"I prefer not to respond"

[AN E]

If the goal of AA is to increase the percentage of minorities in law school and therefore these minorities have some advantage (and this gain to the minority is a loss to the majority), then by admitting to being white, you hurt yourself.
The target (number published) is a percentage of minorities.  If you mark “I prefer not to respond,” then by admitting you, the school does not decrease its minority enrollment, because only applicants who reveal their race are considered in this percentage.  So by doing this, you give yourself an advantage over self-described white people, that is, you become race-neutral.  Being race-neutral means you only affect the other thing besides diversity that law schools care about, numbers.

I obviously do not have any hard data to back this up, but I did not reveal my race on any apps and have done better than I thought I would have.
 

[law123]

I didnt reveal my race in the hopes that being white would not hurt, also I have a last name that is common to many black people.  It did not work as intended.  I have not done any better than I thouhgt I would, not in the lease

[ScoopNY]

A last name common to black people? Like Johnson? or Jones? Or Jackson? 

[rhombot]

i believe the standard is to include people who don't report their race in the denominator. it's also the most reasonable approach in light of the fact that non-reporters are overwhelmingly white. unfortunately, some institutions, like the university of massachusetts amherst, don't include non-reporters in the denominator, in an effort to appear more diverse than they are.

[law123]

A last name common to black people? Like Johnson? or Jones? Or Jackson? 

No.  Like Williams.  What of it?

[rhombot]

i the next round, change your name to "africa" or "X" to improve your chances. williams is too ambiguous.

[philibusters]

To me it seems wierd not responding with your race.  I don't think it helps you all that much if any, after all you aren't checking that you are an urm, to me its easiest to check the correct box, but if you think it gives you an edge, go for it.

[law123]

i the next round, change your name to "africa" or "X" to improve your chances. williams is too ambiguous.

Thats unbearably funny and witty

[AN E]

I looked at some LSAC data and it looks like, at least for ABA’s purposes, non-responders are non-minorities.  I thought it was odd however that Duke had about 13% non-responders Emory had less than 2%, and Florida had none.  Those were the only three schools I looked at (because I am lazy) so maybe this was coincidental.  Oh well, I will stop speculating about why I exceeded my expectations, maybe my PS or LORs just really slammed it home for me…wait, was that more speculation?

By the way, I did not report my race first of all because there is no reason for race in the application. 

Also, just as an aside, even though I do not consider race a valid criterion, I have a common black surname and have multiple ancestors who would be going to Yale or Harvard with my numbers.