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lsac gives you the option to not identify your ethnicity or to not have it reported to law schools. I'm just wondering if anyone sees any benefit/reason not to identify ethnicity (I am a white male)? That is, would it have any effect on an application (positive, negative, or neutral)? Or is it just a benefit to be a URM and everything else is just for reporting statistics?

MAPP wrote:lsac gives you the option to not identify your ethnicity or to not have it reported to law schools. I'm just wondering if anyone sees any benefit/reason not to identify ethnicity (I am a white male)? That is, would it have any effect on an application (positive, negative, or neutral)? Or is it just a benefit to be a URM and everything else is just for reporting statistics?

I think you should try to answer, if possible (not all races/ethnicities are included, even under their umbrella categories) because the statistics are useful. I have never heard of any advantage conferred to white men on law school applications who opt to not disclose their race.

It seems like if you decline to answer, they will make an educated guess that you are not an URM regardless. It's possible some people may have unique reasons for not wanting to check a narrow box that they may write a diversity statement about. Otherwise, it is a reality that the plurality of law students are white males.