Harvard and Yale Law Schools Part Ways with U.S. News
It is being reported that both Yale and Harvard law schools have parted ways with the U.S. News and World Report ranking system. In a statement issued by Heather Gerken, dean of Yale Law School, she said,
“While I sincerely believe that U.S. News operates with the best of intentions, it faces a nearly impossible task, ranking 192 law schools with a small set of one-size-fits-all metrics that cannot provide an accurate picture of such varied institutions…Its approach not only fails to advance the legal profession, but stands squarely in the way of progress.”
John Manning, dean of Harvard Law School released a similar statement. It seems more and more schools are slowly starting to question the accuracy and importance of the rankings.
Earlier this year, we reported that Columbia University had also stopped cooperating with the ranking system, choosing to go unranked this year. They previously held the No. 2 position, tied with Harvard and MIT. In a surprising turn of events, U.S. News did ultimately rank Columbia in the No.18 position. However, where the data came from for that ranking is unclear as it did not come from Columbia.
What does this mean for rankings going forward?
Students and parents still use it to determine what colleges a student should apply to, and employers still notice the top schools when reviewing resumes. However, how seriously should everyone take the rankings? If a school like Columbia is able to fall from second place to 18th place in a single year, how accurate are the rankings? Nothing about Columbia has changed over the past year. It’s the same curriculum, same faculty for the most part, and same name recognition. The logical conclusion appears to be that the criteria upon which the rankings are based are relatively arbitrary.
So just keep in mind while you’re looking at colleges that rankings aren’t everything. Don’t base your student’s entire future on what one publication says. Check out each individual school and make sure it’s a good fit for your student. And that your student is a good fit for the school.
