Possible diversity query Forum

[MrAdams]

I am just curious as to how people think American Law Schools will treat my application as an Int. student?

I'm Scottish; as in, I was born, raised and live in Scotland, not I-am-American-but-my-great-grandparent's-friend's-dog's-first-owner-was-scottish-so-I-am-scottish. As Scotland has quite a paltry ~5million people total I doubt the schools I am applying to have had many Scottish applicants, if any. I am curious as to whether this will this be a benefit, or a hindrance, or neither? I honestly feel that my nationality has been more of a hindrance in the application process so far so id like to hope, albeit optimistically, that my unique nationality will make me stand out in some positive respect.

p.s. I am white. Like, white white ha.

[Pleasye]

As Scotland has quite a paltry ~5million people total I doubt the schools I am applying to have had many Scottish applicants, if any. I am curious as to whether this will this be a benefit, or a hindrance, or neither?

It will probably be neither. International students may be more rare than american students but they are nothing that a law school has never seen before.

You could possibly try to write a diversity statement about what you think you will bring to the school, but it won't give you any type of boost.

[EbonyEsq]

I am just curious as to how people think American Law Schools will treat my application as an Int. student?

I'm Scottish; as in, I was born, raised and live in Scotland, not I-am-American-but-my-great-grandparent's-friend's-dog's-first-owner-was-scottish-so-I-am-scottish. As Scotland has quite a paltry ~5million people total I doubt the schools I am applying to have had many Scottish applicants, if any. I am curious as to whether this will this be a benefit, or a hindrance, or neither? I honestly feel that my nationality has been more of a hindrance in the application process so far so id like to hope, albeit optimistically, that my unique nationality will make me stand out in some positive respect.

p.s. I am white. Like, white white ha.

White Americans and White Europeans are practically brothers.

I suppose you can speak of your Scottish background in a diversity statement, but your numbers will still matter and your application will be reviewed no differently from a White American.

[s0ph1e2007]

As Scotland has quite a paltry ~5million people total I doubt the schools I am applying to have had many Scottish applicants, if any. I am curious as to whether this will this be a benefit, or a hindrance, or neither?

It will probably be neither. International students may be more rare than american students but they are nothing that a law school has never seen before.

You could possibly try to write a diversity statement about what you think you will bring to the school, but it won't give you any type of boost.

Write a diversity statement
Cant hurt
If you and another candidate end up completely tied basically for a spot, they may think you're more interesting.

btw yay Scotland! used to live there
... food is better here haha

[St.Remy]

I am just curious as to how people think American Law Schools will treat my application as an Int. student?

Some schools seem to accept a far more or fewer international students than their peers (for instance, Chicago accepts very few) so sometimes it will help, other times it will hurt. The ABA guide keeps statistics on international students, so check that out for the schools you'll be applying to for a rough estimate.

[MrAdams]

btw yay Scotland! used to live there
... food is better here haha

Yeah, no kidding, when I first saw a triple burger at Wendy's I felt like my whole hamburger life went up +1 level. Carls' Jnr and In'n'out.... well. Mind=blown. Saying that, cant beat a battered Mars bar, or battered fish and chips; although I can't eat those kinds of foods so much regardless of how amazing they are. Anyway, hope you were on the more accommodating east coast rather than the west coast of Scotland.

Thank you guys for your pointers, applying to American law schools is not really a done thing here. My Law School Dean has never heard of anyone doing what I am doing and I go to a top 8 school. I will include a diversity statement detailing the substantial elements of Scottish culture that are not really conveyed to American audiences that I can bring and the general disparities between Scottish personalities/'characters' and American characters which may make me an asset in class. Unfortunately as I study law in Scotland my school doesn't use GPA's, so I am working my ass off to dominate the Dec LSAT (I skipped the oct to make sure I got a decent lsat score) but I still hope being a Scottish Int student will help me along. I am applying soley to CA law schools, so thank you for the advice regarding ABA lists and int student counts St Remy - ill look into it. Btw, nice avatar, although personal preference may dictate wiskey flutes and whiskey being slightly superior to the fancywine .