Are these law schools the most underrated?
Is the University of Kentucky the most underrated law school? The school is ranked No. 60 by U.S. News & World Report, even though 92 percent of its most recent graduates found full-time, long-term positions that require a JD or for which a JD is an advantage.
The job placement rate earned the law school a second-place ranking on a list at the Faculty Lounge compiled by Drexel University law professor Daniel Filler.
Filler’s ranking inspired the Careerist (sub. req.) blog to create its own list of the most underrated law schools. The blog looked at schools with a ranking at or below No. 50 by U.S. News, and compared it with Filler’s figures on job placement.
The top five on the Careerist’s top 10 list are:
1) Kentucky (ranked No. 60 by U.S. News, with 92 percent of grads in JD advantage or JD required jobs)
2) Seton Hall (ranked No. 65 by U.S. News, with 87 percent of grads in JD advantage or JD required jobs)
3) Baylor (ranked No. 55 by U.S. News, with 86 percent of grads in JD advantage or JD required jobs)
4) Nebraska (ranked No. 57 by U.S. News, with 84 percent of grads in JD advantage or JD required jobs)
5) Arkansas-Fayetteville (ranked No. 86 by U.S. News, with 84 percent of grads in JD advantage or JD required jobs)
Filler’s list, based on data reported to the ABA, captures jobs data nine months after graduation for the class of 2015. His top six, based on job placement, are:
1) Penn (ranked No. 7 by U.S. News, with 93 percent of grads in JD advantage or JD required jobs)
2) Duke (ranked No. 11 by U.S. News, with 92 percent of grads in JD advantage or JD required jobs)
2) Kentucky (ranked No. 60 by U.S. News, with 92 percent of grads in JD advantage or JD required jobs)
4) Cornell (ranked No. 13 by U.S. News, with 91 percent of grads in JD advantage or JD required jobs)
4) Harvard (ranked No. 2 by U.S. News, with 91 percent of grads in JD advantage or JD required jobs)
4) Chicago, ranked No. 4 by U.S. News, with 91 percent of grads in JD advantage or JD required jobs)
Yale is ranked No. 1 by U.S. News, but it ties with Iowa and Arizona State at No. 18 on Filler’s list, with 85 percent of its grads taking jobs for which a JD is required or an advantage. Filler says the Yale number “probably has more to do with the choices that students made rather than the options they encountered.”
Filler also says his list doesn’t capture students who secure jobs in BigLaw. “I have a strong sense that there are really only about 15 schools where more than 33 percent of the graduating class scores a large firm job,” he writes at the Faculty Lounge. “U.S. News is actually pretty good at this element of ranking: If you want a big firm job, the U.S. News top 15-20 is a reasonably good guide.”
The Careerist has another takeaway from the numbers: “You don’t have to go to a top school to be gainfully employed, so long as you’re happy with a modest salary.” And if you do choose a regional law school, make sure you are happy staying in the region after graduation, the blog advises.
