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URM, 30 years old, Male, African-American
165/3.7, Ivy undergrad in humanities

My softs are 8 years working as a consultant for a tier 2 consulting company, nothing very unique.

I applied early to NYU and am now working on sending other applications. Where should I apply to - what schools in the T14 should I apply to.

I'm not retaking the LSAT so that's not a consideration here.

https://mylsn.info/f1p2i3

This MyLSN report shows data for URM (AA only), 164-166, 3.65-3.75, includes (but not only) ED and non-traditional. Looks like you've got a good shot at NYU based on the last five cycles, ED or otherwise. Decent outcomes at the rest of the T13. Harvard, Columbia, and Michigan all look particularly receptive, especially if you expand the data to the last 9 cycles. Not a lot of places putting money on the table, though.

Thanks for the input. Another Q if anyone can answer is - while I primarily identify (and look) like an African-American I also put White down as my mother is half white. Does being mixed/submitting a diversity statement influence the URM factor?

mk8387 wrote:Thanks for the input. Another Q if anyone can answer is - while I primarily identify (and look) like an African-American I also put White down as my mother is half white. Does being mixed/submitting a diversity statement influence the URM factor?

First, welcome to TLS!

No, being 3/4ths African-American and 1/4th Caucasian, in and of itself, should not give you any more or less of a URM "boost" than if you didn't have any Caucasian ancestry. You will still be considered an African-American URM by adcoms and evaluated accordingly.

You can/should submit a DS if you can write a good one, but as you may have already read here on TLS, law school admissions is largely/almost exclusively numbers-driven. "Softs" - LORs, work experience, PS, DS - only matter around the edges (except at Y/S, where you need both superb numbers and superb softs). If you find yourself struggling to write a compelling DS, don't sweat it. Adcoms won't ding you for not submitting a DS. (It would be ridiculous to expect all non-Caucasian applicants to submit a DS due to their race.) Of course, though, if you have a strong DS in mind, by all means write it up and include it. Keep in mind a DS need not (only) be about race, it can also be about other factors that distinguish you from the prototypical heterosexual, able, (at least) middle-class WASP male applicant with ~0-2 years of work experience. Things like family issues, financial issues, health issues, etc. can all potentially make for good DS topics.