T10 Toughest Law Schools To Get Into Forum

[LurkerNoMore]

1.) What's the current socially acceptable way to refer to someone who is authentically retarded?

2.) Approximately how long will it be until that term becomes taboo?

1.) Person first language almost always the correct choice. A person with cognitive disabilities, a person with mental disabilities, etc. opposed to a cognitively disabled person or a mentally disabled person.

2.) It is not, nor should it ever be, appropriate to use the immutable characteristics of a group or class of people in an insulting or derogatory fashion. Most of us learn this in about 3rd grade, about the time we get over calling people "poo-poo heads."

[necromancer]

1.) What's the current socially acceptable way to refer to someone who is authentically retarded?

2.) Approximately how long will it be until that term becomes taboo?

The term for children is "developmentally delayed." The idea is that some kids are behind the bell curve in their milestones but that there is some chance they'll catch up. If a cognitive "delay" persists into adulthood, then the adult is probably mentally retarded (although this isn't always true.)

[mr.smurf]

This all depends on what your strengths v. weaknesses are (LSAT, GPA, softs). A better thread would be hardest schools to get into with a low LSAT/high GPA, hardest schools for a low GPA/high LSAT, for strong numbers/bad softs, etc.

For most people it's probably something like this:
Yale
Stanford
Harvard
Columbia
Berkeley
Chicago
NYU
Penn
Michigan
Virginia

+1. Finally, a fair answer.

[acegikm]

1.) What's the current socially acceptable way to refer to someone who is authentically retarded?

2.) Approximately how long will it be until that term becomes taboo?

1.) Person first language almost always the correct choice. A person with cognitive disabilities, a person with mental disabilities, etc. opposed to a cognitively disabled person or a mentally disabled person.

2.) It is not, nor should it ever be, appropriate to use the immutable characteristics of a group or class of people in an insulting or derogatory fashion. Most of us learn this in about 3rd grade, about the time we get over calling people "poo-poo heads."

Thank you. I was getting depressed about the mindset of people on this thread. Also "authentically retarded" is an oxymoron. "retarded" is a nonspecific, outdated term--whether used as slang or in describing someone with an intellectual disability

[Oblomov]

From Special Olympics:
The 7 million people with intellectual disabilities (around the planet) who are on the receiving end of this hate speak are NEVER going to return your vitriol. Ever!

How dare you demean all tards be saying that none of them has the mental ability to sling an insult? That number should be more like 6.98.

[flhealth]

i'll bet when the statistics come out this year, Florida is on the list....ridiculous this year

not a chance in a century from now's hell, uf is overrated as is

critical reading...not which schools are the best...which are the hardest to get into...UF has been ultra selective this cycle

[mallen210]

I'd say it is
Yale
Stanford
Harvard
Columbia
NYU/Chicago/Penn (Penn, due to YP)
the rest (basically, just like the typical rankings, )

Sorry...all things being equal Berkeley is definitely at least 4/5.

[Anhimal]

This all depends on what your strengths v. weaknesses are (LSAT, GPA, softs). A better thread would be hardest schools to get into with a low LSAT/high GPA, hardest schools for a low GPA/high LSAT, for strong numbers/bad softs, etc.

For most people it's probably something like this:
Yale
Stanford
Harvard
Columbia
Berkeley
Chicago
NYU
Penn
Michigan
Virginia

+2

[Unemployed]

I'd say it is
Yale
Stanford
Harvard
Columbia
NYU/Chicago/Penn (Penn, due to YP)
the rest (basically, just like the typical rankings, )

Sorry...all things being equal Berkeley is definitely at least 4/5.

Do you care to elaborate?

(No I don't really want you to elaborate. I am just commenting on how subjective these assessments can be, and perhaps suggesting that you shouldn't speak with so much authority.)

[necromancer]

1.) What's the current socially acceptable way to refer to someone who is authentically retarded?

2.) Approximately how long will it be until that term becomes taboo?

1.) Person first language almost always the correct choice. A person with cognitive disabilities, a person with mental disabilities, etc. opposed to a cognitively disabled person or a mentally disabled person.

