HELP!! Hong Kong Students Law School Application Forum

[llylouis]

Does anybody here know whether law schools have special quota for those non-american citizens (e.g., Hong Kong students)?
And also, since universities have different criteria in grading, will the law schools give special considerations to those from universities with really tough grading systems?

Thanks!!!

[llylouis]

no guy replies...still waiting..

[tea_drinker]

I'll take a first crack at your questions. Hopefully people will chime in.

I don't think schools have a quota of how many international students they would accept. However, there are several things to consider. US schools in general will likely take US residents (US citizen and what not), this is especially true for public universities. However, if you are famous (e.g. Emma watson), rich or have high credentials (think LSAT 175+ GPA 3.9), schools will prefer you over any US residents on any given day.

In term of grading, law school application process is purely numbers, so it matters very little if your school grading system is harsh. Now if your school is internationally recognized (e.g. oxford, cambridge or king college), that may give you a boost.

[niederbomb]

Does anybody here know whether law schools have special quota for those non-american citizens (e.g., Hong Kong students)?
And also, since universities have different criteria in grading, will the law schools give special considerations to those from universities with really tough grading systems?

Thanks!!!

1. Hong Kong is part of China.

2. Yes, they do have nationality quotas. If they didn't, then close to 100% of students at top schools in all disciplines would be from China, Korea, India, and Japan.

3. No, unless it's famous like Cambridge or McGill.

[paulinaporizkova]

no guy replies...still waiting..

that's because you wrote your messages at 3 am and 8 am on a Sunday, respectively, at least American CST. Anyway, I don't know anything about this but I would guess no since LS's are interested in boosting their GPA medians with high GPAs, wherever they come from. However, I thought international applicants didn't have GPAs that translated to American GPAs, so I don't know how that works. I think a high LSAT is more important for you since your grades aren't quite as quantifiable. Then, again, I could be totally wrong. Just taking a shot in the dark.

[tea_drinker]

2. Yes, they do have nationality quotas. If they didn't, then close to 100% of students at top schools in all disciplines would be from China, Korea, India, and Japan.

I would be interested to see where you find this official quota for top schools.

[paulinaporizkova]

2. Yes, they do have nationality quotas. If they didn't, then close to 100% of students at top schools in all disciplines would be from China, Korea, India, and Japan.

I would be interested to see where you find this official quota for top schools.

i was just about to question the fuck out of this claim as well.

[icpb]

You assume that undergrads from China, Korea, India, and Japan dominate the upper echelon of LSAT. Provide support. And, why is Japan even among those? Unlike undergrads in China and India, and to an extent Korea, undergrads in Japan don't want to come to the US. They only care about HYPS.

Does anybody here know whether law schools have special quota for those non-american citizens (e.g., Hong Kong students)?
And also, since universities have different criteria in grading, will the law schools give special considerations to those from universities with really tough grading systems?

Thanks!!!

1. Hong Kong is part of China.

2. Yes, they do have nationality quotas. If they didn't, then close to 100% of students at top schools in all disciplines would be from China, Korea, India, and Japan.

3. No, unless it's famous like Cambridge or McGill.

[llylouis]

Thanks you guys for your kind replies.

Actually I read reports on some law schools like stanford law school about the percentage of foreign students. The fact is that the percentage is below 1%, which means around 2-3 foreign students are admitted.

Also, apart from LSAT & GPA, English proficiency test like TOEFL is also a factor that matters to the admission board.

And, Yes, Asian students are competitive in many academic subjects, but as far as I know, almost no native Asians join law school JD programs (although for L.L.M the situation is completely different). In an extreme case, for law school in UofT (though it's a canadian school...anyway), exactly ZERO native asians are there. so...

And Yes, Hong Kong is part of China. But this is out of the discussion (unless Chinese Nationality gives me any priority in the whole application process =P).

Still, Thanks ALL of YOU guys for your kind replies.

[tea_drinker]

Actually I read reports on some law schools like stanford law school about the percentage of foreign students. The fact is that the percentage is below 1%, which means around 2-3 foreign students are admitted.

