Chances at NU?

[alexonfyre]

Right now I am a 2.81/166 URM with (by next year's cycle) 2 years of WE as marketing director for a small company in Louisiana.
I know right now my chances are none, however I am currently taking an online LSAT class to raise my score in June (166 was scored with 2 weeks of light prep, stupid move.)

My questions are: what are my chances if I score a 170+? What score do I need, at a minimum, to have a fighting chance? And are there any other schools in the T14 that would give me a shot as a mega splitter?

Thanks in advance!

[bk1]

I think you have a chance with ED and a 166. I think 172+ and you can get in without ED (possibly). I think 172+ and ED is a guarantee.

[alexonfyre]

I think you have a chance with ED and a 166. I think 172+ and you can get in without ED (possibly). I think 172+ and ED is a guarantee.

I think bk is one of my top 3 favorite posters. Everything he has said about my admissions cycle so far has boosted my confidence.
Thanks again, homie.

[FuManChusco]

I think you have a chance with ED and a 166. I think 172+ and you can get in without ED (possibly). I think 172+ and ED is a guarantee.

+1. I think there's a 2.7/168 URM on LSN that got in with ED.

[alexonfyre]

I think you have a chance with ED and a 166. I think 172+ and you can get in without ED (possibly). I think 172+ and ED is a guarantee.

+1. I think there's a 2.7/168 URM on LSN that got in with ED.

Keep in mind, I am not a "diversity statement" URM, I am an "on paper" URM, I don't know if that makes a difference. (I have Mexican blood, but due to complicated personal reasons my connection to that heritage is limited, at best)

[bk1]

I think you have a chance with ED and a 166. I think 172+ and you can get in without ED (possibly). I think 172+ and ED is a guarantee.

+1. I think there's a 2.7/168 URM on LSN that got in with ED.

Keep in mind, I am not a "diversity statement" URM, I am an "on paper" URM, I don't know if that makes a difference. (I have Mexican blood, but due to complicated personal reasons my connection to that heritage is limited, at best)

I'm a fairly white-washed Hispanic (I am White/Asian/Mexican/Puerto Rican) and my DS wasn't about a deep connection to heritage and instead was about my conflicts between those heritages.

My cycle results tell me that the schools really care about anything other than the box I checked.

[alexonfyre]

I think you have a chance with ED and a 166. I think 172+ and you can get in without ED (possibly). I think 172+ and ED is a guarantee.

+1. I think there's a 2.7/168 URM on LSN that got in with ED.

Keep in mind, I am not a "diversity statement" URM, I am an "on paper" URM, I don't know if that makes a difference. (I have Mexican blood, but due to complicated personal reasons my connection to that heritage is limited, at best)

I'm a fairly white-washed Hispanic (I am White/Asian/Mexican/Puerto Rican) and my DS wasn't about a deep connection to heritage and instead was about my conflicts between those heritages.

My cycle results tell me that the schools really care about anything other than the box I checked.

Well, in the interest of full disclosure... I found out the story of why I am distant from my heritage while deciding if I should apply as a URM or not:
I found out recently that my great-grandparents crossed the border in order to have my grandmother on American soil. They lived in SoCal and suffered some amount of persecution because of this. In the coming years, my great-grandparents decided that they wanted their family to be considered white Americans and only expressed their heritage behind closed doors (food, games, parties, all very mexican.) Because of this, my family has very limited connection to Mexico and at best neutral feelings about it. I discussed how having Mexican blood could actually help me be in law school, and though it was an awkward conversation, basically got a blessing to do it...
I don't think many adcomms will find this story compelling (since my parents and grandparents were the ones who suffered the brunt of it, not me.) In a small way it has made me very sensitive to the plight of Latinos in America right now, and what they have to see and hear all the time, and that it could be bad enough for a family to actually forsake their heritage in order to be happy. My conflict is that my interest is in Public Interest, but primarily in prosecution, where I know I will be pitted against many disadvantaged and disenfranchised minorities in America, which will be harder to reconcile in a personal statement than it is to myself...[~11 lines of introspection over the moral imperative that "justice be done" deleted]


TL;DR: I feel like bringing my heritage up at all in a statement could hurt more than help.

