URM Boost Forum

[boosk]

There is a ton of info on this forum for AA URM boosts, but relatively little for MA's. Mexican American Male here... Can anyone weigh in on gpa/lsat floors @ T14 for us?

Get a 170 and a 3.6+ and you're probably in everywhere save Yale.

A 167+ and a median GPA will get you Top 6

A 165+ and a median GPA will land you somewhere in the top 10.

I would say a 163 is the lowest you can hope for and still have a reasonable chance at T14, assuming you have above 75th GPA.

There's not really an exact science to this, but PM me if you'd like to know anything specific. Also, apply to all the T14...regardless if you don't think you have a chance at a school--this is my biggest regret.

thanks, I will get at you after I get my LSAT score in a few weeks

[JamMasterJ]

I am not sure if you read my statement correctly or as it was intended to be received. I would have a better chance at making top 5% or 10% than re-taking the LSAT because my standardized testing skills are just not great. My SAT scores were VERY low also and I graduated in the top 10% of my class in college. I love Florida and I love Gainesville and I haven chosen this school (which was one of my top choices) with no intent to transfer. On another note I am very confident in my ability to do well at the University of Florida and I don't think that top of the class is out of the question for me. I appreciate your concern, and I agree that it is a bad idea to attend a school with the goal of transferring but that is definitely not my plan.

Ok, cool. Just as a side note, it would be beneficial to write an LSAT addendum about this including an official copy of your SAT score. It shows that test scores aren't exactly indicative of your ability

[mcecilia2489]

I am not sure if you read my statement correctly or as it was intended to be received. I would have a better chance at making top 5% or 10% than re-taking the LSAT because my standardized testing skills are just not great. My SAT scores were VERY low also and I graduated in the top 10% of my class in college. I love Florida and I love Gainesville and I haven chosen this school (which was one of my top choices) with no intent to transfer. On another note I am very confident in my ability to do well at the University of Florida and I don't think that top of the class is out of the question for me. I appreciate your concern, and I agree that it is a bad idea to attend a school with the goal of transferring but that is definitely not my plan.

Ok, cool. Just as a side note, it would be beneficial to write an LSAT addendum about this including an official copy of your SAT score. It shows that test scores aren't exactly indicative of your ability

Great suggestion! And of course I definitely did that. I think that it 100% contributed to the success of my cycle.

[DreamsInDigital]

Just a little more anecdotal information.

Chicano male, 2.7 GPA (multiple Fs, from HYP. no illness or family emergency, but compelling addendum), 170, 5 years strong work experience

I didn't discover TLS until after I had applied, so I think I did a couple things wrong (applied too late, didn't express school specific interest or complete any interviews). I think changing this would have led to most of my waitlists becoming acceptances, but without money, so I would have ended up at the same place.


University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - $126,000 - attending
University of Minnesota - $75,000
University of Maryland - scholarship finalist
UC Hastings - 0 aid

Columbia - reserved
Georgetown - Waitlisted
Northwestern - Held
UC Davis - waitlisted
USC - waitlisted
William and Mary - waitlisted

uc Berkeley - ding
UCLA - ding
Stanford - ding
university of Virginia - ding
university of Chicago - ding

I think my cycle is a great example that a lot of the truisms that people talk about on TLS actually have some basis.

- URM boost def exists, but it usually favors high gpa/low lsat splitters.
- traditional splitters have the most luck in the midwest, and URMs usually get offered large scholarships
- California schools really hate low GPAs.

Aside from that, I'll echo what others have said; focus on making every part of your application as strong as possible, and apply everywhere you could realistically see yourself going. Once you have graduated and taken your lsat, you can not control those things so focus on what you can control. There is no harm in casting a wide net and aiming high.

[jhspaybar]

Any idea what sort of a boost a PR male gets compared to an AA male? I don't want to get my hopes up from LSN seeing the AA males getting into amazing schools with similar numbers

[KShip]

Wondering the same thing about PR female. This thread has made me curious.

[bk1]

Any idea what sort of a boost a PR male gets compared to an AA male? I don't want to get my hopes up from LSN seeing the AA males getting into amazing schools with similar numbers

Wondering the same thing about PR female. This thread has made me curious.

I am MX/PR. It isn't going to be as large as an AA boost, but it is still going to be quite a huge boost and your cycles will be far closer to someone who is AA than to someone who is not a URM.

As others have said it really isn't an exact science so it is hard to give specifics. Though if you post your stats in the "What are my chances?" forum you will get good feedback.

[jhspaybar]

So, if I have a comparable GPA and an LSAT maybe 2-3 points higher than an AA male I might consider that as a good comparison?

[bk1]

So, if I have a comparable GPA and an LSAT maybe 2-3 points higher than an AA male I might consider that as a good comparison?

Again it's not so exact, but it should be fairly similar.

[Oban]

URM boost is hard to predict. I was below both 25th of every school in the top 20, but got into several schools with huge scholarships, while lower ranked schools(state schools) out right rejected me

I'd the boost is the biggest at Privates in the T14-25, and lowest at the Publics in the T40 or so.

[unc0mm0n1]

Look at my profile on LSN, I think I can accurately describe the URM boost, the only school that rejected me was UT Austin, everywhere else was either an acceptance or a wait list

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/miracle2011

I think that this is better evidence that the bump is unevenly applied. This is pretty good. I'm an AA male with the same LSAT, higher GPA and work experience on the Hill, and I didn't get into Penn nor did I get any money from UMich or Cornell.

P.S. It's also great evidence that life experiences matter in the admissions process. I don't mean for any of the above to undermine your personal accomplishments.

+1

I was outright rejected at NYU and waitlisted at schools as low as Vandy and UCLA but I got into Harvard, Yale, Penn, Berkeley and a slew of other T14s. It's really about what you do with the rest of your application. You will get a boost but you also have to show them you will bring something to the table. The good thing is you found this site and it will give you a leg up on the application cycle. I wish I would have found this site earlier because I would have never made mistakes like EDing to UCLA or choosing schools based on speciality rankings. The applications I turned in before TLS and after TLS were drastically different. People on this site esp. in the URM community will really bend over backwards to help you. The message may be extremely harsh sometimes but it really does help you out in the long run.

[boosk]

so what I'm gathering is that the URM boost is somewhat numerical (LSAT), but also unquantifiable in that softs for URM's affect the extent to which this boost is given to an individual applicant...

is this a good generalization?