ARTICLE: “School Rankings That Matter” By CAMERON STRACHER
Wall Street Journal, Monday, 31 December 2007.

The US News and World Reports rankings have always bothered me. Yes, we all want to be ranked higher because that is what people are looking for. Well, what some people are looking for. Those who are willing to let someone else do the research and tell them how to think find the rankings easy to use. But they do not tell the whole story. The formula used to determine the rankings is suspect and is based on factors that may or may not be important to a particular student.

This WSJ Commentary focuses specifically on law schools and compares the US News and World Report rankings to another based solely on the passage rate of the bar exam. As the article argues, what good is a law school education from a top-ranked law school if you can’t pass the Bar? Good question.

I liken these rankings to rankings of department stores. Ask someone which department is “best” and you’ll get several answers. Some will like Wal-Mart because the prices are low. Others will rank Wal-Mart low and cite employment practices. Some will sat Wal-Mart has a large selection of products while other will say it has little variety. Some will like Sears while others will prefer a specialty store. Some will say it depends on what you want to buy. Others will say one store has low prices but another has better customer service.

I am often asked questions by parents that are of obvious concern to them but I wonder if they have thought much about what they are asking. For example, I am often asked about class sizes and I can give them the answer they are looking for but I usually add that it is more important to have a good teacher than it is to have a small class. One of my best professors taught to a class of 180+; one of my worst was a class of about 18. The parents assume that smaller classes will give their children more access to the professor outside of class but that is not always the case. Besides, I would much rather have a good professor teaching me that I didn’t need to see than to have a bad professor who I had to visit in his office everyday for help.

So, with all of these factors involved in selecting a department store, college, or law school, how is someone supposed to make a decision? The answer is really quite simple? Decide what it is that you want and then do your own research, ask your own questions, make your own decisions, and trust your own judgment. After all you are reading this with help from US News and World Report.