2.) It is not, nor should it ever be, appropriate to use the immutable characteristics of a group or class of people in an insulting or derogatory fashion. Most of us learn this in about 3rd grade, about the time we get over calling people "poo-poo heads."

Thank you. I was getting depressed about the mindset of people on this thread. Also "authentically retarded" is an oxymoron. "retarded" is a nonspecific, outdated term--whether used as slang or in describing someone with an intellectual disability

The term phrase "mental retardation" is actually not outdated at all. In fact, it's still widely used in legal and medical contexts. Although you are right that it is nonspecific...a diagnosis of "retardation" isn't meaningful at all by itself.

[mallen210]

I'd say it is
Yale
Stanford
Harvard
Columbia
NYU/Chicago/Penn (Penn, due to YP)
the rest (basically, just like the typical rankings, )

Sorry...all things being equal Berkeley is definitely at least 4/5.

Do you care to elaborate?

(No I don't really want you to elaborate. I am just commenting on how subjective these assessments can be, and perhaps suggesting that you shouldn't speak with so much authority.)

Haha... I think this is like the third different thread you've jabbed me... I don't think we're going to like each other if you end up at Boalt.

btw, this is a forum. "authority" doesn't exist... just opinions...

[Unemployed]

I'd say it is
Yale
Stanford
Harvard
Columbia
NYU/Chicago/Penn (Penn, due to YP)
the rest (basically, just like the typical rankings, )

Sorry...all things being equal Berkeley is definitely at least 4/5.

Do you care to elaborate?

(No I don't really want you to elaborate. I am just commenting on how subjective these assessments can be, and perhaps suggesting that you shouldn't speak with so much authority.)

Haha... I think this is like the third different thread you've jabbed me... I don't think we're going to like each other if you end up at Boalt.

btw, this is a forum. "authority" doesn't exist... just opinions...

Third, really? I briefly looked through your posts and I don't recalling jabbing you before this... Keep your alts straight! (twice now )

Besides, a little bit of saber-rattling is healthy for law school students, imho. If only you would reciprocate!

[mallen210]

I'd say it is

Sorry...all things being equal Berkeley is definitely at least 4/5.

Do you care to elaborate?

(No I don't really want you to elaborate. I am just commenting on how subjective these assessments can be, and perhaps suggesting that you shouldn't speak with so much authority.)

Haha... I think this is like the third different thread you've jabbed me... I don't think we're going to like each other if you end up at Boalt.

btw, this is a forum. "authority" doesn't exist... just opinions...

Third, really? I briefly looked through your posts and I don't recalling jabbing you before this... Keep your alts straight! (twice now )

Besides, a little bit of saber-rattling is healthy for law school students, imho. If only you would reciprocate!

Ok...at least twice.

Actually, please come to Boalt.

[hoosier1508]

Most people don’t think of this word as hate speech, but that’s exactly what it feels like to millions of people with intellectual disabilities, their families and friends. Using "retard" as a term of derision is just as cruel and offensive as any other slur.

Tip: invest in a thesaurus before starting law school. Good luck

Aren't you a bleeding heart.

Maybe you can leave your holier than thou attitude at home before law school.

[necromancer]

Btw, are we only counting accredited schools?

This was from the UCI website:

The admissions process for the founding class continues. We have received more than 2,500 applications for the 60 slots in the first-year class. This is the best ratio of applications to slots, an obvious measure of selectivity, of any law school in the country.

http://www.law.uci.edu/visions_of_change.html

[cho]

it's generally better thought after to say "cognitively impaired," much the same way someone might be visually impaired, etc. you can throw in "moderately" or other similar modifiers to indicate degree.

the key is to give everyone the respect they deserve, regardless of physical/mental/emotional differences because, at the end of the day, we are all "impaired" in some form or another--it's just a matter of degree.

[huckabees]

hamsterhiatus, your post is offensive.

Is it because you are going to Berkeley? Berkeley is probably the easiest top 10 school to get into for high GPA/low LSAT splittards.

LOL AHAHAHAHA splittards

[ZakD]

Thought I would throw in my $.02 (not on the topic of the thread, of course, but on the proper way to refer to a mentally impaired person/person with mental impairments.)

