logo

TaxProf Blog

Ad: BlueJ Better Tax Answers. -Accomplish hours of research in seconds -Instantly draft high-quality communications -Verify answers using a library of trusted tax content. Learn more

The Most Overrated Law Schools: A Student Perspective

Paul Caron

A Pre-Law Discussion Board poll of the Most Overrated Law School Among the Top 14 in U.S. News & World Report (259 respondents):

  1. Penn: 19.3% (50 votes) (#6 in U.S. News)
  2. Cornell:  14.3% (37) (#13)
  3. Georgetown:  13.9% (36) (#14)
  4. Duke:  8.9% (23) (#10)
  5. Michigan:  8.5% (22) (#8)
  6. NYU:  7.7% (20) (#4)
  7. Harvard:  5.4% (14) (#2)
  8. Yale:  4.6% (12) (#1)
  9. Northwestern:  4.6% (12) (#12)
  10. UC-Berkeley:  4.2% (11) (#8)
  11. Chicago:  3.1% (8) (#6)
  12. Virginia:  2.7% (7) (#10)
  13. Columbia:  1.9% (5) (#5)
  14. Stanford:  0.8% (2) (#2)

(Hat Tip: Brian Leiter.)  In comparison, here are the latest SSRN Law School Rankings that encompass the Top 14 schools in U.S. News:

  1. Harvard (249,256 all-time downloads) (#1 in U.S. News)
  2. Chicago (208,371) (#6)
  3. Columbia (174,887) (#5)
  4. George Washington (174,468) (#22)
  5. Stanford (153,238) (#2)
  6. Texas (145,347) (#18)
  7. UCLA (141,274) (#15)
  8. Yale (129,622) (#1)
  9. Georgetown (129,622) (#14)
  10. Illinois (101,983) (#25)
  11. UC-Berkeley (96,714) (#8)
  12. USC (94,494) (#16)
  13. NYU (88,502) (#4)
  14. Vanderbilt (84,247) (#16)
  15. Penn (82,790) (#6)
  16. Minnesota (81,608) (#20)
  17. Duke (60,109) (#10)
  18. Michigan (57,392) (#8)
  19. George Mason (54,809) (#34)
  20. San Diego (53,409) (#85)
  21. Virginia (50,522) (#10)
  22. Northwestern (45,421) (#12)
  23. Boston University (44,319) (#20)
  24. Fordham (41,294) (#25)
  25. Florida State (40,983) (#53)
  26. Ohio State (40,411) (#31)
  27. Cardozo (37,709) (#52)
  28. Cornell (34,956) (#13)

Here are the U.S. News Top 14 law schools that are most overvalued in comparison to SSRN:

  • Cornell:  +15 (#13 in U.S. News, #28 in SSRN)
  • Virginia:  +11 (#10, #21)
  • Michigan:  +10 (#8, #18)
  • Northwestern:  +10 (#12, #22)
  • Penn:  +9 (#6, #15)
  • NYU:  +9 (#4, #13)
  • Duke:  +7 (#10, #17)
  • Yale:  +7 (#1, #8)

For more, including a chart on the 12 Most Overvalued and Undervalued Law Schools by U.S. News, see our article, Ranking Law Schools: Using SSRN to Measure Scholarly Performance, 81 Ind. L.J. 83, 124 (2006).

About the Author

Paul Caron Avatar
Paul Caron
Paul Caron was named Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean of Pepperdine University School of Law on June 1, 2017. Dean Caron joined the Pepperdine faculty in 2013 after serving as the Dorothy and Leonard Straus Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law in the spring semesters of 2010 through 2013. He served as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at Pepperdine in 2015-2017. Before coming to Pepperdine, he was Associate Dean of Faculty and Charles Hartsock Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
Ad: BlueJ Better Tax Answers. Blue J's generative AI tax research solution is transforming how tax experts work. Learn more.
Information and rates on advertising on TaxProf Blog