URM 2013-2014 Cycle Thread Forum

[teampeeta]

Are there really no URM JS1s yet?! Oy.

Maybe H is using a different tactic this year? Last year there were a couple URMs who heard back in the first round of calls.

[KingJamesLBJ]

so much studying to be done... how many hours/day do you think you guys study? On the weekends I've been going for 8-10 hours/day but i get super drained and I can't do any LSAT type things for a few days after. its so hard to find balance

7 days a week 5-8 hours a day since october with a 17 credit last semester courseload

[Mojosodope]

Are there really no URM JS1s yet?! Oy.

Maybe H is using a different tactic this year? Last year there were a couple URMs who heard back in the first round of calls.

I thought aajdb said she knew of 1

[Dr.Zer0]

[redacted]

[Futuregohan14]

Future,

I think the reason people didn't respond well to several of your earlier posts were because you framed your score as being good enough for your race. It was your attitude towards your score more than your actual score that made people (or at least me) respond the way we did.

So my speaking a matter of fact (162 = very strong shot at T-14 for an AA) was the source of the offense, not the actual score...

The reason people aren't yelling from the rooftops for okaygo to retake is because she framed it as the best she could do, as opposed to the minimum she needed because she is AA. If she really thinks that it is the best she can do, then her race doesn't matter -- it is the best she can do.

just my .02.

I said pretty much the same thing:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 0#p7153523

I concluded prior to my sitting that exam that I'd reached the peak of LSAT preparation-162 was pretty much as good as I was going to do. A re-take may (and that is a big MAY) have yielded 1 more point, 2 at most, but probably not enough to significantly improve my chances. A 1 or 2 point drop was just as likely in my evaluation based on the prep I had done.

At the time my GPA was still in the 3.4 range and I had 9 months of school left, so I decided to put the LSAT away and focus on boosting my GPA to guarantee I will be able to show law schools a 3.5+. The effort that would have gone into preparing for a re-take went into my PS, DS, GPA-boosting and other efforts to get my app ready for early submission.

Following this, I then pointed out the simple fact that the score in question is (as far as AAs are concerned) a likely lock for a lower T-14. This statement of fact upset a few people.

In any case, I took their advice into consideration and have acted upon it by scheduling a re-take. If the wisdom of TLS is good enough for me (and I'm endorsing it by following it), then surely it is good enough for any other AA in here.

Okaygo has specific goals.

Didn't know goals were relevant. I wasn't asked about mine until well after the discussion had run its course and judgement had been passed.

Not to be rude, but are all your posts multiple paragraphs long?

Many are. Is that a problem?

[Futuregohan14]

As far as me maxing out my LSAT potential, I know I have. I'm not going to argue or try to justify this by telling you the amount of hours I spent studying.

You don't have to. I've been there. As I noted before, we have very similar stories to tell about the LSAT.

But I can assure you that the 162 is as good as it's going to get. And I'm proud of that 162.

You should be.

I don't look at it as good enough for an African American female, I look at it is as good enough for my goals.

If your goal is to attend a strong DC school like GWU that will allow you to remain in the area in good standing after graduation then yes, your score is good enough for your goals right now. Can you honestly say, however, that this reality has no attachment at all to the fact that you are indeed an AA female?

GWU is still a fairly selective school with an LSAT 25th percentile north of your current score. As a URM, you're almost a lock for a school at that level (and probably a near lock for Georgetown as well).

If you were a non-URM, GWU with a 162, 3.6 would look a lot dicier a proposition. Your path to achieving your goals (staying in DC and going to a strong school in that area) would look much more hazardous in that scenario, would it not? GWU would be much less of a sure thing.

So is it really the case that your score is merely good enough for your goals? Or is it actually the case that your score is good enough for an African-American female with your goals?

[okaygo]

As far as me maxing out my LSAT potential, I know I have. I'm not going to argue or try to justify this by telling you the amount of hours I spent studying.

