Hope for Diversity at a top Law School

[ambitiouslatino04]

I attended this weekend's NYC Law School Forum and spoke to an admissions rep from the University of Virginia Law School.  As an African American graduate of U of Virginia Law School, she told me not to let your lsat score discourage you from applying.  The 25th percentile for U of Virginia is a 165 and she said she got a 150ish(did not state specifically the exact score).  Point of all this is that if your a minority and have a great personal statement, recommendations and a good gpa, you still might have a chance to get into a top school.  U of Virginia is #9 in the US NEWS "guide to law schools".  Hope this inspires minorities to applying even though you might not have the lsat recommmended.   Remember, some schools value other things about you besides your gpa and lsat scores...Yes most schools are all about gpa and lsat... but some are not.... Good luck! 

[Cheeks]

well ... she applied quite a while ago then and I'm sure their 25%ile has moved up.

Anyways, yeah, basically I agree with you.  Montauk says that an african american applicant can add 8-10 points (i think) to his/her LSAT score.

[cali444]

I think it's only true up to a point.  I doubt that many people (URM or not) still get into UVA with an LSAT below 160.

[DOWNY]

Affirmative action is great for society. Letting people into UVA with 150's on the LSAT is surely in the best interest of the student body. Educational quality can only improve with the addition of these great scholars. It is ridiculous to think that inequality results if a white person is rejected with a 168 while a minority with a 150 is admitted. Anyone who would think such a thing must be racist.

[Casper]

Affirmative action is great for society. Letting people into UVA with 150's on the LSAT is surely in the best interest of the student body. Educational quality can only improve with the addition of these great scholars. It is ridiculous to think that inequality results if a white person is rejected with a 168 while a minority with a 150 is admitted. Anyone who would think such a thing must be racist.

Yes, I totally agree with DOWNY.  They should do the same with MCAT scores too, and admit URM students to med schools too.  And have them treat DOWNY as a patient. 

[DOWNY]

Affirmative action is great for society. Letting people into UVA with 150's on the LSAT is surely in the best interest of the student body. Educational quality can only improve with the addition of these great scholars. It is ridiculous to think that inequality results if a white person is rejected with a 168 while a minority with a 150 is admitted. Anyone who would think such a thing must be racist.

Yes, I totally agree with DOWNY.  They should do the same with MCAT scores too, and admit URM students to med schools too.  And have them treat DOWNY as a patient. 

You did get the sarcasm in my post, right?

[newy]

Affirmative action is great for society. Letting people into UVA with 150's on the LSAT is surely in the best interest of the student body. Educational quality can only improve with the addition of these great scholars. It is ridiculous to think that inequality results if a white person is rejected with a 168 while a minority with a 150 is admitted. Anyone who would think such a thing must be racist.

Yes, I totally agree with DOWNY.  They should do the same with MCAT scores too, and admit URM students to med schools too.  And have them treat DOWNY as a patient. 

You did get the sarcasm in my post, right?

DOWNY-

I think sparky got it, but did you?

How do you suggest we help people break the cycle of poverty?

[DOWNY]

Affirmative action is great for society. Letting people into UVA with 150's on the LSAT is surely in the best interest of the student body. Educational quality can only improve with the addition of these great scholars. It is ridiculous to think that inequality results if a white person is rejected with a 168 while a minority with a 150 is admitted. Anyone who would think such a thing must be racist.

Yes, I totally agree with DOWNY.  They should do the same with MCAT scores too, and admit URM students to med schools too.  And have them treat DOWNY as a patient. 

You did get the sarcasm in my post, right?

DOWNY-

I think sparky got it, but did you?

How do you suggest we help people break the cycle of poverty?

Jesus Christ. I don't have time for this. Here, let's end urban poverty by letting people into UVA with 150 LSATs, that will work flawlesly.

[DOWNY]

Ok, in all seriousness:

Why don't we have "affirmative action" based on socio-economic status? If I'm a rich minority from the burbs who attended the best schools, why should I receive preferential treatment over a poor white kid who grew up without a father? My problem is with the OP's formation of the issue as being a uniform "let black people in with low scores" policy, which he believes is a good thing.

[newy]

Ok, in all seriousness:

Why don't we have "affirmative action" based on socio-economic status? If I'm a rich minority from the burbs who attended the best schools, why should I receive preferential treatment over a poor white kid who grew up without a father? My problem is with the OP's formation of the issue as being a uniform "let black people in with low scores" policy, which he believes is a good thing.

I couldn't agree more.  It's too bad that this isn't the current situation.  But it's not, so I think our current situation of giving a bit of an advantage to minorities who are historically socionomically disadvantaged (thus, underrepresented) is better than nothing.