Russian Immigrant, help please? Forum

Share experiences and seek insight regarding your experience as an underrepresented minority within the legal community.
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are sharing sensitive information about bar exam prep. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned."
User avatar
lushka

New
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 3:18 pm

Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by lushka » Wed Jul 07, 2010 6:00 pm

i understand Im not a URM,
born in Ukraine, moved as a young child
should i write a diversity statement etc, and if yes, what should i focus on in the letter? thanks

bk1

Diamond
Posts: 20063
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:06 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by bk1 » Wed Jul 07, 2010 6:05 pm

If you bring diversity to the class then write a DS if you want. Write about how you are diverse (aka not WASP-y).

sumus romani

Silver
Posts: 564
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 6:04 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by sumus romani » Wed Jul 07, 2010 6:06 pm

lushka wrote:i understand Im not a URM,
born in Ukraine, moved as a young child
should i write a diversity statement etc, and if yes, what should i focus on in the letter? thanks

When I was a kid and lived in West Germany, my dad told me that the Soviets had to cook hamburgers in their armpits. I believed him (I was in the first grade).

I take it that this is false, so you can't write about it in your DS.

However, you surely can write a diversity statement that can help your application just a tiny bit. Just focus on "having a different point of view." "Hardworking immigrant parents" is not the best way to go, even if it is true, because it is too much about them an not really about you. You can mention them, of course, but make sure to focus on "your different point of view." Somehow, tie it to your PS, without it being quite the same thing.

User avatar
General Tso

Gold
Posts: 2272
Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:51 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by General Tso » Wed Jul 07, 2010 6:08 pm

so you are ethnically russian but born in ukraine?

User avatar
Aeroplane

Bronze
Posts: 483
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:40 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by Aeroplane » Wed Jul 07, 2010 6:17 pm

lushka wrote:i understand Im not a URM,
born in Ukraine, moved as a young child
should i write a diversity statement etc, and if yes, what should i focus on in the letter? thanks
My situation was similar. I wrote a DS. About the issues my family & I faced, parallels to other experiences in my life, and how/why it would make me a good addition to the school's community.

User avatar
General Tso

Gold
Posts: 2272
Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:51 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by General Tso » Wed Jul 07, 2010 6:29 pm

no offense guys but I don't think this background is incredibly unique. there are tons of former Soviet people in the US (my g/f is among them).

that's especially true since you grew up in the US

bk1

Diamond
Posts: 20063
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:06 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by bk1 » Wed Jul 07, 2010 6:39 pm

General Tso wrote:no offense guys but I don't think this background is incredibly unique. there are tons of former Soviet people in the US (my g/f is among them).

that's especially true since you grew up in the US
You don't need to be incredibly unique to write a DS.

There are tons of Hispanics in the U.S., does this mean that they should not write a DS?

User avatar
General Tso

Gold
Posts: 2272
Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:51 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by General Tso » Wed Jul 07, 2010 7:10 pm

bk187 wrote:
General Tso wrote:no offense guys but I don't think this background is incredibly unique. there are tons of former Soviet people in the US (my g/f is among them).

that's especially true since you grew up in the US
You don't need to be incredibly unique to write a DS.

There are tons of Hispanics in the U.S., does this mean that they should not write a DS?
Do they write DS's? I don't know... I would think just checking ethnicity would be enough to get the URM boost.

I think Latinos may be even more underrepresented than former USSR people at law schools. I mean I attend a school in California and even there I think we had in my section at least 3-5 former USSR people and fewer than that Latinos.

bk1

Diamond
Posts: 20063
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:06 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by bk1 » Wed Jul 07, 2010 7:16 pm

General Tso wrote:Do they write DS's? I don't know... I would think just checking ethnicity would be enough to get the URM boost.

I think Latinos may be even more underrepresented than former USSR people at law schools. I mean I attend a school in California and even there I think we had in my section at least 3-5 former USSR people and fewer than that Latinos.
You said US pop at first, I would agree that ex-Soviets could be more common than Hispanics.

Why wouldn't you write a DS? Other than the fact that not all schools have an option for PR/MX (some just have Hispanic and do not subdivide), it can't really hurt if it is well-written. I understand that it probably won't help that much, but if you can spin a well-written tale of diversity (which I believe you can for even the "common" minority backgrounds), there doesn't seem to be a reason not to.

madcherrylimas

New
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 12:41 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by madcherrylimas » Fri Jul 09, 2010 6:57 pm

You don't have to be URM to write a diversity statement. Talk about something from your background that makes you an interesting contribution to the student body and would make you a better lawyer. I think you should milk every opportunity you get to write more about yourself and use it to drive home the point that you'd be an excellent student and person to have at their school.

User avatar
MTal

Silver
Posts: 852
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:47 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by MTal » Fri Jul 09, 2010 7:00 pm

Poshel na huy, merzkya tvar.

User avatar
General Tso

Gold
Posts: 2272
Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:51 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by General Tso » Fri Jul 09, 2010 7:09 pm

MTal wrote:Poshel na huy, merzkya tvar.
do you feel better now?

adfaew9ui0ajklajdf930 <--- bad language in Mongolian. LUUUULZ

User avatar
Raskolnikoff

Bronze
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:19 am

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by Raskolnikoff » Fri Jul 09, 2010 7:14 pm

MTal wrote:Poshel na huy, merzkya tvar.
ни хуя себе, сказал я себе...

User avatar
MTal

Silver
Posts: 852
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 6:47 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by MTal » Fri Jul 09, 2010 7:18 pm

Raskolnikoff wrote:
MTal wrote:Poshel na huy, merzkya tvar.
ни хуя себе, сказал я себе...
We know how you feel about huy's, Rask.

User avatar
Raskolnikoff

Bronze
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:19 am

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by Raskolnikoff » Fri Jul 09, 2010 7:20 pm

MTal wrote:
Raskolnikoff wrote:
MTal wrote:Poshel na huy, merzkya tvar.
ни хуя себе, сказал я себе...
We know how you feel about huy's, Rask.
и как-же это?..

User avatar
solotee

Bronze
Posts: 481
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:20 pm

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by solotee » Fri Jul 09, 2010 8:35 pm

Chto za razborki?

Renzo

Gold
Posts: 4249
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:23 am

Re: Russian Immigrant, help please?

Post by Renzo » Fri Jul 09, 2010 9:32 pm

That's it.

I'm calling the FBI. Maybe we can work out another spy-swap.

Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Underrepresented Law Students”