Two or three weeks ago, OTLSS turned one year old. A little over a year ago, Inside the Law School Scam signed off from regular posts and OTLSS was born as a group effort to continue providing a centralized location for those concerned about legal education and wanting to spread news and share information about the issues.
Thousands upon thousands of page views later, this blog is still going strong. The metrics seem to be increasing, although there's always more to be done, and unlike most media ventures, we hope that some day there is no longer a need to continue this effort. But that day is not yet here.
This is especially true in light of the drop of LSAT takers halting in year-over-year analysis. Of course, this could mean that more people are taking a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th LSAT in an attempt to gain a higher score and move into a more prestigious admission pool. And the silver lining is that, regardless of any stopping to the decline, February LSAT administrations are down and still below 2000-2001 administrations. And year-round admissions are down almost 70k from their 09-10 peak.
The evidence that blogs such as this make a difference in increasing knowledge and helping the market get to where it should be is indisputable. Month-over-month page views at this site appear to be keeping steady, and four of our most visited five posts have been posted since Christmas time. Comments have increased since the blog's founding, and I personally feel the quality has greatly improved since last summer. I'd also like to give a special shout-out to our young relative, Law School Lemmings, who is doing God's work in multiple places (and of course we should acknowledge the forerunners like Nando and Campos).
This is especially true in light of the drop of LSAT takers halting in year-over-year analysis. Of course, this could mean that more people are taking a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th LSAT in an attempt to gain a higher score and move into a more prestigious admission pool. And the silver lining is that, regardless of any stopping to the decline, February LSAT administrations are down and still below 2000-2001 administrations. And year-round admissions are down almost 70k from their 09-10 peak.
The evidence that blogs such as this make a difference in increasing knowledge and helping the market get to where it should be is indisputable. Month-over-month page views at this site appear to be keeping steady, and four of our most visited five posts have been posted since Christmas time. Comments have increased since the blog's founding, and I personally feel the quality has greatly improved since last summer. I'd also like to give a special shout-out to our young relative, Law School Lemmings, who is doing God's work in multiple places (and of course we should acknowledge the forerunners like Nando and Campos).
So wish OTLSS a happy birthday. Or don't. Just know that with truth on our side and minimal operating costs, we'll be going as long as contributors write for the site. It's as good of a time as any to remind everyone that contributing to this site is easy and almost everyone has something valuable to say, and somehow - like magic - there are always shills saying things worth criticism.
Regardless, whether a writer/mod or a valued commentator or just a lurking routine reader, you've helped to make this a great first year of spreading information and helping the misinformed. In lieu of cake, candles, or gifts, please slap up a poster at your local law school, or - better yet - go to a law school recruitment fair and have a few heart-to-heart talks with would-be-law students.
Here's to an even-more productive second year. With law schools starting to see real financial ramifications of their shenanigans of the last 30 years, the news promises to at least be interesting.
Regardless, whether a writer/mod or a valued commentator or just a lurking routine reader, you've helped to make this a great first year of spreading information and helping the misinformed. In lieu of cake, candles, or gifts, please slap up a poster at your local law school, or - better yet - go to a law school recruitment fair and have a few heart-to-heart talks with would-be-law students.
Here's to an even-more productive second year. With law schools starting to see real financial ramifications of their shenanigans of the last 30 years, the news promises to at least be interesting.
I agree wholeheartedly. Happy birthday, best wishes, and sincere congratulations on your hard work, integrity, and moral influence.
ReplyDeleteI live near a university that's one of the major feeder institutions to law schools, both good and bad. I think I'll leave flyers around for the benefit of the undergrads, the precious young people whose lives haven't yet been turned into collateral to fund the parasitic lifestyles of the law school leisure class. Those February LSAT takers certainly haven't made their decisions yet, and may not have even applied.
Happy belated birthday, guys. Thank you for picking up the flag, after Campos left ITLSS. It is very rewarding to see the collective impact we have had on the law school pigs so far. I hope you will continue to sandblast these toilets for a few more years at least.
ReplyDeleteThank you to the scam bloggers.
ReplyDeleteHappy Bithday OTLSS!
ReplyDelete"With law schools starting to see real financial ramifications of their shenanigans of the last 30 years, the news promises to at least be interesting."