You don't have to. I've been there. As I noted before, we have very similar stories to tell about the LSAT.

But I can assure you that the 162 is as good as it's going to get. And I'm proud of that 162.

You should be.

I don't look at it as good enough for an African American female, I look at it is as good enough for my goals.

If your goal is to attend a strong DC school like GWU that will allow you to remain in the area in good standing after graduation then yes, your score is good enough for your goals right now. Can you honestly say, however, that this reality has no attachment at all to the fact that you are indeed an AA female?

GWU is still a fairly selective school with an LSAT 25th percentile north of your current score. As a URM, you're almost a lock for a school at that level (and probably a near lock for Georgetown as well).

If you were a non-URM, GWU with a 162, 3.6 would look a lot dicier a proposition. Your path to achieving your goals (staying in DC and going to a strong school in that area) would look much more hazardous in that scenario, would it not? GWU would be much less of a sure thing.

So is it really the case that your score is merely good enough for your goals? Or is it actually the case that your score is good enough for an African-American female with your goals?

[MoMettaMonk]

Meh. Life goes on, and walls of text are annoying.

[Futuregohan14]

Ok, let's beat that dead horse a little more shall we. Yes, goals are incredibly important and due to the admissions bump afforded to URM by affirmative action, her score is good enough for an African American female with her goals. No one ever tried to separate the reality of someone's URM status from their current plans, nor should they.

On this I must respectfully disagree. Consider this statement:

I don't look at it as good enough for an African American female, I look at it is as good enough for my goals.

This is just my interpretation and I am but a single individual, but this statement appears to me to quite clearly imply a separation of URM status from current goals. With this statement, the user is claiming that her racial status is not a factor in her considering her current numbers "good enough". Rather, it is the fact that her numbers are good enough for her goals that allows her to be somewhat content.

The reality, however, is that her race is a big reason why her numbers are good enough for her goals in the first place.
She may not look at her numbers with the opinion that they are merely "good enough for an African American female", but in practice her contentment with them is based on the reality that they are good enough for an African American female with her goals. Thus, race is a factor, and her bid to separate her URM status from her contentment with her current plans is implausible.

What should be separated from URM status is whether or not someone has done their best. When you first came into the thread your bottom line wasn't that (or at least appeared not to be that) you'd done your absolute best, but that you'd done enough because the URM bump would push you to where you needed to be.

As noted in an earlier post, this isn't quite accurate.

I concluded prior to my sitting that exam that I'd reached the peak of LSAT preparation-162 was pretty much as good as I was going to do. A re-take may (and that is a big MAY) have yielded 1 more point, 2 at most, but probably not enough to significantly improve my chances. A 1 or 2 point drop was just as likely in my evaluation based on the prep I had done.

It was only after making this statement that I decided to point out the objective fact that a 162 for an AA is a near autolock for a T-14. That was in response to a user who marked 165-169 as the beginning of the T-14 "autolock" range for AAs. The statistics say that this range is a bit high, so I pointed that out.
Apparently this annoyed some people...

Because of that you got the full force of the thread to push you to retake (also your posts often seem unnecessarily argumentative, which rubs people the wrong way).

Meh.

If anyone else comes onto TLS, or especially onto this thread, saying that they've done well enough, but not their best, and doesn't present some specific, concrete goal they are hoping to achieve, then they will get the exact same treatment that you got.

...even though I did not do that thing...

Why? Because the legal market is absolute shit, and everyone going into this venture recognizes that the costs of attending law school are too high in both time and money to not give yourself the best starting point that you can possibly have.

I do not think that the motives of the critiques put forward here at TLS come from a place as noble and compassionate as you claim here.

[Futuregohan14]

http://i.imgur.com/2sREC.gif

For me?

