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I was reading a recent NYT article by Nick Kristof who argued that conservatives and orthodox/practicing religious people (especially religious Christians) are underrepresented in certain areas of higher education, and how this undermines true diversity on campuses. In your view, is there bias against those who are deeply religious in the law school admission context, and would this be something to play down when applying?

Asking for a friend. I don't think she's politically conservative, but her major extracurricular activities are religiously oriented (student religious group); she also worked for a Christian/evangelical affiliated humanitarian NGO

I'm going to move this to general admissions. Christians are not URMs.

yes, especially Christian white men

bern victim wrote:yes, especially Christian white men

And Jewish people, of course.

Unless the "Christian-affiliated humanitarian NGO" is actually a missionary service, I don't see any reason to play it down.

The article you're referring to specifically addressed the hiring of evangelical Christians in academia, not acceptance rates for students who identify as Christian. She's got nothing to worry about; she's still a member of the overwhelming majority in this country.

bern victim wrote:yes, especially Christian white men

stop microaggressing me or I will kill myself when I'm 55, I swear to god

kaysta wrote:

bern victim wrote:yes, especially Christian white men

stop microaggressing me or I will kill myself when I'm 55, I swear to god

LOL

this is what happens when the majority religion gives out points for being persecuted

Pomeranian wrote:I was reading a recent NYT article by Nick Kristof who argued that conservatives and orthodox/practicing religious people (especially religious Christians) were underrepresented in certain areas of higher education, and how this undermines true diversity on campuses. In your view, is there bias against those who are deeply religious at law school admissions committees, and would this be something to play down when applying?

Asking for a friend (I don't think she's politically conservative, but her major extracurricular activities are religiously oriented; she also worked for a Christian-affiliated humanitarian NGO)

If only we lived in ancient rome! There'd be bias AND persecution, and we wouldn't have to read this type of garbage. If only...

I make fun of conservative coworkers with other liberal coworkers behind their back. I think this is common/expected.

It's very unlikely that an admissions committee would deny her application because of her religious activities. Almost no one will care. If she is socially conservative and religious, however, many law schools will be hostile environments whenever hot-button topics arise.

The real question is did she study for the LSAT or just pray about it a lot?

No, at most credible law schools there is not a bias against conservative religious individuals when it comes to admissions. My resume screams conservative and my entire personal statement focused on religion. Every single admissions officer I spoke with complimented my personal statement, it became a central focus of all of my interviews, and I was accepted almost everywhere I applied. However, it's important to note that I didn't write about religion just for fun; I happen to be going to law school because of an interest in the intersection of law and religion. I also invested a lot of time and effort in making sure that my personal statement was inclusive and not holier-than-thou in any way.

cavalier1138 wrote:Unless the "Christian-affiliated humanitarian NGO" is actually a missionary service, I don't see any reason to play it down.

She doesn't need to play it down even if was missionary service. My missionary service was a huge component of my application. Handled properly, it can actually be a decent soft factor. If your friend wants more details, PM me.

What is your friend's LSAT/GPA?

mollywood wrote:No, at most credible law schools there is not a bias against conservative religious individuals when it comes to admissions. My resume screams conservative and my entire personal statement focused on religion. Every single admissions officer I spoke with complimented my personal statement, it became a central focus of all of my interviews, and I was accepted almost everywhere I applied. However, it's important to note that I didn't write about religion just for fun; I happen to be going to law school because of an interest in the intersection of law and religion. I also invested a lot of time and effort in making sure that my personal statement was inclusive and not holier-than-thou in any way.

cavalier1138 wrote:Unless the "Christian-affiliated humanitarian NGO" is actually a missionary service, I don't see any reason to play it down.

She doesn't need to play it down even if was missionary service. My missionary service was a huge component of my application. Handled properly, it can actually be a decent soft factor. If your friend wants more details, PM me.

You didn't need softs to get in anywhere based on profile.

mukol wrote:

mollywood wrote:No, at most credible law schools there is not a bias against conservative religious individuals when it comes to admissions. My resume screams conservative and my entire personal statement focused on religion. Every single admissions officer I spoke with complimented my personal statement, it became a central focus of all of my interviews, and I was accepted almost everywhere I applied. However, it's important to note that I didn't write about religion just for fun; I happen to be going to law school because of an interest in the intersection of law and religion. I also invested a lot of time and effort in making sure that my personal statement was inclusive and not holier-than-thou in any way.

cavalier1138 wrote:Unless the "Christian-affiliated humanitarian NGO" is actually a missionary service, I don't see any reason to play it down.

