Triumph of the (Competitive) Will

I'm starting to check Blawg Wisdom fairly regulary for pre-law requests. (In some masochistic way I enjoy replying to them). Anyway, the latest one is here. Basically it asks, "What is the easiest/most reliable way to learn how competitive a school really is? Thanks!"

Ambimb at Wisdom adds if there is any way to answer this question that is not subjective. My answer: Of course.

I. Pitfalls

A. Every law school you visit will claim their student body is collegial.
B. Every law school you visit will have more than its fair share of Type A Personalities.

II. Objective Measures Independent of individual claims
A. Grading Basis

This is the easiest way to know exactly how competitive a law school is. What kind of a curve does it have? This will not make much sense unless you can compare grading bases. Most commonly law schools assign letter grades with a particular letter serving as the Curve...let's say B- for example. This means that equal number of people will be on either side of that grade, witha large percentage of students actually getting that grade. Berkeley being home of Nuts and Boalts has a completely different curve. In every class top 10% get High Honors (HH), next 30% get H, then everyone else gets Pass, Sub-Pass, or Fail at the professor's discretion. There are a few exceptions to small seminar classes. It's not too difficult to see why this would not foster as much competition as the other grading basis.

B. Ranking

Are you ranked or are you not? Simple enough.

C. Employment
1. Can students list their GPA on resumes?
2. Can employers only request to interview top XX % of the class?

Each of these can give you a glimpse of how competitive a school is. But this is almost a moot point. I think every law school has its jerks as well as truly caring, friendly individuals. It's just a matter of finding the ones you feel more comfortable around.