Indigo12 wrote:Questions re HLR:
1. If current editors (not sure if this includes exiting 3Ls) are the ones grading the writing competition, are 1Ls given something similar to an anonymous ID? Or is there a conflicts system in place similar to what the BSAs do, which is that a current BSA can't evaluate an applicant they know personally, whether the relationship is sweet or sour.
2. I've seen general & vague descriptions of the 14 "grade-on" spots as a "combination of writing competition and their 1L grades." I've heard that every section is automatically allotted at least 2 spots, so the top 2 from each section who take the writing competition automatically get on, regardless of how well they do on that competition.
So are the 14 grade-on spots truly blind to writing comp scores, as long as you do it? Of course, no one can know for sure whether they're on pace to be top 2 in the section, so even someone with Hs & DSs should attempt the writing comp in good faith. But if the grade-on spots are blind to writing comp scores, could you theoretically get on by writing a bunch of gibberish on the writing comp?
3. The 20 spots allotted "solely on the basis of writing comp scores": Are the selectors truly blind to everything else in the package? As in, these 20 spots are determined solely based on a rank-ordering of writing comp scores, and the selectors can't find reasons to deny a top-20 scorer in the rest of the application package? Of course, if it's blind, then selectors should be indifferent between applicants, but it's at least conceivable that a selector would go "ok this person scored in the top 20 in writing comp...let's just look through the rest of his application really quickly...oh gosh his diversity statement claiming physical disability, while sympathetic, is littered with errors. He did score in the top 20, but let's toss it."
Basically, if an applicant plans to contend only for 1 of the groups (write-on only, grade-on combo, diversity), can he submit only the materials relevant to that one group? So someone who plans to contend only for write-on would omit everything but the writing comp itself, someone who...grade-on combo..."does" the writing comp but only as a formality, and so on?
1. Yes, you get an anonymous competition number. It's double-blind graded.
2. No. It's a combination of the grades and writing competition score. The best 2 on this metric get an invitation. So, for example, if the #3 person and #4 person in terms of GPA in a section earn enough points to compensate for the difference between the #1 and #2 person they might get the 2 spots allotted for each section.
3.
Yes. And there is no diversity or personal statement in the write-on (at least while I was at HLS). Edit: I've been informed HLR has implemented an optional diversity statement this year.
To your last question, no. You submit your application, generally. You might get an invitation through one of the several paths, but you will never be told that and indeed no one will ever know which path led to your invitation.
The HLR write-on competition is run very professionally. It is not worth stressing out about anything on that end. Focus on submitting the best write-on packet you can (and following directions to the letter).
