LSATfromNC wrote:eye wrote:Just came back from ASD. Overall great experience. Met some awesome talented individuals. Scholarships will start coming out within the next two weeks. 25% of the class gets some type of merit award. Will update more later.
I also just left the ASD, but I must say I think I was much more impressed with Wake Forest. It seems it's normal at UNC for everything to come late (decisions, financial aid, scholarships, the actual tuition price), parking seems like a pain in the ass (only ASD where I actually had to pay for parking), and they seemed to be more focused on making sure America was more diverse than actually running a law school (I'm all for diversity, but it seemed every direction a speaker would turn somehow led back to helping women and/or minorities, yet all the profs were lilly white).
I attended all of the sessions today and I didn't hear that much at all. Yes, the professors that spoke were white, but I don't think that means they don't have a diverse faculty. In truth, I have no idea which of their profs are minorities (aside from Julius Chambers, of course), but I also don't think they obsess over diversity to an unhealthy extent. The reality is that Carolina is so well regarded in part because of the diversity of it's student body. You also have to keep in mind that so much of what makes UNC a special place is the strong focus it places on civil rights work (Immigration Policy Clinic, Center on Poverty, Center of Civil Rights, etc.). I spent the last 5 years working at the ACLU, and I can tell you that UNC's reputation in the field is top notch. It wouldn't make much sense to put so many resources to developing those programs and not make a strong push to have a diverse student body. (I can understand, however, if you're not interested in becoming a civil rights lawyer or working in a related field how you might find a school like Wake more appealing, because the emphasis at UNC is strong, and it might just not fit your field of study.)
That said, I only recall one or two instances of anyone making references to their diversity initiatives. It certainly didn't dominate the discussion to my recollection.
Addressing the earlier point, does anyone else who attended today recall them saying that 25% of the students would get some sort of scholarships? I took a lot of notes during that discussion, but I don't recall hearing that hard number. I remember them saying they had 8 full ride scholarships to offer, and that there were smaller stipends as well that would be disbursed, but I missed the reference to the 25%. It's possible I just didn't hear it, though. I didn't leave with much hope of getting any financial aid from the school...
LOL @ the Doogie Howser kid. I think I know who you're talking about, because I had a conversation with him at lunch. If it's the guy I'm thinking of, he said he had actually been out of school (UNCA, if I recall) for a few years and had been working in L.A. in securities. Definitely seemed way younger than he probably was (24, 25).
