Deconstructing USNWR Reputation

Reputation rankings are of uncertain value.  More people will know Harvard grads, since Harvard has a much larger class.  Academic rep is affected by religious affiliation, recent scandal, and regional prejudices.  And how do lawyers practicing in New York rank Montana?  Nonetheless, reputation means something, so I've made the effort.

I've taken the USNWR reputation rankings exactly as reported, weighted them at .25 academic and .15 lawyer rep, exactly as reported, and rounded to one decimal place to eliminate meaningless differences, exactly as reported.  The results are exactly what you would expect; within a small range, there are no meaningful differences.  Over broad ranges, there is a definite sense of "better" and "worse."

rep school ac law tot
1 Harvard 4.9 4.9 2.0
2 Yale 4.9 4.8 1.9
2 Stanford 4.8 4.9 1.9
2 Chicago 4.8 4.8 1.9
2 Columbia 4.8 4.8 1.9
2 Michigan 4.7 4.7 1.9
2 Cal-Berkeley 4.7 4.6 1.9
2 NYU 4.7 4.5 1.9
8 Virginia 4.6 4.6 1.8
8 Penn 4.5 4.4 1.8
8 Duke 4.4 4.4 1.8
12 Cornell 4.3 4.3 1.7
12 Georgetown 4.2 4.3 1.7
12 Texas 4.3 4.1 1.7
12 Northwestern 4.2 4.2 1.7
16 Cal-UCLA 4.1 4.0 1.6
17 Vanderbilt 3.9 3.8 1.5
17 Minnesota 3.8 3.6 1.5
17 N. Carolina 3.7 3.7 1.5
17 Iowa 3.7 3.5 1.5
17 Wisconsin 3.7 3.5 1.5
20 Cal-Hastings 3.5 3.8 1.4
20 Southern Cal. 3.7 3.4 1.4
20 Illinois 3.6 3.5 1.4
20 George Wash. 3.5 3.6 1.4
20 Emory 3.4 3.6 1.4
20 Boston U. 3.5 3.4 1.4
20 Boston College 3.4 3.5 1.4
20 Wash & Lee 3.4 3.5 1.4
20 Wash. U. 3.5 3.3 1.4
20 Notre Dame 3.3 3.6 1.4
20 Cal-Davis 3.4 3.4 1.4
20 Ind. Bloomington 3.4 3.4 1.4
20 William & Mary 3.4 3.4 1.4
35 Washington 3.3 3.4 1.3
35 Ohio State 3.3 3.3 1.3
35 Tulane 3.3 3.3 1.3
35 Florida 3.2 3.1 1.3
35 Fordham 3.1 3.2 1.3
35 Georgia 3.1 3.2 1.3
35 Arizona 3.2 3.0 1.3
41 Colorado 3.1 3.1 1.2
41 Brigham Young 3.0 3.2 1.2
41 Wake Forest 3.0 3.2 1.2
41 Case Western 2.9 3.1 1.2
41 Oregon 2.9 3.0 1.2
41 Utah 2.9 3.0 1.2
41 American 2.9 2.9 1.2
41 Pittsburgh 2.9 2.9 1.2
41 Kansas 2.8 3.0 1.2
41 SMU 2.8 3.0 1.2
52 Arizona St. 2.9 2.8 1.1
52 Miami 2.8 2.9 1.1
52 MO-Columbia 2.8 2.9 1.1
52 Rutgers-Newark 2.8 2.9 1.1
52 Tennessee 2.8 2.9 1.1
52 Connecticut 2.9 2.7 1.1
52 Maryland 2.9 2.7 1.1
52 Houston 2.8 2.8 1.1
52 Temple 2.7 2.9 1.1
52 Villanova 2.6 3.0 1.1
52 Alabama 2.6 2.9 1.1
52 Cincinnati 2.6 2.9 1.1
52 Baylor 2.5 3.0 1.1
52 Chicago-Kent 2.8 2.5 1.1
52 Cardozo 2.7 2.6 1.1
52 Nebraska 2.5 2.9 1.1
52 Oklahoma 2.5 2.9 1.1
52 Syracuse 2.5 2.9 1.1
52 George Mason 2.6 2.7 1.1
52 Kentucky 2.6 2.7 1.1
52 New Mexico 2.6 2.7 1.1
52 Rutgers-Camden 2.6 2.7 1.1
69 Catholic 2.5 2.8 1.0
69 Florida St. 2.5 2.8 1.0