[Bumi]

I found out recently that my great-grandparents crossed the border in order to have my grandmother on American soil. They lived in SoCal and suffered some amount of persecution because of this. In the coming years, my great-grandparents decided that they wanted their family to be considered white Americans and only expressed their heritage behind closed doors (food, games, parties, all very mexican.) Because of this, my family has very limited connection to Mexico and at best neutral feelings about it. I discussed how having Mexican blood could actually help me be in law school, and though it was an awkward conversation, basically got a blessing to do it...
I don't think many adcomms will find this story compelling (since my parents and grandparents were the ones who suffered the brunt of it, not me.) In a small way it has made me very sensitive to the plight of Latinos in America right now, and what they have to see and hear all the time, and that it could be bad enough for a family to actually forsake their heritage in order to be happy. My conflict is that my interest is in Public Interest, but primarily in prosecution, where I know I will be pitted against many disadvantaged and disenfranchised minorities in America, which will be harder to reconcile in a personal statement than it is to myself...[~11 lines of introspection over the moral imperative that "justice be done" deleted]


TL;DR: I feel like bringing my heritage up at all in a statement could hurt more than help.

Here, let me give you your first lesson in persuasive writing, one 0L to another. Take out anything that contradicts your point. Emphasize the things that strengthen your point, like the bolded. It sounds like the makings of a perfectly fine diversity statement to me.

[alexonfyre]

I found out recently that my great-grandparents crossed the border in order to have my grandmother on American soil. They lived in SoCal and suffered some amount of persecution because of this. In the coming years, my great-grandparents decided that they wanted their family to be considered white Americans and only expressed their heritage behind closed doors (food, games, parties, all very mexican.) Because of this, my family has very limited connection to Mexico and at best neutral feelings about it. I discussed how having Mexican blood could actually help me be in law school, and though it was an awkward conversation, basically got a blessing to do it...
I don't think many adcomms will find this story compelling (since my parents and grandparents were the ones who suffered the brunt of it, not me.) In a small way it has made me very sensitive to the plight of Latinos in America right now, and what they have to see and hear all the time, and that it could be bad enough for a family to actually forsake their heritage in order to be happy. My conflict is that my interest is in Public Interest, but primarily in prosecution, where I know I will be pitted against many disadvantaged and disenfranchised minorities in America, which will be harder to reconcile in a personal statement than it is to myself...[~11 lines of introspection over the moral imperative that "justice be done" deleted]


TL;DR: I feel like bringing my heritage up at all in a statement could hurt more than help.

Here, let me give you your first lesson in persuasive writing, one 0L to another. Take out anything that contradicts your point. Emphasize the things that strengthen your point, like the bolded. It sounds like the makings of a perfectly fine diversity statement to me.

I know that...but leaving out pertinent information seems disingenuous to me...seems like a poor way to set a precedent for the rest of my law career.

[Bumi]

I know that...but leaving out pertinent information seems disingenuous to me...seems like a poor way to set a precedent for the rest of my law career.

You know what lawyers do, right?

[alexonfyre]

I know that...but leaving out pertinent information seems disingenuous to me...seems like a poor way to set a precedent for the rest of my law career.

You know what lawyers do, right?

Yeah...I was hoping to avoid that until I at least got out of law school...isn't this my last chance to be a naive idealist?

[Magnolia]

I know that...but leaving out pertinent information seems disingenuous to me...seems like a poor way to set a precedent for the rest of my law career.

You know what lawyers do, right?

Yeah...I was hoping to avoid that until I at least got out of law school...isn't this my last chance to be a naive idealist?

No. That's what undergrad was for. This is your chance to sell yourself in whatever way will get you into the best school possible, which will determine your job opportunities, which will determine the trajectory of your career.

[FuManChusco]

I know that...but leaving out pertinent information seems disingenuous to me...seems like a poor way to set a precedent for the rest of my law career.

You know what lawyers do, right?

Yeah...I was hoping to avoid that until I at least got out of law school...isn't this my last chance to be a naive idealist?

No. That's what undergrad was for. This is your chance to sell yourself in whatever way will get you into the best school possible, which will determine your job opportunities, which will determine the trajectory of your career.

yup. use the urm status to your advantage. if you don't, they'll accept someone else who will.

[alexonfyre]

Yeah...I was hoping to avoid that until I at least got out of law school...isn't this my last chance to be a naive idealist?

No. That's what undergrad was for. This is your chance to sell yourself in whatever way will get you into the best school possible, which will determine your job opportunities, which will determine the trajectory of your career.

yup. use the urm status to your advantage. if you don't, they'll accept someone else who will.

Word. If they are curious they can ask me about it during my OCI (required for ED.) I don't mind being forthright about it, especially in person. Sometimes I wish that schools would put more weight on interviews and less on PS's