TaxProf Blog recently posted a series that highlights the top 50 schools in five categories of the 2022 edition of Princeton Review's Best Law Schools.
Texas A&M Law tied for first or second in Texas and lands in the top tiers nationally across all five categories.
|
Category |
Score* |
National |
Texas |
|
96 |
12 |
1 |
|
|
96 |
24 |
2 |
|
|
93 |
25 |
1 |
|
|
93 |
31 |
2 |
|
|
93 |
34 |
2 |
|
|
96 |
16 |
1 |
|
|
94.2 |
23 |
2 |
|
| *Scale for all scores: 60-99; ** Calculated by TaxProf Blog | |||
Paul Caron, dean at Pepperdine’s Caruso School of Law who publishes the blog, also calculated two additional lists using the same data to examine the ratings when individual categories are merged to create an average score.
When averaging the two categories rating faculty (Teaching and Accessibility), Texas A&M Law ranks 16th nationally and ties for first in Texas.
When all five categories are weighted equally to create an overall ranking, Texas A&M Law ranks 23rd nationally and second in Texas.
The ratings are based in large part on surveys of 15,000 students and administrators at 168 law schools. The “Students Say” section of Texas A&M Law’s profile includes the following highlights:
“A&M’s emphasis on soft skills gives its students a unique edge in the workforce.”
“Every student… [gets] a personalized educational experience with faculty who are willing and able to structure their teaching methods to meet the particular needs of the students.”
“I have never been made to feel that a faculty or staff member was too busy to answer my question or connect me with a colleague that practices in my areas of interest.”
“[Texas A&M Law] manages to maintain a really healthy culture of camaraderie and competition without the toxic & sabotaging type of competition that you often hear about.”
“Everyone knows one another and treats each other with respect and kindness, even in the middle of a tense finals season.”
“The curve being what it is, we are all in silent competition with one another, but everyone with whom I’ve interacted has been willing to lend a hand when somebody doesn’t understand a concept, needs class notes from being out sick, or otherwise go out of their way to help their peers.”
“There are a lot of student organizations and mentor programs, so finding friends is not difficult.”
“Fort Worth has something everyone can enjoy, but is not so large [as to be] overwhelming.”
Category Definitions:
Professors (Teaching):
This rating is based on how students rate the quality of teaching at their law school.
Professors (Accessible):
This rating is based on how law students rate the accessibility of law faculty members at their school.
Academic Experience:
This rating measures the quality of the school's learning environment on a scale of 60 to 99. Factors taken into consideration include the Admissions Selectivity Rating, as well as how students rate each of the following: the quality of teaching and the accessibility of their professors, the research resources at their school, the range of available courses, the balance of curricular emphasis on legal theory and practical lawyering, the tolerance for diverse opinions in the classroom, and the degree of intellectual challenge that the coursework presents.
Career Rating:
This rating measures the confidence students have in their school's ability to lead them to fruitful employment opportunities, as well as the school's own record of having done so. This rating takes into account both student survey responses and school-reported statistical data. We ask students about how much the law program encourages practical experience; the opportunities for externships, internships, and clerkships; and how prepared to practice law they expect to feel after graduating. We ask law schools for the median starting salaries of graduating students; the percentage employed in a job that requires bar passage (and not employed by the school); and the percentage of these students who pass the bar exam the first time they take it.
Admissions Selectivity:
This rating measures the competitiveness of admissions at each law school on a scale of 60–99. Factors taken into consideration include the median LSAT score and undergraduate GPA of entering 1L students, the percentage of applicants who are accepted, and the percentage of applicants who are accepted and ultimately enroll.