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Does having a parent and other family members previously graduate from a law school increase you chances of getting accepted to the same school? Does that carry any weight?

jtb00711 wrote:Does having a parent and other family members previously graduate from a law school increase you chances of getting accepted to the same school? Does that carry any weight?

Don't think so. Maybe if they happened to be unusually generous donors. Otherwise, I wouldn't count on anything.

There were a bunch of applications that asked about whether a family member or someone you know attended the law school when I applied. Honestly, I don't think it makes a difference unless, as KnockGlock, noted, they're donors or well-known.

EDIT: Post 1,300! Yeah, I'm a dork.

billyez wrote:There were a bunch of applications that asked about whether a family member or someone you know attended the law school when I applied. Honestly, I don't think it makes a difference unless, as KnockGlock, noted, they're donors or well-known.

It might help you write an insightful "Why X" essay though! So in that sense it could be beneficial.

I concur. It should be noted that "legacy" applicants, which is what we're really talking about here I suppose, don't just have to be in regards to family. I interned under someone who went to American University and put his name down as someone I knew who had graduated from there. Had it been a #1 choice of mine, I might have written an essay about it.

Thanks for the responses. An attorney where I work is writing me a LOR for the school he graduated from, my father also graduated from the same school; reason I ask.

It might carry a little weight if you have a nice family history there. Not just if your dad graduated, but say everyone in the family went there.