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I'll be blunt. I'm a white jewish new yorker applying to law school. But a lot of the schools I'm applying to have an "optional" diversity essay that we can submit with application.
Is it worth trying to show how I'm a diverse student or don't bother with that essay at all?

jtawil wrote:I'll be blunt. I'm a white jewish new yorker applying to law school. But a lot of the schools I'm applying to have an "optional" diversity essay that we can submit with application.
Is it worth trying to show how I'm a diverse student or don't bother with that essay at all?

Depends on what you want to portray as your diversity? But seriously don't write a diversity statement solely as a white Jew from New York. That on its own has to be the least diverse type of person at a law school. That's like the archetypal lawyer--just look at the Supreme Court

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If someone wrote a diversity essay solely on being a white jew, I'd probably auto-deny (unless you're 80 and survived the Holocaust).

I wouldn't.

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I Would not do it

Thanks all. But what if I showed how I'm diverse without mentioning the white Jew aspect. Worth trying?

jtawil wrote:Thanks all. But what if I showed how I'm diverse without mentioning the white Jew aspect. Worth trying?

How are you diverse though?

Rigo wrote:

jtawil wrote:Thanks all. But what if I showed how I'm diverse without mentioning the white Jew aspect. Worth trying?

How are you diverse though?

Yeah, it depends what else you're going to talk about. If you had some kind of really unusual upbringing (you grew up in a commune), or some kind of rare life or work experience (you had cancer/you were the youngest ever mayor of your hometown) that you would bring to bear on your law school experience, maybe. If you're just going to try the "everyone is diverse" angle, I wouldn't. (Obviously those are completely hypothetical examples.)

I was thinking to write about coming from a community that doesn't value education in which higher education is rarely done, and all high school students go directly into business.
Breaking through that barrier...

xnsch wrote:

jtawil wrote:I'll be blunt. I'm a white jewish new yorker applying to law school. But a lot of the schools I'm applying to have an "optional" diversity essay that we can submit with application.
Is it worth trying to show how I'm a diverse student or don't bother with that essay at all?

Depends on what you want to portray as your diversity? But seriously don't write a diversity statement solely as a white Jew from New York. That on its own has to be the least diverse type of person at a law school. That's like the archetypal lawyer--just look at the Supreme Court

this made me laugh pretty hard at work

jtawil wrote:I was thinking to write about coming from a community that doesn't value education in which higher education is rarely done, and all high school students go directly into business.
Breaking through that barrier...

if anything, that should be mentioned in your PS

jtawil wrote:I was thinking to write about coming from a community that doesn't value education in which higher education is rarely done, and all high school students go directly into business.
Breaking through that barrier...

Don't write that. You're not diverse, and that's okay.

jtawil wrote:I was thinking to write about coming from a community that doesn't value education in which higher education is rarely done, and all high school students go directly into business.
Breaking through that barrier...

Now I'm deeply curious about a Jewish community that doesn't value professional education.

How is anyone in this place marrying nice young doctors and lawyers?

jtawil wrote:I was thinking to write about coming from a community that doesn't value education in which higher education is rarely done, and all high school students go directly into business.
Breaking through that barrier...

You're trying too hard. You're not diverse.

Stop trying to make diverse happen. It's not going to happen.

I just did some very quick googling about diversity statements
https://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/jd- ... -are-world

My inclination is to say that the downside risk that they think this isn't a great diversity example is bigger than the upside potential. There are obviously so many Jews, even observant ones, at just about all top schools, and I don't think an admissions officer would read and think, oh, yes, this is an additional compelling reason to admit.

It may be a fine topic for the personal statement, but I just don't know that I'm sold that it feels like a type of diversity that is really going to impact the law school experience and what you can contribute to the class to justify the separate statement.

cavalier1138 wrote:

jtawil wrote:I was thinking to write about coming from a community that doesn't value education in which higher education is rarely done, and all high school students go directly into business.
Breaking through that barrier...

Now I'm deeply curious about a Jewish community that doesn't value professional education.

How is anyone in this place marrying nice young doctors and lawyers?

Hahaha we don't. Mostly marrying successful real estate moguls and wholesalers...

ZVBXRPL wrote:I just did some very quick googling about diversity statements
https://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/jd- ... -are-world

My inclination is to say that the downside risk that they think this isn't a great diversity example is bigger than the upside potential. There are obviously so many Jews, even observant ones, at just about all top schools, and I don't think an admissions officer would read and think, oh, yes, this is an additional compelling reason to admit.

It may be a fine topic for the personal statement, but I just don't know that I'm sold that it feels like a type of diversity that is really going to impact the law school experience and what you can contribute to the class to justify the separate statement.

Thanks so much!!

jtawil wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote:

jtawil wrote:I was thinking to write about coming from a community that doesn't value education in which higher education is rarely done, and all high school students go directly into business.
Breaking through that barrier...

Now I'm deeply curious about a Jewish community that doesn't value professional education.

How is anyone in this place marrying nice young doctors and lawyers?

Hahaha we don't. Mostly marrying successful real estate moguls and wholesalers...

Sephardic (OP, BUT NOT THE NORM) vs. Ashkenaz (dr/lawyer). Lol an SY named Tawil. Smooth.

ZVBXRPL wrote:

jtawil wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote:

jtawil wrote:I was thinking to write about coming from a community that doesn't value education in which higher education is rarely done, and all high school students go directly into business.
Breaking through that barrier...

Now I'm deeply curious about a Jewish community that doesn't value professional education.

How is anyone in this place marrying nice young doctors and lawyers?

Hahaha we don't. Mostly marrying successful real estate moguls and wholesalers...

Sephardic (OP, BUT NOT THE NORM) vs. Ashkenaz (dr/lawyer). Lol an SY named Tawil. Smooth.

Hahaha bingo

Instead of asking about whether a diversity essay is a good idea, how about you just write something, post it, and we can tell you whether or not it's a good piece of writing?

.

zeglo wrote:You're not diverse. Don't write one. I am basically the same as you.

I think you're confusing diversity with uniqueness. Nonetheless, don't write one.