Which URM group gets the biggest boost? Forum

[HardyJo]

And what kind of boost is there for each URM group?

[twenty]

URM admissions are not as cut and dry as people think. Since most URMs are admitted with significantly-lower-than-median numbers, a 164/3.7 may in fact beat a 165/3.75 given a compelling application, good softs, etc.

That all said, AA undoubtedly gets the highest boost, followed by Native Americans (particularly enrolled NAs; law schools have been a bit more vigilant about cracking down on dubious claims to NA ancestry lately), followed by MAs/PRs -- my gut feeling is that MAs get slightly more boost than PRs.

Non-URM diverse candidates seem to outperform their white counterparts, but this is more of a tiebreaker than anything else.

[HardyJo]

URM admissions are not as cut and dry as people think. Since most URMs are admitted with significantly-lower-than-median numbers, a 164/3.7 may in fact beat a 165/3.75 given a compelling application, good softs, etc.

That all said, AA undoubtedly gets the highest boost, followed by Native Americans (particularly enrolled NAs; law schools have been a bit more vigilant about cracking down on dubious claims to NA ancestry lately), followed by MAs/PRs -- my gut feeling is that MAs get slightly more boost than PRs.

Non-URM diverse candidates seem to outperform their white counterparts, but this is more of a tiebreaker than anything else.

Thanks twentypercentmore! Another question I had was do certain Tier 1 schools prefer certain URMs to others, and could you give a few examples?

[MoMettaMonk]

http://admissionsbythenumbers.blogspot.com/

Look around that site, it's got a pretty solid analysis of the increased chances of admissions that come with various activities, including LSAT boost equivalents for URMs.

Of course this doesn't give the full picture of URM admissions and the person who runs the blog admits as much.

As far as certain schools preferring certain URMs, I'm not sure if anyone's really done an analysis of it, but if you look around lawschoolnumbers and do searches for only URMs (exclude AA), or URMs (only AA) you'll be able to get a general idea of the scores that will get different URMs into individual schools.

[Firewater]

And what kind of boost is there for each URM group?

lawschoolnumbers.com is your friend.... anecdotally I believe that the order is AA>MA>NA>PR

[twenty]

The NA boost is tricky. Since there are so few NAs that apply to law school, and even fewer that apply with 160+ numbers, schools can be incredibly selective with who they accept. For instance, there was only 4-5 NAs that were accepted at Harvard last cycle. I've seen NA applicants get the same or better boost as AA applicants on LSN, but these are typically federally registered NA applicants that have substantial ties to the NA community. Incidentally, a white applicant with high cheekbones that, come application time just so happens to remember a great-great-grandmother who was known for monkeying around, is not going to get the same boost.

This is vastly different from a white applicant with a black grandparent, who will receive the entirety of the AA boost.

[Firewater]

The NA boost is tricky. Since there are so few NAs that apply to law school, and even fewer that apply with 160+ numbers, schools can be incredibly selective with who they accept. For instance, there was only 4-5 NAs that were accepted at Harvard last cycle. I've seen NA applicants get the same or better boost as AA applicants on LSN, but these are typically federally registered NA applicants that have substantial ties to the NA community. Incidentally, a white applicant with high cheekbones that, come application time just so happens to remember a great-great-grandmother who was known for monkeying around, is not going to get the same boost.

This is vastly different from a white applicant with a black grandparent, who will receive the entirety of the AA boost.

Yes that probably figures heavily into the NA differentials I've seen. I have my card, but I wonder what difference that makes to adcoms?

[Nova]

AA males get the biggest boost. Then AA Females.