She doesn't need to play it down even if was missionary service. My missionary service was a huge component of my application. Handled properly, it can actually be a decent soft factor. If your friend wants more details, PM me.

You didn't need softs to get in anywhere based on profile.

Believe me, I know my numbers got me in, not my mission. But my mission was still what all adcomms asked about most in interviews, and it was received positively by all my interviewers. They specifically mentioned that it cleared up any maturity/work experience concerns they had based on my age and K-JD status and that it would bring an interesting perspective to the class. So worst case scenario no harm done, best case scenario it was a slightly positive factor.

.

I was told by a dean that aside from numbers, one of their main duties is to filter out the assholes and jackasses. Conservatives and religious people are no more likely to be assholes or jackasses than anyone else, but if a you're able to turn a form application and 500 word writing samples into spreading your political agenda, you're likelier to be an asshole or jackass than the person discussing her cat.

HonestAdvice wrote:I was told by a dean that aside from numbers, one of their main duties is to filter out the assholes and jackasses. Conservatives and religious people are no more likely to be assholes or jackasses than anyone else, but and if you're able to turn a form application and 500 word writing samples into spreading your political agenda, you're likelier to be an asshole or jackass than the person discussing her cat.

No but really, as long as you have numbers and don't write an offensive PS it doesn't really matter.

Pomeranian wrote:I was reading a recent NYT article by Nick Kristof who argued that conservatives and orthodox/practicing religious people (especially religious Christians) are underrepresented in certain areas of higher education, and how this undermines true diversity on campuses. In your view, is there bias against those who are deeply religious in the law school admission context, and would this be something to play down when applying?

Asking for a friend. I don't think she's politically conservative, but her major extracurricular activities are religiously oriented (student religious group); she also worked for a Christian/evangelical affiliated humanitarian NGO

You're confusing cause and effect. It isn't that conservative religious people are discriminated against in higher education--it's that most conservative religious people don't want to do jobs that require higher education degrees. Any intelligent conservative religious person will get into good schools with the right LSAT/GPA

Pomeranian wrote:I was reading a recent NYT article by Nick Kristof who argued that conservatives and orthodox/practicing religious people (especially religious Christians) are underrepresented in certain areas of higher education, and how this undermines true diversity on campuses. In your view, is there bias against those who are deeply religious in the law school admission context, and would this be something to play down when applying?

Asking for a friend. I don't think she's politically conservative, but her major extracurricular activities are religiously oriented (student religious group); she also worked for a Christian/evangelical affiliated humanitarian NGO

Not sure if srs

mukol wrote:

HonestAdvice wrote:I was told by a dean that aside from numbers, one of their main duties is to filter out the assholes and jackasses. Conservatives and religious people are no more likely to be assholes or jackasses than anyone else, but and if you're able to turn a form application and 500 word writing samples into spreading your political agenda, you're likelier to be an asshole or jackass than the person discussing her cat.

No but really, as long as you have numbers and don't write an offensive PS it doesn't really matter.

The general rule seems to be that religious people are assholes for assuming their way is correct, but non-religious people are great for assuming their way is correct.

HonestAdvice wrote:

mukol wrote:

HonestAdvice wrote:I was told by a dean that aside from numbers, one of their main duties is to filter out the assholes and jackasses. Conservatives and religious people are no more likely to be assholes or jackasses than anyone else, but and if you're able to turn a form application and 500 word writing samples into spreading your political agenda, you're likelier to be an asshole or jackass than the person discussing her cat.

No but really, as long as you have numbers and don't write an offensive PS it doesn't really matter.

The general rule seems to be that religious people are assholes for assuming their way is correct, but non-religious people are great for assuming their way is correct.

Maybe you think that

HonestAdvice wrote:

mukol wrote:

HonestAdvice wrote:I was told by a dean that aside from numbers, one of their main duties is to filter out the assholes and jackasses. Conservatives and religious people are no more likely to be assholes or jackasses than anyone else, but and if you're able to turn a form application and 500 word writing samples into spreading your political agenda, you're likelier to be an asshole or jackass than the person discussing her cat.

No but really, as long as you have numbers and don't write an offensive PS it doesn't really matter.

The general rule seems to be that religious people are assholes for assuming their way is correct, but non-religious people are great for assuming their way is correct.

Bingo.

If you are a nut with good numbers, you will get into good schools as long as you are not overly political in your personal statements. Case in point: Antonin Scalia (rest his soul).
If you are a nut with bad numbers, you will not get into good schools, regardless of the nature of your personal statements. Case in point: anyone with below range numbers for schools they apply to.