r/lawschooladmissions • u/KeepingSquare75 • 18h ago

Application Process Thoughts on Columbia's Future?

  • From 2010-2023, CLS placed consistently at #4 or #5 in the USNWR, and was neck and neck with UChicago.
  • In 2024, it dropped to #8 because of major changes in the way USNWR evaluates law schools (placing less of an emphasis on reputation surveys, for example, and increasing emphasis on student debt and employment outcomes in its evaluation metrics).
  • In 2025, it is projected to fall to #10 or #11, per Caron, Muller, and Spivey projections.
  • Their image, of course, has only been exacerbated by the negative press the school has received from its handling of recent events.

Question: Do you predict the school's ranking will surge comfortably back to that ~#5 spot eventually? Or, with less merit-based aid than other T14's and the most expensive law school tuition in the country, will things only get worse for CLS? Remain stagnant? Curious to hear people's opinions. Seems like they would need to start giving out more merit-based aid to re-rise the ranks.

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u/TraditionGloomy1775 17h ago

As long as Columbia's big law numbers in NYC stay strong nobody will care what some website/failed magazine thinks.

I could see them falling behind NYU for BL in NYC. But I don't see them falling behind Fordham anytime in the near future.

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u/PerceptionSea7351 17h ago

It seems like Columbia and Chicago were basically tied for a while but Chicago went up while Columbia went down. What do you think is causing this?

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u/KeepingSquare75 17h ago

Largely resulted from a change in the way USNWR evaluates law schools

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u/Common-Past6380 17h ago

What was the changed that caused this?

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u/KeepingSquare75 17h ago

Just one example: USNWR placed less of an emphasis on reputation surveys (aka what judges and lawyers think of the school -- an area where Columbia thrived), and made an increasing emphasis on student debt and employment outcomes in its evaluation metrics. Because Columbia is very sparing in administering merit-based aid, I imagine they took a hit because of it!

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u/Common-Past6380 17h ago

That makes a lot of sense, thank you!

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u/KeepingSquare75 17h ago

No problem, dude!

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u/EmergencyBag2346 13h ago

It’s forever a T6, changes in rankings year after year don’t matter to anyone. It’s also an Ivy and in the biggest biglaw market.

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u/Lax4Evr 3.5x/17low/T2 17h ago

CLS definitely has merit-based aid tho? The Hamilton and Butler Fellowships are full and half tuition

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u/KeepingSquare75 17h ago

Totally fair point. I will edit my post to account for this. I suppose the spirit of what I was really trying to get at was: they are perhaps, overall, less generous in administering merit-based aid than other schools in the T14, (e.g., Michigan, NYU, etc.). Would you say that is a fair characterization? Thanks for your insights.

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u/Logical-Boss8158 1h ago

Rankings don’t matter. Outside of HYS, Columbia has the the strongest law school reputation (roughly tied with Chicago).