The Google College Rankings

US News recently released its ranking of American law schools. Their top ten are: (1) Yale Law School; (2) Harvard Law School; (3) Stanford Law School; (4) Columbia Law School; (5) New York University Law School; (6) a tie between the University of California Law School (Boalt Hall) and the University of Chicago Law School; (8) the University of Pennsylvania Law School; (9) the University of Michigan Law School; and (10) a three-way tie between Duke University Law School, Northwestern University Law School, and the University of Virginia Law School.

How does this ranking compare to Google’s American law school rankings for the month of April? As always, we calculate Google’s ranks using a clean browser and with appropriate filtering applied:

1. Harvard Law School
2. Suffolk University Law School
3. Columbia Law School
4. Boston College Law School
5. Yale Law School
6. Stanford Law School
7. The University of Michigan Law School
8. The University of Minnesota Law School
9. The University of Chicago Law School
10. The University of Pennsylvania Law School

A little experimentation shows that these results are particularly unstable: while Suffolk and Boston College often appear in the top ten in today’s searches, they don’t always, with the top three slots more often fluctuating among Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, and Chicago. This latter result is more in line with the Google law school rankings calculated last January, as well as with this month’s US News rankings.

Is the appearance of Suffolk Law and Boston College Law in this list a sign of a more permanent standing to come? Only time will tell. Certainly both institutions offer fine programs and deserve consideration from any prospective students. Suffolk’s comprehensive law program emerged from the distinctively American tradition of night-schools at which ambitious working men could study for legal careers. That’s a proud heritage, and it may well serve as a continuing source of strength.