USNews -- What's in a Ranking?
And that, my friends, is exactly the problem:
what's in the ranking?
USNews doesn't tell you anywhere at all. Oh, they throw lots of words at you about their methodology. But the numbers they show you aren't the numbers they use in the methodology.
Just for instance: they show you the 25th and 75th percentile LSAT scores -- of what? Full-time only, or full- and part-time combined? They never say. And then they base the ranking on the median LSAT score, which is published -- noplace! Nowhere in the whole universe! The ABA hasn't published yet, LSAC hasn't published yet, and USNews has based a calculation on a secret number.
Way to go, Morse! Didn't George Orwell write about this? |
While we're on the subject of secret numbers, lets talk about the nifty new part time ranking. No, I changed my mind -- we'll talk about that over here.