Most Overrated & Underrated Schools

Godfather
10 Law Schools Where Accepted Students Usually Enroll
“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
If only Don Corleone had been a law school dean. When the Godfather would send an acceptance letter, you could expect 100% yield. And if an aspiring lawyer chose a different school? Well, Associate Dean Luca Brasi has a knack for getting signatures.
Alas, Robert C. Post, Dean of Yale Law, has a similar (albeit softer) touch. When Yale makes an offer, over 80% of potential students reply, “yes.” Then again, as the reigning #1 law school for nearly three decades, Yale can afford to be picky. They may not be the only game in town, but they’re often where the best come to prove themselves.
Just ask Harvard, who had the second-highest yield at 66.2%. Or Stanford, which comes in at a 45.7% mark. Among schools outside the top 10, Brigham Young is a destination, not an option, with a 64.1% mark. In larger metro areas, the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Indiana-Indianapolis have produced far bigger yields than their higher-ranked counterparts in Columbia and Bloomington. Despite ranking in the bottom fourth of schools in U.S. News’ rankings, Louisiana’s Southern University Law Center has a 46% closing rate. While Sheryl Crow may have sung about “Leaving Las Vegas,” prospective enrollees aren’t following her lead, cashing in their acceptances at a 42% clip.
And which school performed the worst on yield? That honor belongs to #36-ranked California Davis, which nets 11.2% of students who receive an acceptance letter from them. Talk about a lonely hearts club!
On average, 52.3% of schools who applied to top 10 schools for yield ended up enrolling there. Here is U.S. News’ list of these schools:

School Students Accepted Students Enrolled Yield U.S. News Rank
Yale University

247

199

80.60%

1

Harvard University

858

568

66.20%

2

Brigham Young University

217

139

64.10%

36

University of New Mexico

258

120

46.50%

72

Southern University Law Center (LA)

487

224

46%

RNP*

Stanford University

392

179

45.70%

3

University of Missouri—Kansas City

383

172

44.90%

104

University of North Dakota

189

83

43.90%

129

Indiana University-Indianapolis

533

227

42.60%

87

University of Nevada-Las Vegas

269

113

42%

83

Source: U.S. News and World Report

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