2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Law students show discontent
Several voice strong criticism of school's administration, classes
Ken Fowler
Issue date: 4/17/07 Section: News
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Notre Dame's recent six-spot drop in the US News and World Report Law School rankings has highlighted feelings of discontent among Law School students for reasons ranging from ordinary to overarching.
While many have questioned the leadership of Dean Patricia O'Hara, the dean said she understands why a conversation about the future of the Law School would be taking place after the release of the rankings, which knocked Notre Dame from 22 to 28 - the program's largest drop since 2000.
"I can appreciate that for students it's very unsettling when there's a drop in the rankings," O'Hara said. "And so it's not at all - it's very understandable that students would be upset by that decline and that there be a certain amount of conversation and dialogue going on within the Law School community as a result of that."
In an e-mail to Law School students after the rankings were released, O'Hara said the Law School administration would fully evaluate the reason for the drop. However, she stressed that the schools in places Nos. 20 to 30 finished with unusually close overall rankings, indicating the separation between 20th and 30th is minimal.
One area in which Notre Dame's base score dropped for the rankings was in its selectivity rating. For the 2006 incoming class, the Law School's acceptance rate jumped to over 21 percent. But, O'Hara said, an analysis of other school's numbers showed similar jumps in acceptance rates around the country, minimizing whatever effect it would have had on Notre Dame's final ranking.
"There was some indication that applicants were applying to more schools, so even though the volume of our applicant pool was the same as the prior year, whether or not the head count was exactly the same was more difficult to determine," she said.
She said it was too early to tell if the pattern would last.
For many students, however, the drop is already a sign of lost potential: where Notre Dame should be excelling, instead it is declining, at least in relative terms.
While many have questioned the leadership of Dean Patricia O'Hara, the dean said she understands why a conversation about the future of the Law School would be taking place after the release of the rankings, which knocked Notre Dame from 22 to 28 - the program's largest drop since 2000.
"I can appreciate that for students it's very unsettling when there's a drop in the rankings," O'Hara said. "And so it's not at all - it's very understandable that students would be upset by that decline and that there be a certain amount of conversation and dialogue going on within the Law School community as a result of that."
In an e-mail to Law School students after the rankings were released, O'Hara said the Law School administration would fully evaluate the reason for the drop. However, she stressed that the schools in places Nos. 20 to 30 finished with unusually close overall rankings, indicating the separation between 20th and 30th is minimal.
One area in which Notre Dame's base score dropped for the rankings was in its selectivity rating. For the 2006 incoming class, the Law School's acceptance rate jumped to over 21 percent. But, O'Hara said, an analysis of other school's numbers showed similar jumps in acceptance rates around the country, minimizing whatever effect it would have had on Notre Dame's final ranking.
"There was some indication that applicants were applying to more schools, so even though the volume of our applicant pool was the same as the prior year, whether or not the head count was exactly the same was more difficult to determine," she said.
She said it was too early to tell if the pattern would last.
For many students, however, the drop is already a sign of lost potential: where Notre Dame should be excelling, instead it is declining, at least in relative terms.