Top Law Schools

So every law school requires us to write a personal statement, resume, and other forms of writing to accommodate our deficiencies as human beings. But why?

Every (decent) law school has a strict GPA/LSAT cut off (most lie and say they don't), and they know very well that giving significant consideration to secondary sources (PS, LOR etc) can mean admitting applicants with subpar numbers. In doing so, their reportable numbers to their master (USNWR) can go down. So they don't. No matter how significant an applicant's achievements in life, no amount of context will get a below-25-percentiles into any reputable schools.

So in essence, top schools ranked by USNWR are only for the few who do meet that "at least median" requirement. So why the hell are all applicants required to submit more than something like a dean's certification form or some criminal background check to verify an applicant's BAR eligibility? Do adcoms really read these and "try-to-form-a-diverse-class-but-only-from-a-select-pool"?

The obvious answer to this is it helps distinguish between applicants with the same numbers.

Because all those extra pieces allow people to believe that it isn't just numbers that matter, and that they have a chance at top schools even when they don't. This increases applications, which gives them a good bit of money and increases their selectivity ranking, which raises their USNWR rankings.

Though for a very very small number of schools those extra pieces actually do matter.

St.Remy wrote:Because all those extra pieces allow people to believe that it isn't just numbers that matter, and that they have a chance at top schools even when they don't. This increases applications, which gives them a good bit of money and increases their selectivity ranking, which raises their USNWR rankings.

Though for a very very small number of schools those extra pieces actually do matter.

My guess is that those TTTT lawyers out of job with 100k debt fell into the naive category. Some of these law school officials should be jailed for fraud and false advertising, and their idiotic students should equally suffer. Oh wait they do.

It would be an interesting experiment to have someone who has a great GPA/LSAT apply to a bunch of schools with really terrible LORs and PS just to see where they get in.

NV53A wrote:So every law school requires us to write a personal statement, resume, and other forms of writing to accommodate our deficiencies as human beings. But why?

Every (decent) law school has a strict GPA/LSAT cut off (most lie and say they don't), and they know very well that giving significant consideration to secondary sources (PS, LOR etc) can mean admitting applicants with subpar numbers. In doing so, their reportable numbers to their master (USNWR) can go down. So they don't. No matter how significant an applicant's achievements in life, no amount of context will get a below-25-percentiles into any reputable schools.

So in essence, top schools ranked by USNWR are only for the few who do meet that "at least median" requirement. So why the hell are all applicants required to submit more than something like a dean's certification form or some criminal background check to verify an applicant's BAR eligibility? Do adcoms really read these and "try-to-form-a-diverse-class-but-only-from-a-select-pool"?

This is silly.

Obviously, there has to be a way of differentiating between candidates that have similarly acceptable numbers. What are they going to do, specify that only students with LSATs and GPAs falling within specific ranges need bother with the essays and letters of recommendation?

Plus, there are definitely incentives in forming a diverse student population. To try to argue otherwise is just contrarianism.

SullaFelix wrote:

NV53A wrote:So every law school requires us to write a personal statement, resume, and other forms of writing to accommodate our deficiencies as human beings. But why?

Every (decent) law school has a strict GPA/LSAT cut off (most lie and say they don't), and they know very well that giving significant consideration to secondary sources (PS, LOR etc) can mean admitting applicants with subpar numbers. In doing so, their reportable numbers to their master (USNWR) can go down. So they don't. No matter how significant an applicant's achievements in life, no amount of context will get a below-25-percentiles into any reputable schools.

So in essence, top schools ranked by USNWR are only for the few who do meet that "at least median" requirement. So why the hell are all applicants required to submit more than something like a dean's certification form or some criminal background check to verify an applicant's BAR eligibility? Do adcoms really read these and "try-to-form-a-diverse-class-but-only-from-a-select-pool"?

This is silly.

Obviously, there has to be a way of differentiating between candidates that have similarly acceptable numbers. What are they going to do, specify that only students with LSATs and GPAs falling within specific ranges need bother with the essays and letters of recommendation?

Plus, there are definitely incentives in forming a diverse student population. To try to argue otherwise is just contrarianism.

This. Does the OP really believe that a name, background check, and numbers are enough to set you apart from other applicants? You often want a holistic view of an applicant. If 1 person has a 3.5 and a 172, how else are you going to tell them apart from the plenty of others with a 3.5, 172?

Besides, numbers dont always tell the full story. For example, person could have a decent GPA and a good LSAT score and not be able to write well (nobody really writes well on the timed writing sample). So you make them submit a PS to see how they would write if they are given a choice of topic and virtually unlimited time to prepare a sample.

Smokescreen.

LSAC or ABA could just dictate assignment based on your LSAT and GPA. In case of a tie between schools, random lottery drawing could be used. Would everyone be happier if that's the case? You take the LSAT and get the transcript in. Boom next day you are assigned a law school and just have to figure out how to pay for it. No competition and no merit scholarships.

r6_philly wrote:LSAC or ABA could just dictate assignment based on your LSAT and GPA. In case of a tie between schools, random lottery drawing could be used. Would everyone be happier if that's the case? You take the LSAT and get the transcript in. Boom next day you are assigned a law school and just have to figure out how to pay for it. No competition and no merit scholarships.

I'd want at least a hot weather/cold weather option.