Law School Rankings

Earlier this month, Brian Leiter's Law School Rankings posted the Ranking of Top 40 Law Schools by Student (Numerical) Quality 2009. Using a metric that averaged the 75th and 25th percentile of LSAT scores for the class that entered in fall 2008, the list ranks law schools and gives their average LSAT scores, the average of their 75th/25th Grade Point Average, their approximate class sizes (rounded to the nearest 50). Brooklyn Law School came in tied for number 39 with an average LSAT of 161.5 (compared to 173.0 for number 1 Harvard), a GPA average of 3.380 and a class of 500 that entered in fall 2008 (topped only by Georgetown with 600 and Harvard with 550).

The ranking does not measure other aspects of the student population that would be useful to know, such as the average age of the students, those who have advanced degrees, what kind of work experience they have and the cultural diversity of the entering class. It might also be useful to measure graduating students' starting salaries, placement rates, and bar exam pass rates as current rankings rely so much on reputation, admissions rates, LSAT scores, and GPAs. While law school rankings often lack real substance, they often do conform to the general reputation these law schools have among lawyers, law students and potential applicants.