The 2009/2010 US News Law School Rankings are out. The ranking system is the most recognized and used standard for comparing law schools in the United States. The ranking system groups schools into Tier 1, Tier 3, Tier 4 (Tier 1 being the highest ranking category).
My alma mater Marquette University Law School continues to be recognized as one of the top schools in the country - - it is a Tier 1 school - - and has moved up to number 87 in the overall rankings; its part-time program is ranked number 43 in the nation. My alma mater also continues with its traditional strength in Dispute Resolution, it currently is ranked number 6 in the nation in that category.
I personally think that because of the quality of the curriculum and faculty Marquette should be ranked higher, but perhaps you could say I am just a little biased. I do think though that the location of Marquette and the current state of the facilities are disadvantages for the school. One disadvantage can be and is being addressed, while the other is pretty permanent. The facilities are undergoing a 100 million dollar upgrade, after which I suspect my school will shoot up the rankings. As for location, Milwaukee is a great city but it is in the Midwest. I think most future lawyers tend to be interested in the legal markets on the east or west coast and so disproportionately apply to the schools there. Of course Milwaukee is located near Chicago which stands as an isolated beacon - - it is the second largest legal market in the nation.
Now I cite to these rankings because they are the accepted standard within the US legal community. Law firms make hiring decisions partly based on these rankings or have career fairs at schools partly based on these rankings. So I am glad Marquette is continuing to do well. I however am not a big fan of this ranking system and believe that those making hiring decisions should take more personal factors into consideration. I also feel the metrics of the ranking system give a flawed measurement.
I am ok, but not thrilled with the peer assessment score, where deans at law schools rate programs on a scale of 1 to 5. Do you expect me to believe that deans at law schools know all the ins and outs of all their competition? There are just so many schools out there. And, there are other criteria used in the ranking system that I feel even more objection towards, for example acceptance rates. The acceptance rate criterion is defined as the combined proportion of applicants to both the full-time and part-time J.D. program who were accepted for the 2008 entering class. Now as I said earlier, the location of Marquette in the Midwest is a disadvantage, because I believe the schools on the east and west coasts receive more applications. This statistic skews the ranking system in the favor of coast schools and is not based on the quality of the faculty and curriculum.
Anyways, gripes about the ranking system aside, keep up the good works Marquette. I continue to be a proud alumnus. I left the school a better person for the experience and also with a few grey hairs.
