Malcom Gladwell on BYU Law

[myboynoah]

On Zakaria's GPS show this week he interviewed Malcom Gladwell and they discussed university rankings among other things. Gladwell panned the current methods and weights used to ranking schools, and pointed to law schools as an example.

He noted that as one would expect, the rankings put the Harvards, Yales, and Stanfords at the top, but if one considered other factors then the rankings change significantly. Gladwell noted that in today's economy where more and more law school graduates are not finding jobs upon graduation, but still carrying significant debt, perhaps tuition cost should be more heavily weighted. He did his own weighting and noted that suddenly BYU jumps into the top ten. Further tweaking brings Alabama into the top ten as well. Good for BYU Law.

The show is here. Let it load and then go to the 31:12 minute point for the college ranking portion.

[UtahDan]

I agree with Gladwell that the rankings should factor in many more things than they do including price. But this is a feather in the cap of LDS people everywhere whose tithing makes the low tuition possible, not the institution itself. All those people who live on dirt floors in the third world who faithfully pay their tithing should get a thank you note from all the BYU law grads here. Start writing!

[wuapinmon]

I agree with Gladwell that the rankings should factor in many more things than they do including price. But this is a feather in the cap of LDS people everywhere whose tithing makes the low tuition possible, not the institution itself. All those people who live on dirt floors in the third world who faithfully pay their tithing should get a thank you note from all the BYU law grads here. Start writing!

What about all those poor Utah folks out in Castledale and Veyo who live in sandboxes and faithfully pay their taxes, should Ute law grads write them thank you notes for subsidizing their education?

[myboynoah]

I agree with Gladwell that the rankings should factor in many more things than they do including price. But this is a feather in the cap of LDS people everywhere whose tithing makes the low tuition possible, not the institution itself. All those people who live on dirt floors in the third world who faithfully pay their tithing should get a thank you note from all the BYU law grads here. Start writing!

I agree that LDS tithe-payers bear the brunt of much of BYU's costs and deserve a hearty thank you from all those that attended the university, whether they graduated or not.

[beefytee]

Start writing!

If you insist.

I've heard that the only "have"s in the church are Utah, Arizona, and Alberta and that everywhere else receives more money than it takes in.

I know that this is a problem in Canada because there are strict laws about moving the money out of the country. BYU is one of the ways that they've been able to do this in the past.

[LiveCoug]

What about all those poor Utah folks out in Castledale and Veyo who live in sandboxes and faithfully pay their taxes, should Ute law grads write them thank you notes for subsidizing their education?

When I file my state taxes, I make a not at the bottom stating "Please do not send any of my state taxes to the University of Utah".

[byu71]

I was watching the show and I admit I got a kick out of hearing the guy mention BYU, especially what a deal it was.

I guess he was demonstrating value, not what was the best law school.

Using that type of formula would be great for determining who gets to go to BCS games.

[UtahDan]

What about all those poor Utah folks out in Castledale and Veyo who live in sandboxes and faithfully pay their taxes, should Ute law grads write them thank you notes for subsidizing their education?

I am not a Utah law grad. I have no idea. Also, truly poor people don't pay taxes (yes I am aware of consumption taxes, the IEC more than cancels them out).

[wuapinmon]

I am not a Utah law grad. I have no idea. Also, truly poor people don't pay taxes (yes I am aware of consumption taxes, the IEC more than cancels them out).

So rich LDS people in Utah are subsidizing Cougar and Ute law grads?

[UtahDan]

So rich LDS people in Utah are subsidizing Cougar and Ute law grads?

Them too.

[SeattleUte]

On Zakaria's GPS show this week he interviewed Malcom Gladwell and they discussed university rankings among other things. Gladwell panned the current methods and weights used to ranking schools, and pointed to law schools as an example.

He noted that as one would expect, the rankings put the Harvards, Yales, and Stanfords at the top, but if one considered other factors then the rankings change significantly. Gladwell noted that in today's economy where more and more law school graduates are not finding jobs upon graduation, but still carrying significant debt, perhaps tuition cost should be more heavily weighted. He did his own weighting and noted that suddenly BYU jumps into the top ten. Further tweaking brings Alabama into the top ten as well. Good for BYU Law.

The show is here. Let it load and then go to the 31:12 minute point for the college ranking portion.

Does anyone besides me consider Gladwell tiresome? Too clever byhalf and fond of stating the obvious. Yes, the rankings change depending on data you consider relevant. No shit sherlock.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Yes, the rankings change depending on data you consider relevant. No shit sherlock.

"Statistics are like a bikini: they conceal more than they reveal."
~Rick Majerus

Wouldn't "employability of recent graduates" be an exceptionally important statistic in a study like this? If so that still puts the "top" schools at a great advantage. Perhaps an equation balancing employability vs debt incurred should be included.

If the purpose of the ranking is "degree", then the bottom line value is foremost and easy to calculate. But if the end purpose of the ranking is "employability" then value is less objective than strictly a bottom-line cost analysis. I recognize that "law degree" equals "law degree" (assuming passing the Bar, of course). But when seeking a job it has to be far easier to have Yale Law on the resume than North Backwater State Law. (my own "no shit Sherlock" statment)

My childhood friend and many of his 400 or so co-graduates from Hahvuhd Lahw left school with very solid job offers (many with several offers), while Joe Law Student and most of his co-grads from a Law school somewhere else will struggle for several years to even find work.

[UtahDan]

I agree that LDS tithe-payers bear the brunt of much of BYU's costs and deserve a hearty thank you from all those that attended the university, whether they graduated or not.

I sent my thank you notes years ago. Of course, it was my parents and not me who paid my college tuition. After all the money they poured into the church over the years I sort of feel like they earned the discount they got for me.

[Viking]

Does anyone besides me consider Gladwell tiresome? Too clever byhalf and fond of stating the obvious. Yes, the rankings change depending on data you consider relevant. No shit sherlock.

I find his books to be like saturday night live-inspired movies: we got the point five minutes in, so end it already