I specifically want to point out the "last 30 years" part. All too often I still see people working the old "Everything was fine until 2008" attitude. Things hadn't really been fine for a while before 2008, and had been getting less fine as time went by. 2008 simply caused those problems to blow up to such large proportions, affecting such a large swath of law school grads, that the law schools could no longer sweep things under the rug.
Happy birthday and godspeed!
ReplyDelete- One of the Lucky Ones
Happy Birthday to OTLSS. I am excited to continue contributing and hopefully make this site even better.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, looks like it was a bad year for frequent scamblog whipping boy American University, as that law school fell sixteen spots in the USNWR ranking. The school seems to be heading into a well-deserved death spiral, and the scamblogs can take much of the credit for that.
The death spiral of American U took years to get going, and finally accelerated in a major way this year. It is indeed well-deserved, and shows no evidence whatsoever of being reversible.
DeleteCan you think of the perfect formula for a scam institution that will eventually lose whatever appeal it had to even the most ignorant students? Combine a pricey location, a lavish and unnecessary building project, a very competitive local job market, high tuition, miserly and condescending financial aid policies, total indifference to job outcomes, a publicity-whoring dean who can barely force himself to return to the United States, let alone manage a law school...and you have American University in Washington, DC.
I'll be happy to see it go. Most likely its demise will consist of a merger with Washington and Lee, followed by massive and uncompensated layoffs. Cheers!
At least the name is appropriate. Greed, mediocrity, narcissism, profligacy, myopia—they're as American as apple pie.
DeleteAll it takes is someone to speak up -
ReplyDeleteKeep speaking up,
You are doing something good, something worthwhile,
You are earning respect,
Best regards
If you have ever had a case or a matter that seems overwhelming - the only way to go is to deal with it in pieces, to deal with what you know how to do first, then learn how to deal with the next thing, and then resolve the next problem - that is what "thinking like a lawyer" is really all about. That is what you have given a masterclass in doing. Keep it up, you are winning.
ReplyDeleteThe thieving apes who run and teach at law schools are on the run, thanks to you guys and Nando. Keep bringing the truth!
ReplyDeleteIt's all been a game for those decadent hypocrites. Watch a few movies, scribble another unreadable article, party all summer in Europe on another "research stipend," and then fly off to a tropical resort to denounce the capitalist system that forced you to waste all your money. They thought it would never end, and now the students aren't showing up! And they still owe enormous debts for those "prestigious" degrees they bought! Oh no! Better make it illegal to expose the law school scam!
DeleteThank you so much!
ReplyDeleteWhat you're doing is not only important for the 'lemmings,' but I think you also provide an invaluable platform to discuss the real impact of fraud that has gone on, and thoughtful, soulful analysis of the causes behind the law school bubble. You're building consensus about what, exactly, the problems are, the solutions to which are implicated therein.
Even is law schools start closing in droves, this story is far from over with so many scammed and so much bad debt on the public balance sheet that we are legally precluded from acknowledging and treating as such.
I hope that the torch that you picked up so well when Inside the Law School Scam went dark is carried through to some action/ solutions on the political level, and that we, the few generations that have born the awful brunt of this insane cartel get some justice.
Although, I mean it in a secular sense, you will understand the sentiment when I say, BLESS YOU!!!
well said
DeleteI had quite a remarkable event happen this weekend. I met up with an old acquaintance who had just graduated from a low-ranked MBA program with the standard package of tens of thousands of dollars in student loans and no job. I suggested a few places where he might look for work and even offered to put him in touch with some people at these companies. Then I suggested we go and eat at the local golf club. Within 30 minutes of arriving, this guy managed to get drunk, get into a shouting match with a member, and almost come to blows with him. He had to be physically escorted off the premises. Needless to say, I will not be passing his resume along to anyone. I think sometimes student loan debt drives people to madness.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure that the chicken came before the egg?
DeleteYou are not just helping would be law students, you are saving the profession. From my heart, thank you.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations and Happy Birthday!!
ReplyDeleteThis blog started literally on the same day that Prof. Campos announced, with no prior warning, that he was 'moving on' from ITLSS by several people who I would guess have never met, and they have done an outstanding job of creating a professional and huge value-added site which has hopefully helped save thousands of people from wrecking their lives with non-dischargable debt.
So I also want to say Thanks to the people who set this blog up and made it into a valuable success, as well as to the many contributors who have taken the time and made the effort to contribute to this blog.
Big props to all of you.