Top Law Schools

What role does a cPTSD diagnosis play in my law school applications?

I'm funding my undergrad partially with an Underrepresented Student Scholarship and was selected for LSAC's Pre-Law Undergraduate Scholars Program, also designed for underrepresented students. I am not registered with my undergrad as disabled because as a freshman, I thought the hoops I'd have to jump through outweighed the potential benefits.

My condition has had a profound impact on the trajectory of my life, and have a hospitalization a long time ago and an inadvertent "gap" year to show for it. I plan to submit an addendum explaining how all of that transpired to account for the empty year. It's also a major factor in why I chose law, and a source of enormous personal growth.

These days it's mostly under control with help from meds, weekly therapy, an emotional support animal, and just plain better coping skills. I'll have a 3.7 and am gunning for a 175-180 (171 current) LSAT score, and have strong softs, professional writing experience, and great rec letters to go with it.

As a white woman, I feel weird identifying as disabled or underrepresented, but my experiences are far from typical and have made me who I am. Does this warrant a diversity statement? Will disclosing this information help or hurt my application, if I can demonstrate that it doesn't make me a drop-out risk?

Thank you for your time, TLS.

No it doesn't. URM in law applications specifically and exclusively refers to African American, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, and indigenous peoples.

PTSD is perhaps a borderline diversity factor but in all likelihood it falls below more traditional, non-URM diversity factors (ethnic groups outside of the 4 URM groups, LGBT, clear socioeconomic factors). Be warned that indicating you have PTSD in your application could endanger you in the character and fitness portion of the bar exam.

Respectfully, how would it endanger me in character and fitness? My resume and numbers indicate (rightly) that it's adversity I've overcome, which I repeatedly see as a plus in an application. I can't explain the discrepancy in my resume or my interest in law without mentioning it at least in passing. How would I circumvent it?

I'm sorry, I just reread your statement after submitting my response for modding and saw that you're talking about the bar exam.

Same question, though: how would this endanger me in character and fitness?

Because bar associations ask about/take into consideration mental health conditions when admitting you to the bar. They want to make sure you’re stable enough to represent other people and handle their money. I’m not at all saying you’re not, just that this is what bar associations worry about.

(But you’d likely have to disclose this when applying for the bar anyway, so no need to worry about disclosing it now.)

nixy wrote:Because bar associations ask about/take into consideration mental health conditions when admitting you to the bar. They want to make sure you’re stable enough to represent other people and handle their money. I’m not at all saying you’re not, just that this is what bar associations worry about.

(But you’d likely have to disclose this when applying for the bar anyway, so no need to worry about disclosing it now.)

This. It’s not unheard of for people to get bounced for mental health issues from time to time.

Extreme case but here: https://abovethelaw.com/2017/06/a-bad-c ... mployment/

I really appreciate your candor because I didn't realize that was an issue, but at the same time, that's just how it'll have to be. It can't be undone and hiding it risks far worse penalties.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to approach the topic in my application? I'm hesitant to say too much at the risk of sounding like I *am* the diagnosis, rather than a person who just got dealt a shit hand. At the same time, I really think it requires a mention.

If you were on admissions, what would turn you off or on about an applicant's story like this?