69 Loyola-L.A. 2.6 2.6 1.0
69 Buffalo-SUNY 2.5 2.7 1.0
69 Loyola-Chicago 2.5 2.7 1.0
69 San Diego 2.5 2.7 1.0
69 Brooklyn 2.6 2.5 1.0
69 Ind. Indianapolis 2.5 2.6 1.0
69 Saint Louis 2.5 2.6 1.0
69 Santa Clara 2.5 2.6 1.0
69 Penn State 2.3 2.9 1.0
69 Denver 2.4 2.7 1.0
69 Wayne State 2.5 2.5 1.0
69 Marquette 2.3 2.8 1.0
69 Richmond 2.3 2.8 1.0
69 DePaul 2.4 2.6 1.0
69 Maine 2.4 2.6 1.0
69 Louisiana St. 2.3 2.7 1.0
69 S. Carolina 2.3 2.7 1.0
69 Saint John's 2.3 2.7 1.0
69 Seton Hall 2.3 2.7 1.0
69 Hofstra 2.4 2.5 1.0
69 Lewis & Clark 2.4 2.5 1.0
69 Mississippi 2.3 2.6 1.0
69 Vermont 2.3 2.6 1.0
69 Hawaii 2.3 2.5 1.0
69 MO-Kansas City 2.3 2.5 1.0
69 San Francisco 2.3 2.5 1.0
99 Albany 2.2 2.6 0.9
99 Pepperdine 2.2 2.6 0.9
99 Willamette 2.2 2.6 0.9
99 Northeastern 2.3 2.4 0.9
99 Georgia St. 2.2 2.5 0.9
99 Loyola-N.O. 2.2 2.5 0.9
99 McGeorge 2.2 2.5 0.9
99 Creighton 2.1 2.6 0.9
99 Gonzaga 2.1 2.6 0.9
99 Mercer 2.2 2.4 0.9
99 NYLS 2.2 2.4 0.9
99 W. Virginia 2.2 2.4 0.9
99 Wyoming 2.2 2.4 0.9
99 Ark-Fayetteville 2.3 2.2 0.9
99 N. Dakota 2.0 2.7 0.9
99 Howard 2.1 2.5 0.9
99 Montana 2.1 2.5 0.9
99 Seattle 2.1 2.5 0.9
99 Duquesne 2.1 2.4 0.9
99 Idaho 2.1 2.4 0.9
99 Texas Tech 2.0 2.5 0.9
99 Drake 2.1 2.3 0.9
99 Louisville 2.1 2.3 0.9
99 Tulsa 2.1 2.3 0.9
99 S. Dakota 2.0 2.4 0.9
99 Stetson 2.0 2.4 0.9
99 Valparaiso 2.0 2.4 0.9
99 William Mitchell 2.0 2.4 0.9
99 Detroit C./MSU 1.9 2.5 0.9
99 Franklin Pierce 1.9 2.5 0.9
132 Pace 2.1 2.1 0.8
132 Baltimore 2.0 2.2 0.8
132 Dayton 2.0 2.2 0.8
132 Cleveland St. 2.1 2.0 0.8
132 S. Illinois 2.0 2.1 0.8
132 Ark. Little Rock 2.1 1.9 0.8
132 Saint Mary's 1.9 2.2 0.8
132 Hamline 2.0 2.0 0.8
132 Washburn 2.0 2.0 0.8
132 Akron 1.9 2.1 0.8
132 John Marshall 1.9 2.1 0.8
132 Memphis 1.8 2.2 0.8
132 Suffolk 1.9 2.0 0.8
132 Toledo 1.9 2.0 0.8
132 Widener 1.8 2.1 0.8
132 Samford 1.9 1.9 0.8
132 Southwest 1.9 1.9 0.8
132 Quinnipiac 2.0 1.7 0.8
149 Capital 1.8 1.9 0.7
149 NY-CUNY 1.8 1.9 0.7
149 S.Texas 1.8 1.9 0.7
149 New England 1.7 2.0 0.7
149 Nova 1.8 1.8 0.7
149 N. C. Central 1.6 2.1 0.7
149 Touro 1.8 1.7 0.7
149 N. Illinois 1.7 1.8 0.7
149 Miss. Coll 1.6 1.9 0.7
149 N. Kentucky 1.6 1.8 0.7
149 Ohio Northern 1.6 1.8 0.7
149 Cal. Western 1.7 1.6 0.7
149 Golden Gate 1.7 1.6 0.7
149 Oklahoma City 1.6 1.7 0.7
149 Roger Wms 1.6 1.7 0.7
161 Detroit Mercy 1.5 1.8 0.6
161 Texas Wesleyan 1.5 1.7 0.6
161 Whittier 1.5 1.7 0.6
161 W. New England 1.6 1.5 0.6
161 Campbell 1.5 1.6 0.6
161 Thomas Cooley 1.4 1.7 0.6
161 Texas Southern 1.5 1.5 0.6
161 Saint Thomas 1.4 1.6 0.6
161 Regent 1.4 1.5 0.6
161 Southern 1.4 1.5 0.6

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