford. According to U.S. News, Stanford hasn’t been ranked higher than Harvard since 2007 (they tied for second place in 2008 and 2009, but big deal). While some think Harvard is slipping and may have to begrudgingly accept that bronze medal for a few years, we think HLS students and alumni will cry tears made of money until they can reclaim their No. 2 spot.

And speaking of trading places, what happened with Georgetown and Cornell? Georgetown has been holding it down as the “14” in the T14 for time immemorial, but this year, the Hoyas managed to oust an Ivy League law school from the number 13 spot. As one of our commenters mused: “How do you like being GULCed?”

Last, but not least, deep in the heart of Texas, a certain law school is absent from this list. Last year, UT Law tied Georgetown for the 14th spot, making it the first school to break into the top 14 since the rankings were created in 1990. This year — poof! — Texas is gone. This is what happens when you force the dean of your law school to resign. This is why you can’t have nice things, y’all.

So readers, what do you think? Did U.S. News get it right this year? Are these new rankings fair? Your thoughts on these fine institutions are welcome in the comments to this open thread.

Earlier: The U.S. News Law School Rankings Are Out!

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