I am all in favor of people being treated fairly. I would imagine that the majority of you feel the same way. I find that it is best to ask the person what they prefer (e.g. I went to school in Kansas and found most Indians prefered being called "Indians" rather than "Native Americans").

That being said, I find the "X person" vs. "person with X" debate to be quite silly. I came across this once when I referred to an autistic person as an "autistic person." What we are talking about here is the syntax of adjective modification in English. To suggest that calling a ball a "red ball" rather than "a ball that is red" gives primacy to the color of the ball over its state of "being a ball" is misguided, and shows a lack of understanding of the way human language works. The order of words in an analytic language like English is fixed because we have a morphologically poor language. Word order is not some sort of heirarchy of importance.

Not only is there no linguistic basis for the "person with X" construction, it is also weak writing.

Thank you.

[araiza99]

Depends on the application pool.

Law School Accept
1 Yale University 7.30%
2 Stanford University 9%
3 Harvard University 11.80%
4 U. of California-Berkeley 12%
5 U. of Connecticut 14.10%
6 U. of Maryland 15.50%
7 Columbia University 15.90%
8 U. of Chicago 16.20%
9 U. of Pennsylvania 16.30%
10 U. of California-Los Angeles 17.50%

[mallen210]

Following a debate with someone, I'm curious what you think? PR's list is crap!

1. Yale
2. Harvard
3. Stanford
4. Berkeley
5. Columbia
6. Chicago
7. Penn
8. NYU
9. Virginia
10. Michigan

Just my 2 cents...

My 2 cents has changed slightly....

1. Yale
2. Harvard
3. Stanford
4. Berkeley
5. Columbia
6. Chicago
7. NYU
8. Penn
9. Michigan
10. Virginia

[jdn012]

Depends on the application pool.

Law School Accept
1 Yale University 7.30%
2 Stanford University 9%
3 Harvard University 11.80%
4 U. of California-Berkeley 12%
5 U. of Connecticut 14.10%
6 U. of Maryland 15.50%
7 Columbia University 15.90%
8 U. of Chicago 16.20%
9 U. of Pennsylvania 16.30%
10 U. of California-Los Angeles 17.50%

I wonder how much this is going to change this year, given the supposed rise in applications at some places.

For example, Virginia acceptance rate so far this year is only 14.6%. For out-of-state applicants, I'm sure it's probably even lower.

from here: http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/news/2 ... ssions.htm

[Helmholtz]

Come on future lawyers, can't we think of something more clever than the r-word?

From Special Olympics:
The 7 million people with intellectual disabilities (around the planet) who are on the receiving end of this hate speak are NEVER going to return your vitriol. Ever! So what could possibly be the up-side of continuing to use the "R-word" in your daily discourse?
http://www.r-word.org/?jmid=18395&j=231481601

Sorry for the political correctness diatribe, but this thread is just over the top.

I'd call you and idiot (the "I-word", if you will), but I'm fearful of all the idiots in the world I might be offending with my hate speech.

[utexas2010]

I recommend watching a segment from George Carlin where he describes how stupid Americans are by always enhancing typically simple words. Why should I have to say "the mentally challenged" when a simple word like retarded gets to the point? Also, its the context that you use it in. There might be more politically correct terms but I wouldn't go around bashing people that use the word retard.

[MARCELINO]

CLICHÈ: Its the word that comes to mind with the top 10 list.

[araiza99]

Depends on the application pool.

Law School Accept
1 Yale University 7.30%
2 Stanford University 9%
3 Harvard University 11.80%
4 U. of California-Berkeley 12%
5 U. of Connecticut 14.10%
6 U. of Maryland 15.50%
7 Columbia University 15.90%
8 U. of Chicago 16.20%
9 U. of Pennsylvania 16.30%
10 U. of California-Los Angeles 17.50%

I wonder how much this is going to change this year, given the supposed rise in applications at some places.

For example, Virginia acceptance rate so far this year is only 14.6%. For out-of-state applicants, I'm sure it's probably even lower.

from here: http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/news/2 ... ssions.htm

Applications are up but applicants are down. I suspect that schools will begin to issue a larger number of waitlists. Entering upon being removed from a waitlist will become the norm.