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#Why Law School Rankings Matter More Than Any Other Education Rankings

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Every year, students and parents across America obsess over education rankings. Families spend thousands on standardized test prep, then celebrate or despair based on the ranks of the institutions offering admission. Many high school seniors choose to relocate 2,000 miles away (and in climates 40 degrees colder) just because the local college fell 10 spots lower in US News’ latest list. For some, the mania continues after college, as future business. medical, and law students pore over graduate school rankings, matching their college GPAs to the averages reported by the nation’s so-called “top” schools.

So is all the hysteria warranted? Does a higher rank really guarantee better job prospects, higher salaries, and ultimately, a better life? The data says no…for the most part. While rankings are certainly helpful in a broad, directional sense, most of the obsession is groundless…with the exception of law school. At FindTheBest. we took a look at each major type of institution—undergraduate, business, medicine, and law—to see which rankings actually matter.

Undergraduate Rankings

By now, many parents have begun to ascribe to the familiar advice: “a good college match is more important than a top rank”—and for good reason. First, according to a study by economists Alan Krueger and Stacy Berg Dale (first conducted in 1999 and followed up in 2011), there is little to no difference in future earnings between those attending an “elite school” (ex: University of Pennsylvania or Williams College ) and those attending a “moderately selective school” (ex: Penn State or Miami University of Ohio) after 20 years. Crucially, the study limited its sample to students who were accepted at both elite and moderately selective schools. So this doesn’t mean Penn State’s alumni on the whole are just as successful as Penn’s—only that the student who gets into both should feel no pressure to attend the higher-ranked institution. She’s already proven her bonafides—she’ll do just as well in life by attending Penn State.

Second, note that there are over 8,000 accredited undergraduate institutions in the US alone. This means that a school ranked #200 is still in the top 2.5% of the nation. Compare that to business schools in America (fewer than 400), MD and JD programs (around 200 each), where the difference between the #1 and #50 school is much more significant, given the available options. Parents and students shouldn’t bite their pencils over 10 spots in undergraduate rankings, when statistically speaking, the margin between the two institutions is nearly indistinguishable.

Finally, consider the variety of undergraduate ranking methodologies. Yes, US News is the old standard, a site that focuses on strength of each incoming class, and less so on efficacy. But then there’s the Academic Ranking of World Universities (more research-focused), Forbes (more focused on graduate success), Times Higher Education (more internationally-focused), and many more. The lists vary tremendously from one to the next, underscoring how different opinions can result in divergent rankings—further reason not to lean so heavily on the US News’ latest undergraduate report.

Conclusion: rankings don’t matter much

Business School Rankings

But what about business schools. With only about 200 institutions nationwide, the #15 school is almost certainly better than the #150 school—something that’s much more debatable at the undergraduate level. And there’s no denying that the Whartons, Sloans, Harvards, and Stanfords carry weight with business-minded employers.

But take a look at business school rankings over time, and you’ll find they are very volatile—much more so than rankings for medical and law school.

Like real-world businesses, MBA programs must constantly adapt to changing business climates and modern markets. In contrast, law and medical schools tend to teach the same curriculum year after year, and are much slower to implement new classes. If a business school can introduce a dynamite new program in a critical sector (like technology management), it can leap up in the rankings on the strength of its new offerings—sometimes jumping 5-10 spots in a single year. This makes any one year of rankings less critically important, as the quality and relevance of a school may shift significantly in two or three short years.

What’s more—unlike education in law and medicine—there are a half dozen highly-respected business school rankings sites, from US News to the Financial Times to Forbes to Business Week to The Economist. Similar to undergraduate institutions, this ranking variety keeps the overall list from becoming too entrenched or stuck on a single methodology.

Conclusion: rankings only matter a little, and can change quickly

Medical School Rankings

With medical schools. rankings do begin to matter more. There are rarely significant changes in the rankings from year to year, and few sites publish consistently reliable lists—giving US News a near-monopoly on methodology.

But as any MD student will attest, the medical school decision process is a lot more complicated than one simple ranking, and a smart decision goes far beyond a quick glance at the top schools for research or primary care.

First, consider residency. Medical students ultimately want to secure a spot at a top hospital, and preferably in the city or state of their choice. For an aspiring MD, a given medical school’s connections to local hospitals are just as—if not more important—than the overall ranking. And then there’s specialty. Even more so than business and law, medical students must dedicate their studies to a specific concentration, whether that’s geriatrics, internal medicine, oncology, or one of several dozen other programs. As a result, the medical school’s overall “primary care” or “research” rank becomes less significant, compared to the school’s performance in its various areas of concentration.

Conclusion: rankings do matter, to a point, but residencies and concentrations should be your primary concern

Law School Rankings

And so we finally arrive at law school. where as it turns out, rankings couldn’t be more important. For starters, consider that the top 14 schools in the nation have remained unchanged for 25 years —without a single new contender since US News started publishing law school rankings in 1989. Yes, the exact order among these 14 has changed a bit from year to year, but the top 14 (often abbreviated as the T14), has maintained its elite, unassailable status.

The T14’s dominance has created a year-after-year, self-fulfilling prophecy, where students covet these top institutions, the best professors desire to teach at these institutions, and law firms choose to hire from these institutions, essentially ensuring that the same group will remain the T14 for years to come. Employers admit that JDs from the T14 will be welcomed at law firms across the nation, while graduates of even the next best schools (like UCLA or Texas, perennially ranked between 15-20) will be much better off sticking to local markets.

Note how the top 14 schools claim the best employment rates in the nation:

The discrepancy is even more obvious if you look at employment at the largest, most desirable firms:

The T14 phenomenon has been around for decades, but recent trends in the legal market have exacerbated the situation. With an over-saturated pool of lawyers and law firms receiving an unprecedented number of applications, employers can be extremely picky, choosing only candidates guaranteed to be stellar. T14 graduates quickly snap up spots at the best employers, leaving lower-ranked law school graduates the smaller-firm crumbs.

Conclusion: rankings matter tremendously—a spot in a top 14 school is essential

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So when it comes to most educational rankings, don’t worry so much about whether you’re attending the #1, #10, or even #50 school: students end up doing just as well, and there are often more important details to keep in mind. Don’t worry, that is, unless you’re going to law school, where it can make all the difference in the world.