Prelaw Students Value Law School Ranking More than Employment Stats, Survey Shows
Prelaw students considering law school put the rankings ahead of employment statistics, according to a survey.
The email survey by Kaplan Test Prep asked: “What is most important to you when picking a law school to apply to?” Thirty-two percent said a law school’s ranking was most important, 22 said geographic location, 20 percent said academic programming, 13 percent said affordability/tuition, and 8 percent said job placement statistics. A press release has the results.
When Kaplan asked the same question in October 2010, students ranked the factors in the exact same order. In the more recent survey, however, a school’s ranking actually increased in importance.
The survey, which garnered 645 responses, also asked about career aspirations. Prelaw students were allowed to choose more than one answer. Thirty-eight percent hoped to work for a large law firm, 31 percent wanted to work in public interest law, 23 percent wanted to work for a boutique firm, 23 percent wanted to use their JD for business purposes, and 23 percent wanted to enter politics.
