I Must Admit
I kinda liked this year's crop of admits over the current 1Ls. I didn't notice anyone trying to impress anyone else. They were genuinely interested in the school and what it had to offer, while at the same time taking seriously other offers (as they should). All in all, should be a good class, and one I hope that will continue to make Boalt special.
But I have been ignoring the elephant in the room. The US News rankings! My thoughts are mixed. I feel that we should be high enough in the rankings to match our reputation, but at the same time, I really don't want to cater to the ranking methods (emphasis on LSAT, etc.) to get there. By all means, I hope the Dean and the rest of the faculty continue to steal top notch legal talents from other schools (Talley and Lester were not that big of a secret...it was widely known that they were visiting Boalt to consider the outstanding senior offer we had on the table. Once Talley began taking part in out-of-classroom activities I sensed it was a done deal. Also, Brian Leiter has an annoying habit of referring to the different UCs as University of California AT _____. I realize UT names its schools that way, but the University of California does not. A simple comma will suffice. Thus, we stole David Sklansky from the University of California, Los Angeles, and thereby making him a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley.) Increasing the endowment, law library collection, etc. are also worthy goals that no one can really complain about. But NO ONE at Boalt should ever feel that they may not have gotten in if present admission standards (if at all different) were applied to him/her.
Anyway, I really don't want to turn this into a discussion about the rankings, but given the jump, it's worth mentioning. More importantly, I think there is an overall sense that under the leadership of Dean Edley the school is responding to a lot of the outstanding concerns that many have had and we're seeing gradual results. I hope to hear more current Boalties reconsider their career options with the announcement of the new LRAP guidelines.
Oh and what happened to the old diversity house? That place rocked for parties. What the dealie yo?
But I have been ignoring the elephant in the room. The US News rankings! My thoughts are mixed. I feel that we should be high enough in the rankings to match our reputation, but at the same time, I really don't want to cater to the ranking methods (emphasis on LSAT, etc.) to get there. By all means, I hope the Dean and the rest of the faculty continue to steal top notch legal talents from other schools (Talley and Lester were not that big of a secret...it was widely known that they were visiting Boalt to consider the outstanding senior offer we had on the table. Once Talley began taking part in out-of-classroom activities I sensed it was a done deal. Also, Brian Leiter has an annoying habit of referring to the different UCs as University of California AT _____. I realize UT names its schools that way, but the University of California does not. A simple comma will suffice. Thus, we stole David Sklansky from the University of California, Los Angeles, and thereby making him a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley.) Increasing the endowment, law library collection, etc. are also worthy goals that no one can really complain about. But NO ONE at Boalt should ever feel that they may not have gotten in if present admission standards (if at all different) were applied to him/her.
Anyway, I really don't want to turn this into a discussion about the rankings, but given the jump, it's worth mentioning. More importantly, I think there is an overall sense that under the leadership of Dean Edley the school is responding to a lot of the outstanding concerns that many have had and we're seeing gradual results. I hope to hear more current Boalties reconsider their career options with the announcement of the new LRAP guidelines.
Oh and what happened to the old diversity house? That place rocked for parties. What the dealie yo?
Labels: 0L/1L Advice, Classes/Professors, Rankings And Associated Bullshit
posted by Armen Adzhemyan at 12:43 PM
19 Comments:
Armen, I try to keep an open mind when reading your posts, but you are such an ass. The current crop of admits are better than the current 1L's? What-the-fuck-ever... How you can tell that by talking to a few people who aren't even going to come here anyway? You are illogical. And if you want to get into class comparisons, the current 2L's, as a whole, are incredibly immature compared to the 1L's and 3L's. I cite as evidence the sophomor(on)ic public pranks that you all pull on each other. Puleaze. Bring it on.
I second with that comment. I don't appreciate your assessment of the 1Ls, especially given that our class has some great people who are bringing promising changes to many of the student organizations next year (and building on the great 2Ls). Also, Armen, if you're so happy that the rankings are matching our reputations -- Dean Edley's improvements are one component, but the second would be the CURRENT 1L class.
