Hofstra Law School
The Rankings
What Frims Want
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dean of admissions,
who took a chance on
them even though they
had a miserable LSAT
score or had to work full-time as a student (thus
limiting their GPA). I have
received countless calls
from lawyers who want
to point out that this or
that current applicant
has the “right stuff,” contrary to what his or her
grades and test scores
might indicate.
Even empirical evidence is showing that
numerical credentials
and professional success
are not strongly correlated. Yet the U.S. News
ranking scheme creates
incentives that point law
schools in precisely the
other direction.
So, what to do? The
rankings are clearly here
to stay, and appeals from
law school administrators
like me to change the
criteria are routinely dismissed as self-serving.
But at least do me this
favor. Next time you’re
ready to applaud the U.S.
News rankings, put your
hands back in your pockets.
While law schools and
legal education rightly
are held to high standards, the U.S. News ranking criteria push schools
toward strategies that,
over time, tend to deem-
phasize the subtle but
important non-numerical
attributes of merit that
often define success in
the legal profession.
Instead, they favor
the diversion of scarce
selection resources toward manipulation of the
application process and
toward devices aimed
purely at raising the raw
numerical credentials of
an entering class. This
ends up devaluing motivation, resilience, leadership, judgment and the
many other soft factors
that often define the difference between the good
and the great members of
our profession. •
2010 U.S. News
& World Report
Rankings
• Top 100 ABA Law School
• One of the Most Diverse Schools
Cutting Edge
Legal Education
• Exciting LL.M. Programs in
American Legal Studies and
Family Law
• Pioneering Live Client Clinics,
from Securities Arbitration
to Asylum
• J.D. Concentrations Covering an
Array of Interests, from
Environmental Law to Taxation
2009 PreLaw
Magazine Rankings
• 11th Best Public Interest
Law School
• Top Programs in Corporate Law,
Health Law, International Law,
Labor and Employment Law, and
Real Estate Law
Hofstra Law School prepares passionate students to make an impact in their communities and beyond.
Accredited by the American Bar Association and ranked in the top 100 law schools nationwide, Hofstra
Law is located on the campus of Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. The Law School offers
both full-time and part-time juris doctor (J.D.) programs as well as LL.M. graduate degrees in American
Legal Studies (for foreign law graduates) and Family Law.
