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Even if they don't mention one?

If they also said they accept any other information then I did. If not then I didn't.

Same. I ended up submitting one to Chicago even though they kind of discourage it (since I wasn't submitting any other addenda). And I submitted one to GW under their extra "300 word" option. But if a school doesn't say you can submit anything extra, don't.

Hmmm...are there any T14 or T20 schools that would not want to receive a diversity statement? Let me know..it would save me a lot of time looking it up

iwanta170 wrote:Hmmm...are there any T14 or T20 schools that would not want to receive a diversity statement? Let me know..it would save me a lot of time looking it up

I don't remember exactly but I'm pretty sure there were at least a couple schools (in the top 20) that I didn't attach my DS to because they did not offer the option for additional essays nor did they say I could provide "any and all additional info."

I attached a DS to every application last cycle. Whether it helped or hindered my application, I can't say.

Yes to Diversity Statement:
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
NYU
Penn
Berkeley
Michigan
Northwestern
Cornell
Georgetown

U of C seems on the fence. UCLA says you can attach something about socio-economic status, but not necessarily other forms of diversity. Vanderbilt implies no. USC was unclear to me. GW doesn't seem to want one.

WashU and Cornell have those mini-diversity statements in their application, so I didn't attach a full one.

RTFM wrote:Yes to Diversity Statement:
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
NYU
Penn
Berkeley
Michigan
Northwestern
Cornell
Georgetown

U of C seems on the fence. UCLA says you can attach something about socio-economic status, but not necessarily other forms of diversity. Vanderbilt implies no. USC was unclear to me. GW doesn't seem to want one.

WashU and Cornell have those mini-diversity statements in their application, so I didn't attach a full one.

GW definitely accepts a 300 word one. I know because I remember cutting it down to 300 words their punk asses. NU's is supposed to be 1-2 paragraphs.

Here is the list of schools I am sending my statement to so far-

Yes:
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
NYU
Penn
Berkeley
Michigan
Cornell
Georgetown
George Washington
Chicago
USC
UCLA
Wash U

Northwestern: 1-2 paragraphs (Seems a bit ridiculous to write an essay that brief)

No:
Empty

bk187 wrote:

RTFM wrote:Yes to Diversity Statement:
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
NYU
Penn
Berkeley
Michigan
Northwestern
Cornell
Georgetown

U of C seems on the fence. UCLA says you can attach something about socio-economic status, but not necessarily other forms of diversity. Vanderbilt implies no. USC was unclear to me. GW doesn't seem to want one.

WashU and Cornell have those mini-diversity statements in their application, so I didn't attach a full one.

GW definitely accepts a 300 word one. I know because I remember cutting it down to 300 words their punk asses. NU's is supposed to be 1-2 paragraphs.

Yeah, you're right, I don't know why I wrote that. I cut mine down to 300 words for them.

Does anyone know what UVA's policy is on diversity statements? Right now I am sending a DS to every other T14 school.

iwanta170 wrote:Does anyone know what UVA's policy is on diversity statements? Right now I am sending a DS to every other T14 school.

RTFM. Seriously, I'm pretty sure they say something like you can.

bk187 wrote:

iwanta170 wrote:Does anyone know what UVA's policy is on diversity statements? Right now I am sending a DS to every other T14 school.

RTFM. Seriously, I'm pretty sure they say something like you can.

I'll take another look at their website. Nothing is mentioned about a DS on their application/application instructions

iwanta170 wrote:I'll take another look at their website. Nothing is mentioned about a DS on their application/application instructions

Took me all of 30 seconds (including logging in to LSAC) to find it. Under the "Personal Statement" section of their app:

UVa Application wrote:Should you wish to address other aspects of yourself or
your application outside of the personal statement, you may attach addenda.

bk187 wrote:

iwanta170 wrote:I'll take another look at their website. Nothing is mentioned about a DS on their application/application instructions

Took me all of 30 seconds (including logging in to LSAC) to find it. Under the "Personal Statement" section of their app:

UVa Application wrote:Should you wish to address other aspects of yourself or
your application outside of the personal statement, you may attach addenda.

Ah I didn't think of looking there. Thank you kind sir

RTFM wrote:Yes to Diversity Statement:
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
NYU
Penn
Berkeley
Michigan
Northwestern
Cornell
Georgetown

U of C seems on the fence. UCLA says you can attach something about socio-economic status, but not necessarily other forms of diversity. Vanderbilt implies no. USC was unclear to me. GW doesn't seem to want one.

WashU and Cornell have those mini-diversity statements in their application, so I didn't attach a full one.

where did you get the idea that Vanderbilt implies no? I would think they'd want one seeing as they aren't too robust on the diversity front...

MissLucky wrote:

RTFM wrote:Yes to Diversity Statement:
Harvard
Stanford
Columbia
NYU
Penn
Berkeley
Michigan
Northwestern
Cornell
Georgetown

U of C seems on the fence. UCLA says you can attach something about socio-economic status, but not necessarily other forms of diversity. Vanderbilt implies no. USC was unclear to me. GW doesn't seem to want one.

WashU and Cornell have those mini-diversity statements in their application, so I didn't attach a full one.

where did you get the idea that Vanderbilt implies no? I would think they'd want one seeing as they aren't too robust on the diversity front...

They give you three lines on the application to list your diversity characteristics, and there is nowhere else on the application or in the instructions that says include an addendum if you have more to say about it. Those three lines are enough for them to get a good idea of what diversity you could bring to their campus.

It takes a lot of time to do the research on each of these schools, but I have found that if you look at the FAQs for admissions or interviews with the deans, they generally say something along the lines of:

My undergraduate GPA is lower than it should be. Will GW Law consider only the GPA in my major or only the GPA for my last two years of college when I was doing better?

The GPA that is important in our admissions process is your cumulative GPA – for your entire undergraduate career. We will, however, note an upward trend in your performance and certainly will consider any factors that influenced your performance in the semesters in which your performance was not at a level illustrative of your capabilities. You should include an addendum with your application explaining what happened in one or more semesters in which your performance was particularly poor.

Im no expert but my sense is that the admissions people, at least on the surface, are generally interested in getting as clear a picture as possible of candidates in as few words as possible. In my own applications, I have been sending a diversity statement weather or not the application explicitly OKs it because I believe it is a fundamentally important part of my background and academic history. Its concise (about 350 words) and super direct. If you are simply trying to bandage a poor GPA without a compelling or legitimate reason, than it could hurt you.

I submitted to every school I applied even for those that did not note any additional data.

Crap, I only attached a DS if they explicitly said you could.

ksimon2007 wrote:I submitted to every school I applied even for those that did not note any additional data.

me too.

What about writing one if you're not a minority, but have an immigrant parent and celebrate many European traditions etc? This probably isn't going to help much even if I speak the language fluently?

hotshot234512 wrote:What about writing one if you're not a minority, but have an immigrant parent and celebrate many European traditions etc? This probably isn't going to help much even if I speak the language fluently?

The diversity statement, as I see it, is a moment to speak about non-academic characteristics that set you apart. I think it needs to be substantive in the sense that you need to convey how this status has effected you. How you have faced controversy potentially from it and handled that...I am sort of shooting from the hip but I'm from Texas so whatever

hotshot234512 wrote:What about writing one if you're not a minority, but have an immigrant parent and celebrate many European traditions etc? This probably isn't going to help much even if I speak the language fluently?

I have seen published DS samples that addresses other diversity topics such as disabilities. I think if you can truly express how you standout, how it impacted your life, and how it could enhance the learning environment of your future classmates then you should write one.