Just wanted to note that applications to the top law schools were down this year and last year, so 2Ls, be proud that you got in here in a particularly competitive year. Rankings had nothing to do with it
Fall 2004
3.63-3.9; 161-168
Fall 2005
3.67-3.9; 164-168
7:28 is essentially right, but I believe the correct LSAT range is 164-169
Can someone do the research and explain with some kind of precision how Boalt jumped from 11 to 8 in the US News Ranking? Okay, I get it, Dean Tom boosted the LSAT scores of students accepted, but there's also the faculty issue. Someone should take a look and figure out how much each variable affected the final outcome.
I'm with Armen, the new admits do seem strangly better than the 1Ls.
Perhaps it is just a grass is greener thing, but I think that the current 1ls feel a little bit like country, and the 0L's feel a little bit like rock & roll.
Ha!!! I have no idea what I'm talking about.
Wow Armen, strangely positive post (on the most part) from you. You getting soft on us?
Not to disparage the current crop of 1Ls, but there is definitely a different vibe with the admits this year compared to last year. Lot's of really chill and mature folks (not by age, a lot are coming straight through from undergrad of course) who seem like good folks to work with next year.
But maybe it's a matter of self-selection? I feel like there were less people at admit day this year. Maybe these are the only people who were willing to brave the rain?
The LSAT jump looks extremely suspicious. Did Boalt game the rankings?
I'm prospective, and I enjoyed meeting the 1L's that I met (I know: what the hell do I know?). People seemed pretty normal - not like the gunners and jerks you associate with top 10 schools.
As for us 0L's - I sat though the mock class taught by Professor Murphy. I hope all those rocket-hands gunners that were spewing their nonsense go to other schools because it was giving me an impression about my potential classmates that I might dread three years in class with them.
As for LSAT jumps and rankings - whatever. 11. 8. Does it really matter? Boalt will never crack the top 3 and will never fall out of the top 14. It's plenty prestigious enough for me.
Now there's a sensible 0L - good point on the 3-14th ranking. I hope to see you here next fall. I remember a few of the rocket-hand people from my mock class and the ones that came here turned out to be douchbags. But they are definately a small minority.
To the commenter: You are such a fucking idiot, bro. I'm a "little bit country?" I don't know who the fuck you are, but by the way you complain I can tell you're a little prick... that is, another whiny ass bitch whose parents paid his way through college and who spends his time complaining about Boalt because it's not like the fucking prep school he was used to. PLEASE>>> if you don't like Boalt, or the 1Ls, or whatever, TRANSFER OUT OF HERE.
Hey, he who enjoys getting pissed on by Lou Dobbs, is that directed at me or what?
This thread is hilarious. I love that Armen has taken a bold, arbitrary stance, openly preferring 0Ls to 1Ls...and I love that it actually pisses some 1Ls off. This is great! And they say law students are dead inside.
3:47, Rocket-hands...man, that's good. I've never heard that but it's so, so apt. You're all right with me, Mr. (or Ms.) zero-L. I hope to someday make eye contact with you and commiserate with a mutual shake of the head when the Rhodes Scholar Navy SEAL Pulitzer winner in the front row raises his hand for an unprecedented 7th time in one class period.
Oh, and Armen, I love your campaign posters. You have my vote based on intimidation alone.
The Armen and Jesse fake campaign posters look so good that I can't discern the fakes from the real ones anymore. Is Angel actually running for something? If I was a BHSA person, I'd be pissed that people trust the campaign posters less.
11:22:
I'm not little (I am a prick), I don't whine (I do wine), my parents didn't pay for shit (except the plane ticket), and I didn't go to prep school.
But seriously 11:22, you prove my point. I was just joking around. The OLs would have realized I was just having fun, and would have made some wity response and everyone would have chuckled. Whereas your response is filled with profanity, vitriol,
and the wit of a Dolly Parton back-up singer. How absolutely country of you.
Angel is running for 3L Co-President.
Hey prick from earlier... thanks for the biographical information. I'm flattered that my comment made you insecure enough that you had to reaffirm yourself in front of an anonamous crowd of 3 or four people. oh, and sorry if my fucking profanity bothers you.
My guess is our rankings went up because tuition went up (more $$ per student), and because LSAT scores went up (because this year's 1Ls did better than last year's). the quality of the education (e.g. the faculty) is still pretty much the same--that is, comparable to the top 5 schools in the nation.
Please, save your animosity for people who spam the class listserve with their election crap. I'm even turning my animosity into something positive and taking a stand by voting for the person who has sent the least emails to the list today (hint: he's running for prez and not co-prez).
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