are people accepted with low LSAT scores mostly URMs?

[amarain]

I don't think anyone is sitting around wishing they had a disadvantage (wishing they had an advantage may be another story, though, and whether or not being an URM is a disadvantage is an entirely different subject).

I didn't mean a disadvantage in applying, but in life.

I know, I was referring to both. Nobody wishes they had a disadvantage in life, but no one is going to pass up an advantage in the admissions process either.

[Chitown Man]

What exactly is "cultural capital" anyway?

It's just another way of honoring diversity at an institution of higher learning.

You ensure that kind of diversity by hiring:

a queer latina marxist

a disabled marxist

an Israel-denouncing jewish marxist

an african american marxist

a transgendered marxist

a curious-bi mr. sensitive white guy marxist

an asian-p-a marxist

It's actually pretty easy to make certain that a rainbow of heritages are honored at your institution.  As long as the faculty is similarly diverse, the students will fall in line, and you can see the results of that 'education' right here on LSD.

Cultural capital is not 'just another way of honoring diversity...' The term 'cultural capital' is a social phenomenon that has been researched and written about by a broad range of economists, philosophers, sociologists, political scientists, etc.  There is a wealth of knowledge about this topic and describing it in such an overly-simplistic and superficial way like the above poster did fails to do the concept justice. 

[blk_reign]

I agree with txgirl. How about we stop worrying about what adcomms are doing to judge people other than ourselves? Just get accepted to the school that you desire to go to. If you thought that it was a long shot to get accepted then you shouldn't have applied...Simple.

[TLFKARG]

Thanks for the info all; this wasn't intended to be a question about/attack on AA; I was just curious what people thought were the reasons why people with scores similar to mine would be offered admission.  My best guess was that they're URMs.  But I think that's just my pessimism setting in...

Ruskie girl.. what do you think set your application apart from the rest?

The "wish my mom had married a Mexican" comment was quite uncalled for, but I think she has a valid point. What can a plain old white American from the middle/lower middle class do to get in with a lower LSAT/GPA? What kind of extracurriculars, etc. are necessary to make up for lower scores? I have noticed as well that most of the people getting into the top schools without the high scores are URM (not passing any judgment on whether this is right or wrong here). If there are non URMs who are getting in with those scores, I would like to know what it was that sets them apart and makes up for the lower numbers.

Ruskie, I know that you are white, but you aren't a regular white applicant, being from another country. That's not something a person can do for their application. You either have it or you don't.

Perhaps my particular admission is attributable to my status as an immigrant.  However, it ought to be noted that plenty of other immigrants with lower LSAT scores are rejected each year, while many white Americans are admitted.  Clearly, being one of the other will neither make you an auto-admit nor will send you directly to the rejection pile; the applicant must have more than just a national heritage to offer.

[amarain]

Perhaps my particular admission is attributable to my status as an immigrant.  However, it ought to be noted that plenty of other immigrants with lower LSAT scores are rejected each year, while many white Americans are admitted.  Clearly, being one of the other will neither make you an auto-admit nor will send you directly to the rejection pile; the applicant must have more than just a national heritage to offer.

Right. As I said before, no one is saying that your particular status, either as an URM or as an immigrant or as SES is necessarily going to get you in, or that not having it will necessarily keep you out. It's just that having that makes it easier to get in (how much easier is of course debatable), and if you don't have that particular thing, you definitely need something else that's just as good.

I'm still waiting for mivida to offer some evidence as to what was discussed earlier.

[Perversely]

Thanks for the info all; this wasn't intended to be a question about/attack on AA; I was just curious what people thought were the reasons why people with scores similar to mine would be offered admission.  My best guess was that they're URMs.  But I think that's just my pessimism setting in...

Ruskie girl.. what do you think set your application apart from the rest?

Perhaps my life experience, perhaps my unique cultural perspective...but who really knows?  I am not going to presume that the admission committee values the same things that I may value.

Spare the BS. It's because you're a URM (Russian immigrant). This is obvious to everyone except you.

FLAME ON ROOSKIE! YELL YELL YELL AT ME BECAUSE TUNA DOESNT CARE

i can see you burning the crosses.  it's people like you that fuels neo naxi behavior.  believe me, i understand you have a right to feel the way that you do, but understand this:  time is working against you & all those that think the way you do.  

i'm proud to be an American.  this is a melting pot and possibilities and dreams come true here.  too bad if you think it's "going all to the underdeserving"...you wouldn't be in position you're in life if America wasn't what is today.

Good luck Tuna, you're going to need it.

['lit]

Based on pure numbers, I would have a 15% chance or so of getting accepted to UC-Berkeley or UCLA (my top choices).  but the numbers don't tell everything, and I'm wondering if my chances are better or worse than 15%, i.e. were the people who were admitted with my numbers mostly URMs (which I'm not) or were they applicants with great LORs, extracurriculars, political activism, etc., which would give me hope.

UCLA gives you space on the application to write very specifically about one field, class, journal, or activity in which you hope to participate shuold you gain acceptance. i think any applicant would be foolish not to use that field and try to add something not covered in your PS. i attached a paragraph or two answering the question seriously, which might be why i was so quickly accepted there (one of the first on LSN, i think)

[amarain]

Tuna is just a troll, ignore him.

['lit]

The other thing I wonder is, do you have to have overcome a challenge in order to get in, or to do well in law school? Isn't there anything else to write a personal statement about?

i didn't have any hardships or challenges to write about, if that helps. haven't had too tough a time.

[amarain]

The other thing I wonder is, do you have to have overcome a challenge in order to get in, or to do well in law school? Isn't there anything else to write a personal statement about?

i didn't have any hardships or challenges to write about, if that helps. haven't had too tough a time.

Do you mind telling what your PS was about? I know it's been talked about on here before.