Rankings should not determine the school you attend and it can be argued that rankings are BS, but that is just the way it is right now. Just like law schools use the LSAT to judge an applicant, everyone else uses rankings to judge law schools. Every law school wants to get into the first tier. Even they know it is useless to fight it. The saying is go to the best law school you can get into.
My 2 cents, I'm currently at a school in the top 35. I'm out of state, yet I hope to return to work in a large Texas city. I was once given advice that you should go to the best school you can get into. This is true to an extent, but you should ultimately decide where you want to work before making a final decision. Insofar as the LSAT, that score can trump just about anything. This is a blessing for some, a curse for others. In my opinion it may account for a large disparity in the classroom, because in my experiences there are often those with ridiculously high LSAT scores with a very poor work ethic and a subpar resume that end up taking spots from those that performed marginally on the LSAT but graduated high in their undergrad class and have impressive work experience. The schools do this because they are well aware that the US News rankings are a great marketing tool and the LSAT median is a huge determinant in their current ranking position. The school I'm attending is higher ranked then all Texas schools with the exception of UT but it has proved to be very difficult to crack the Texas job market even though I'm in the top 25%. The good 'ol boy network is still alive and well. Point being, it's not wise to look only at rankings. As I heard it from a friend at UT law, if you graduate there in the top 25% you can work anywhere in the nation, the top 50% anywhere in Texas, and so on. U of H works similarly, just on a smaller scale as in if you're top 25% you can work anywhere in Texas, top 50% anywhere in Houston, etc. For instance, you may find that the larger firms interview with all the top ten, i.e. Yale, Harvard, NYU, Virginia, etc. as well as Houston and South Texas so they can get the best from out of state and still keep a home-flavor and strong local network. My friends at UH have been happy with the education, but as a warning they are in a transition since their library was flooded two years back and their classrooms are severely dated. This accounts for their recent drop in rankings...Also as a consideration, SMU is a solid choice if you have any interest in Dallas and can get a scholarship (since their tuition is far greater than U of H). In regard to prep classes they seem to often benefit those people that do not have the discipline to put in the time on their own and need a structured environment. I took the LSAT more times than I'd like to admit and once took a prep class. My grade didn't change at all. Basically, if you are the self-motivated type and will follow a weekly study plan on your own, you will get the same results. They don't teach you any magical secrets in the classroom. Good luck on the test.
RIET, when did you graduate? I am wondering, can anyone tell me why UH is dropping so much in the rankings? When I went there, they were like No. 32 or so in the rankings, now they are not even in the top 50. It seems like they improved the library a lot and their bar pass rates are pretty good, so I am wondering what has caused the drop in the rankings. If I had had a choice, I would have gone to a completely different school, I did not know anything about Houston as I had never even been to the USA before I started studying there. It was a complete coincidence, I was supposed to go to Emory, but somehow it did not work out with my graduation date in Germany (had to complete law school in Germany first before going to the USA to get the LL.M. degree) and my scholarship donors (Fulbright) switched me over to U of H (I think it was also much cheaper...). Looking back, I really liked my time at U of H, the program for the international students was great because we were only 20 or so and it was pretty diverse, people were from like 15 different countries and most of them were pretty smart and nice people. The good thing back then was that, unlike in some of the bigger schools, we just attended the regular classes with the American students. In some of the bigger schools (I know that it is like that in Harvard), the international LL.M. program seems to be completely separated from the American students' program. Anyway, I liked U of H a lot and thought the law school was good enough - it is probably really good if you are planning to stay in Houston. If you want to work somewhere else, it is probably far from the best choice you will have.
I've read a few things written here about people going to UH (or other Texas law schools other than UT) may have a hard time finding a job out of state. I tell you that is not the case. I work in NYC now. Two of my former classmates work in NYC. One of my other classmates is a clerk for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco. These are major out-of-state markets. These are markets that have never heard of Texas Tech or Lubbock. Don't believe what other people say. If you already have in your head you won't make it, then you won't. I've personally never had a problem getting interviews in any of the major markets on the East or West Coast. In my experience, during law school, no matter where you go, make sure you spend time writing your longer papers (i.e., the 30+ page research papers). If they're high quality, they can become your writing samples. Try to write for law review or any other journal your school issues. Also try to enter writing competitions. I was lucky enough to get first prize on a couple of those. At least for me, my writing samples were the way I got my foot in the door.
I was there from 95 to 96, so I guess we must have been there at the same time. Did you know any international students?
This is off topic, but I didn't feel like creating my own thread just for this. Does anyone know where to find ratings of Professors, well mainly UH professors in my case. I found that pickaprof place but they charge, and I'm not feeling that. And the other free places I found through a search engine did not have enough variety. So if anyone knows of any place were I can find ratings or if they have any personal insight it would be greatly appreciated.
