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I'm new to this forum and have been browsing the boards, but am a little confused about URM boost for Mexican Americans. I read LSAC recently changed "Hispanic" to include Mexican Americans...does this mean all Hispanics now get the same boost as Mexican Americans? Or do only Mexican Americans receive this boost? Additionally, is it really true that Mexican Americans receive approximately a 5 pt boost on their LSAT score?

I am half Mexican, half Spanish, and was going to check "Mexican American" instead of Hispanic, as this is how I have always identified myself. I have a 3.4GPA and 165 LSAT...trying to decide what the highest ranked schools I might be able to get into. Any suggestions on where I should apply?

Sorry for all the random questions - I'm extremely nervous about the application process! Thanks in advance for all the help.

The boost is applied by the school, not by LSAC. Each school phrases its question differently, and some only ask if you're Hispanic while others break it out specifically and ask if you're Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc. It's also not clear how the boost is applied at these different schools as a result, since they're requesting different levels of information from you and may thus be doing things differently. It just depends on what level of information the schools actually ask for and get from you, and how they use it.

However, it does appear that Mexican-Americans get stronger boosts than other Hispanics where it makes a difference. That's good news in your favor, if you keep identifying as Mexican-American, and I see no reason for you not to.

One thing to consider is that the boost for Hispanics at schools in the north and east appears stronger than at schools in the south and west. You can't just say it'll give you a "5 point boost" because different schools boost differently based on their needs. Schools in CA and TX especially get high numbers of Hispanic applicants and don't need to boost as much to get high Hispanic enrollment; up in the northeast schools appear to give bigger boosts to Hispanics and still have lower enrollment than the CA/TX schools.

The moral of the story there is, look north/east if you're looking for the biggest advantage.