As I still think there is no published official quotas on how many international student a law school can accept, I strongly urge you to aware that the low percentage is not the official quota. It is just because it's freaking hard to get into Stanford law school regardless of citizenship status. If you have high numerical qualifications, you are as competitive as any US resident applying to Stanford.

[icpb]

UChicago Law accepts very few foreign students as well (http://www.law.uchicago.edu/internationalstudents).

If you attend college outside of the US (no matter if it's Oxbridge, UTokyo, Chinese University of Hong Kong, etc.), the LSAT is the most important factor (almost the exclusive factor). You don't need a high TOEFL to be accepted, as long as you pass the minimum requirement and have a high LSAT.

[llylouis]

Thanks for reminding me of this. Yes, I agree that it is not the official quota.

But for me, it is still quite strange why so few foreigners are invovled in US law schools...is it really too difficult for international students? what do you think?

Actually I read reports on some law schools like stanford law school about the percentage of foreign students. The fact is that the percentage is below 1%, which means around 2-3 foreign students are admitted.

As I still think there is no published official quotas on how many international student a law school can accept, I strongly urge you to aware that the low percentage is not the official quota. It is just because it's freaking hard to get into Stanford law school regardless of citizenship status. If you have high numerical qualifications, you are as competitive as any US resident applying to Stanford.

[llylouis]

Thanks for your link. Quite informative. =P

UChicago Law accepts very few foreign students as well (http://www.law.uchicago.edu/internationalstudents).

If you attend college outside of the US (no matter if it's Oxbridge, UTokyo, Chinese University of Hong Kong, etc.), the LSAT is the most important factor (almost the exclusive factor). You don't need a high TOEFL to be accepted, as long as you pass the minimum requirement and have a high LSAT.

[tea_drinker]

Thanks for reminding me of this. Yes, I agree that it is not the official quota.

But for me, it is still quite strange why so few foreigners are invovled in US law schools...is it really too difficult for international students? what do you think?

IMHO, there are couple reasons why few internaional students attend US law schools. First, if you go to US law school, you will have to practice law in the US, or secure a job in an international-based US firm. Since US law is different to , in your case, Chinese law, you cannot study at a US law school, and run off to practice Chinese Law in China. I don't have any statistical or anecdotal evidence, but I imagine it will be hard to find a firm job if you are an international student (unless again you have high credentials). Since the US legal market is flooded with law grads and firms want commited workers, being an international student does not give you any advantage.

That's why international students often study thier respective country's law, then obtain a LLM here. Doing so allows them to practice law in their home country but still have a background in US law in case they want to practice trading law and what not. This is only my opinion, so hope others with more knowledge/information will chime in.

[paulinaporizkova]

Thanks for reminding me of this. Yes, I agree that it is not the official quota.

But for me, it is still quite strange why so few foreigners are invovled in US law schools...is it really too difficult for international students? what do you think?

IMHO, there are couple reasons why few internaional students attend US law schools. First, if you go to US law school, you will have to practice law in the US, or secure a job in an international-based US firm. Since US law is different to , in your case, Chinese law, you cannot study at a US law school, and run off to practice Chinese Law in China. I don't have any statistical or anecdotal evidence, but I imagine it will be hard to find a firm job if you are an international student (unless again you have high credentials). Since the US legal market is flooded with law grads and firms want commited workers, being an international student does not give you any advantage.

That's why international students often study thier respective country's law, then obtain a LLM here. Doing so allows them to practice law in their home country but still have a background in US law in case they want to practice trading law and what not. This is only my opinion, so hope others with more knowledge/information will chime in.

I agree with this. Law is a nuanced field. It's different in every country, because, well, every country has different laws. So if you got an American JD it would be pretty worthless abroad - LLM is better, but in that case what is your reasoning for wanting to obtain a degree in the US? Not to mention, law degrees from top schools in the US are really expensive and require a pretty solid plan (i.e. high paying firm jobs in the states, to those that are lucky) to pay them off successfully. I would imagine international students wouldn't want to jump into huge debt unless they were planning on practicing in the US. But like tea drinker, I don't really know jacksquat about international law students, so this is just uneducated ramblings....