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How Does Yale Law Always Stay on Top?

By William Vogeler, Esq. on March 18, 2019 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Yale Law School is No. 1 among law schools -- again.

U.S. News & World Report has ranked Yale Law at the top for so long it's practically a given that Yale will repeat again next year. When it comes to the annual law school rankings, there is no March Madness because everybody knows who is going to win.

So how does Yale do it? And what happened to Harvard, which used to be No. 2?

Who's No. 1?

The competition for the top spot is almost boring. According to the National Jurist, Yale doesn't even toot its own horn.

"We could find no press release from the school regarding the news," writer Mike Stetz said. "On the Yale Law School website, there's no mention that the school is the best law school in the nation."

It's almost as if Yale ignores the rankings, he said. Stanford, which ranked second, doesn't mention ranking on its website either.

No doubt the law schools are well-aware of their numbers. Their ranking, of course, has to do with the methodology U.S. News applies to grade the schools.

Where's No. 3?

Harvard, which used to be No. 2, has fallen a notch to No. 3 in recent years. It may have to do with another competition: admissions.

Yale admitted 621 full-time students in 2019, while Harvard accepted 1,737. The bigger the student pool, the harder they fall?

Only U.S. News knows for sure, but Stanford chose 565 students this year. Maybe next year things will be different.

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