The latest U.S. News and World Report law-school rankings were released recently, with few surprises evident, but more interesting may be the recent party-law-school rankings released by the SubtleDig site. Those planning to "party" in law school in the same way they have been doing in undergrad will likely be disappointed, but this list may at least help them give it a shot. Or multiple shots.
Arizona State, ranked 46th by U.S. News, can glory in its No. 1 ranking on the party-law-school list. It is followed by Tulane, Seattle, Florida State, and the University of Arizona. The bottom ten, which the site described as those places "where fun goes to die," included only one (Penn) ranked in the top ten by U.S. News. Least fun: Baylor, at No. 102 out of 102 schools ranked.
A special prize or anti-prize of some kind goes to DePaul University, which had the lowest combined rankings of fun and quality. At No. 101, DePaul was marginally more fun than Baylor, but was 22 spots lower (87th) on the U.S. News list. DePaul could thus be considered worst overall with 188 out of a possible 202 badness points. Close runners-up in this category: Rutgers-Newark, SUNY-Buffalo, and Seton Hall.
Obviously, all of these law schools offer a perfectly good legal education — being 87th in the country is not at all "bad," especially considering the vast number of law schools in this country. DePaul students can console themselves with the knowledge that their school certainly outranks some of the schools mentioned here previously, such as the "Larry H. Layton School of Law," which according to its website is located about 60 miles north of Los Angeles, "one block from the Antelope Valley Freeway at the Crown Valley Road exit." LHLSL may very well get one prepared to pass a bar exam, but its fun ranking would likely be relatively low.
It is, however, air-conditioned.
Link: SubtleDig Presents: The Party Law School Rankings
Link: TaxProf Blog