Law School Discussion

Okay, this does not apply to me or anyone I know, but I was wondering what would be the appropriate way to fill out the Ethnicity portion of law school applications in the following hypothetical scenarios:


#1. Some law schools have the category "Latino" while others specify "Latino/Other Spanish-American". To what extent should this include Latin and South American countries that do not speak Spanish? I know there have been previous discussions about whether Brazil should be considered part of Latin America (with inconclusive results). But what about French possessions (Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guinea)? Or Guyana? Or Dutch-speaking Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles? Why or why not?


#2. It is my impression that most Russians and Middle Easterners end up marking White/Caucasian or Other. I'm curious if any of them have tried claiming Asian status instead. Should they be allowed to? (True, in many cases being considered Asian will be detrimental for admissions but for this purpose, let's assume a Southern law school that is actively recruiting "Asians").


#3. To what extent (if any) should Egyptians be considered African? Should Egyptian-American be considered a subset of African-American for the purpose of ethnicity?

Apparantly lots of people are having the same problem with Charlotte Law. For more information, see the thread:


Email from Charlotte School of Law - wtf?
http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/prelaw/index.php/topic,79255.0.html


Glad I'm not the only way who finds this marketing approach really really creepy....

Just curious if anyone else is being inundated with e-mails from a specific non-accredited law school. In my case the culprit is the Charlotte School of Law, who seems to be sending me e-mails at least every week (sometimes every few days!).

There was only a single e-mail that was even worth my time! (It was an amusing message from the school's mascot, "Charlotte, the Legal Beagle," which featured a moderately cute beagle wearing plush reindeer antlers and some holiday lights).

The latest e-mail is from the Dean of Admissions offering a $13,500 "merit scholarship" (for a non-ABA approved school, mind you), suggesting that I "take a moment" to call her and "chat," and that they're ready to "reserve" a seat in the entering class (I have not applied nor do I ever intend to). She ends the e-mail saying that she looks forward to talking with me over the next couple of days (presumptuously assuming that I'm going to waste my time calling).

I don't want to sound like a *complete* jerk (though I'm okay with being a partial one), but where do these schools get the nerve? Sadly enough, Charlotte isn't even accredited and is even a step below TTT! So I was curious if anyone else has been having similar experiences....

But lets say 25% of the school is going to get the best jobs, be it biglaw or clerkships or government agencies.  LSAT is correlated with intelligence and law school grades.  If 25% or 50% of the class scored higher than you (and some of them just had a bad day or did not prepare like lsders do) then you're already a step behind in terms of getting the best grades.  Blah.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think LSAT percentiles are the be all, end all for determing law school grades.

For example, I'm not even in law school yet. But for the three law school courses I have already taken, I've been in the upper third of the class, despite the fact that my LSAT is below the 25th percentile for that law school...

Hello there. I plan to (finally) go to law school next year, which means I have to go through the grueling admissions process in the fall. I'm a non-traditional applicant with some atypical factors, so I could really use any advice on the application process. Here are my basics:


- I plan to apply to about a dozen law schools in the Top 15 (according to U.S. News and Report).

- My undergrad was relatively unspectacular. I attended a state school with a top-notch engineering program and got an engineering degree with a 3.7 GPA.

- Unfortunately my LSAT score(s) have been less than spectacular. Yeah, I know it *really* hurts, but it's less than 170.   

- On the brighter side, I do have a Master's degree (GPA is roughly an A-) from a school whose law school is in the Top 6. I was able to cross-register for 3 law classes and for my thesis, my advisor was a law professor. I did well in all those classes (and the thesis) and got A-'s in each of them. I also have 3 or 4 of my law professors who are willing to write me recommendations for my law school applications.

- This fall, I will be starting my second Master's degree, at a different school (whose law school is also in the Top 6). I plan to cross-register and take several law classes again, but since the semester does not end until December, I probably won't get recommendations for my early application (though I can send them later on as follow-ups).



My basic reasoning is that since I did well in all 3 (plus thesis) courses that I took at a Top 6 law school, that this might prove that I'm capable of the work that law school entails. I got A-'s in all those classes. Say that puts me roughly in the top third of the class. That means I performed better than 2/3 of the class, despite the fact that they probably got better LSAT scores than I did. Plus, don't forget to factor that I was at a slight disadvantage since I was competing with 2L's, 3L's, and LLM's, with more legal experience than I had. I know that law schools also like high LSAT's to boost their own statistics (which my argument doesn't address). But I also know that some schools often turn down applicants with less than stellar scores so that the applicants attend other schools and can apply to transfer once they "prove" themselves. In this case, I figure that my prior performance should be sufficient evidence to show I can handle the material.



#1. So, my first question is: do you think that 3 or 4 letters of recommendation from law professors in a Top 6 law program, will significantly offset a poor LSAT?


#2. More generally, do you have any suggestions for my application? There are a few things I already plan to do:

    - I will definitely apply early in the application cycle. I plan to get my applications in first thing in September.

    - I will also gear my personal statement on reasons why the admissions committee should look past my LSAT score and/or undergrad GPA.

    - I know that retaking the LSAT (yet again) is an option, especially with the new score policy. I'm considering taking the LSAT again, but I am also resigned to the fact that I just don't seem to test well (so I'm not counting on this to be significantly helpful).


Any other thoughts? Thank you for your time and your thoughts.


With regards