[toshiroh]

*inserts random bosh gif to lighten up this thread*

[KingJamesLBJ]

lol how the heck do you guys post gifs on here

[AAJD2B]

PSA: Every single black person who ever cared about the history of our people and ancestors need to go see 12 Years a Slave. Based on everything that I have learned and researched about slavery, I find this movie to be the most accurate potrayal of American Slavery. There was no happy slave and benevolent slave master as schools taught us to believe. It was raw and unadulterated.

If folks can pay to see Madea act all ratchet, they can pay to see this film. I am still recovering here. So many in the theater were in tears. My heart breaks for my ancestors. We have so much to thank them for, including being here on this forum as we embark on our legal education.

[lemons]

probably not a very nice thing for me to say

[midnight_circus]

I would like to gently remind the thread that okaygo asked us all very nicely to drop it.

So although I am extremely appreciative of everyone's help and insight, can we all please stop talking about this? I feel like it's getting redundant and boring.

I know this is the internet and we aren't obliged to respect each other's wishes, but continuing to use her situation as fodder for an argument is rather unfriendly. Besides, the constant italicization of African American female is starting to get to me. Shouldn't this be one of the few places where we don't have to be singled out about that?

[lemons]

lol how the heck do you guys post gifs on here

you have to have 100 posts just post on here every so often and maybe a bit in the lounge and you'll get there in no time

[lemons]

I would like to gently remind the thread that okaygo asked us all very nicely to drop it.

seconded.

also, has anyone seen the latest episode of scandal? so much is going down i don't even know how to handle it!!

[AAJD2B]

*inserts random bosh gif to lighten up this thread*

That dude gay.

[KingJamesLBJ]

lol how the heck do you guys post gifs on here

you have to have 100 posts just post on here every so often and maybe a bit in the lounge and you'll get there in no time

lol are you being serious?

[AAJD2B]

Ya'll please don't get Future banned. He gives this thread life. Besides, can't we all just agree to disagree?

One love, y'all.

[NanaP]

I went to UCLA for UG and I have to say that it is pretty diverse. They have two campus buildings dedicated to URMs. One of them is the hub for student orgs (most of which are URM targeted and run) and the other dedicated to academic services for URMs. Of course UCLA could always be more diverse and I would rather have them accept more students from low soci-economic backgrounds than international students.

The law school itself is diverse as well, faculty included. The law school tries it's best to help diversify the field of law, the UCLA law fellows program being a prime example. Their critical race studies program is also really interesting IMO.

That being said, UCLA does have its racist moments. There was that infamous Alexandra Wallace incident and two more I can think of that happened in my last year.

I think UCLA is obviously a great school, but most of the things I've heard about the school is that it's mainly Asians and whites, and a few AA's scattered on campus......which for me is a no go...also I want to work east coast and I don't think it has that national reach yet....

Edit: I want to clarify that's it's a no go because I don't think it's URM friendly...not about Asians and whites....

[Futuregohan14]

probably not a very nice thing for me to say

Darn, I missed it. Care to PM it to me? I'd love to hear what you really think.

I would like to gently remind the thread that okaygo asked us all very nicely to drop it.

So although I am extremely appreciative of everyone's help and insight, can we all please stop talking about this? I feel like it's getting redundant and boring.

I know this is the internet and we aren't obliged to respect each other's wishes, but continuing to use her situation as fodder for an argument is rather unfriendly. Besides, the constant italicization of African American female is starting to get to me. Shouldn't this be one of the few places where we don't have to be singled out about that?

I'm just trying to guide a fellow URM toward the fuller realization of her potential. I was led in this way earlier in this thread and I believe I am better for it; I thought it only fair that I give back a bit and pass the magic.

[lemons]

i think we should start a bosh gif party... there's so much material

[MoMettaMonk]

i think we should start a bosh gif party... there's so much material

Bosh gifs. I approve 100%.

[lemons]

lol how the heck do you guys post gifs on here

you have to have 100 posts just post on here every so often and maybe a bit in the lounge and you'll get there in no time

lol are you being serious?

sadly, yes... tis the only way. also is your username referring to labron? if so i approve