underdawg's Full Review: Princeton Review, Eric Owens, Julie Doherty, John ...
The problem with Princeton Review's Best 170 Law Schools (I have the 2007 edition) is that it makes every school seem good. But these are the best 170, you say? Well, there are only 200 schools approved by the American Bar Association. For crissakes, Princeton Review includes Golden Gate as one of their top 170 when the school has been on probation by the ABA! But what does the book say about the school? "Students feel the administration is doing a pretty good job." The only negative word spoken is a passing mention to its lack of a "national reputation". Losing its ABA accreditation would have kind of been a big deal, to say the least.
What I also find funny is that Mercer University's law school is described as a collegial place. One of the law school message board sites that I frequent had a recent controversy where one student spoke out on the paltry job opportunities available to a Mercer graduate. Shortly afterward, a posse of Mercer graduates signed up to lambast that one student, until the same guy posted again, apologized sounding very much like a broken man, and pleaded that no one key his car. Collegial, huh?
They have a few pages dedicated to each school about each schools' academics and quality of life. This stuff is definitely interesting, but it also seems quite unscientific. Also, nary a bad word about ANY school is said. There are some facts and figures about the law schools and also a few chapters that give some generic application advice. Those facts and figures can be found online, as can better application advice.
Princeton Review also does nothing to combat the misleading propaganda that law schools spew. "Average starting salary" is entirely self-reported. Don't worry, Harvard Law grads really DO make $160k upon graduation. But do students from Tier 4 schools really make $55k upon graduation? Not really, because many graduates from those schools are often unemployed, find non-legal jobs, or are forced to do part-time contract work with their law degree for $10/hr that cost them $120k or more. Does Princeton Review call any attention to this? No, instead the book has an entire chapter advertising some kind of pre law "boot camp" to prepare kids for law school.
No book like this written by some huge company like Princeton Review is going to be helpful for law schools. If you want my own free law school advice it's this: go to a "national" law school (this consists of the Top 14 law schools and a few others such as Texas, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, UCLA, USC, Washington Unversity at St. Louis, and a few others). If you must go to a Tier 3 or 4 school (USNews eliminated the entire Tier 2 for some reason), just know that it will be hard to find a job outside of that immediate area. And if there are many higher ranked schools in that area (for example, a Brooklyn Law School graduate will have to compete with graduates from higher ranked schools such as Columbia, NYU, Fordham, even Harvard and Yale for jobs, not to mention similar ranked schools such as Cardozo, NYLS, etc), it might not be easy. Also, it's not that easy to finish at the top of these schools because everyone there knows that they have to finish top 5% or so (for example) to have a chance at a big firm gig in NYC. These schools are where competition can rear its ugly head. BUT, a school like Lewis & Clark in Portland will be just fine if you want to practice in Portland because there are no huge schools nearby. University of Arizona will be just peachy if you want to practice in Arizona.
Anyway, do I have to explain further why this book is crap? It's completely unscientific, and praises schools that have been on PROBATION by the ABA! This book is only fit for a short reading in the aisles of your Barnes & Nobles. Law school is a HUGE investment, and it requires a lot more thought than this book will give you. Princeton Review is just in the business of encouraging you to apply to all kins of graduate schools so you buy their damn books. In fact, most of what you find in Barnes & Nobles about law schools are complete crap. The only one I have find to be pretty good is How To Get Into Law School by Susan Estrich, a professor at USC.
Anyway, for the love of God, don't listen to Princeton Review, and do a lot more research before signing up for a degree that will cost you upwards of $200k (living expenses, opportunity cost, etc)!!!!
Oh, and if you were looking to see what schools you can get into with your GPA/LSAT, look no further than lawschoolnumbers.com. You can punch in your numbers and see how people with similar numbers did at different law schools.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.