Princeton Review's Law School Rankings

The Princeton Review yesterday released its ranking of the Best 159 Law Schools:

We surveyed more than 15,000 students at 159 law schools and used the information that they reported to us, along with school statistics provided by administrators, to create 11 ranking lists. None of these lists purports to rank the schools in terms of overall quality; but by using the lists in conjunction with the Students Say profiles and the school statistics, you will be able to identify the attributes of a law school that are important to you—and ultimately, generate a list of the schools that can best help you achieve your personal and professional goals.

The web site contains rankings of the Top 10 law schools in these 11 categories:

• Toughest to Get Into
  • Based on the Admissions Selectivity Rating
• Best Overall Academic Experience
  • Based on the Academic Experience Rating
• Professors Rock (Legally Speaking)
  • Based on the Professors Interesting and Professors Accessible Ratings
• Most Competitive Students
  • Based on law student assessment of: the number of hours they spend studying outside of class each day, the number of hours they think their fellow law students spend studying outside of class each day, the degree of competitiveness among law students at their school, and the average number of hours they sleep each night
• Best Career Prospects
  • Based on the Career Rating
• Candidates for Heritage Foundation Fellowships? (Or, Students Lean to the Right)
  • Based on student assessment of the political bent of the student body at large
• Candidates for Center for American Progress Fellowships? (Or, Students Lean to the Left)
  • Based on student assessment of the political bent of the student body at large
• Best Environment for Minority Students
  • Based on the percentage of the student body that is from underrepresented minorities and student assessment of whether all students receive equal treatment by fellow students and the faculty, regardless of ethnicity
• Most Diverse Faculty
  • Based on the percentage of the law school faculty that is from a minority and student assessment of whether the faculty comprises a broadly diverse group of individuals
• Best Quality of Life
  • Based on student assessment of: whether there is a strong sense of community at the school, how aesthetically pleasing the law school is, the location of the law school, the quality of the social life, classroom facilities, and the library staff
• Most Welcoming of Older Students
  • Based on the average age of entry of law school students and student reports of how many years they spent out of college before enrolling in law school