URM chances at HYS? Forum

[ramses]

Hey guys - first post, but been lurking for a bit. Just wondering what you guys think my chances are, specifically Stanford (my dream), and if my w/e will hold much weight for me in LS admissions. Not sure if I trust lawschoolpredictor a whole lot for my situation. BTW, I'm applying NEXT cycle and will apply early as possible.

GPA-3.68 (major matter? school matter?)
LSAT(1 take)-170
URM-Mex/PR
W/E-4 years; Army Reserve Officer w/ deployment; Entrepreneur that founded a social enterprise and a non-profit based in Latin America.
Other softs: several volunteering/community service activities in and out of college, great LORs, clubs w/ leadership in college, etc etc.

Some questions I had:
- will w/e or urm status allow me to overcome a weak GPA for HYS?
-will great LORs from co-founders of my social enterprise or other organizations we have worked with be relevant and/or useful?
-looking into Public Interest law and am wondering about getting a dual-degree w/ MPP. Any thoughts on its usefulness or its admission's selectivity relative to it's JD counterpart?
-wondering if i'm safe at NYU for RD, and what schools I might expect to get some $

Just some basic inquiries, but I thank you guys in advance for what ever insight you can lend.

[plenipotentiary]

I think you have a shot at all of the above. Apply.

[fatduck]

It seems that URM is more likely to help with a weak LSAT than a weak GPA. Anecdotal evidence: AA friend with 3.9/163 was recently accepted to H.

That being said, a cursory search of LSN shows URMs with similar GPA/weaker LSAT accepted to HLS last year. You have above-average softs and should have a good shot. Best of luck.

[ramses]

Thanks for the insight - definitely makes me a bit more optimistic. It seems that those w/ worse #'s that got in to HYS are AA URM and may get a higher boost in general than Mex/PR URMs- not sure if that should be a concern for me. The fact that boosts normally help weak LSATs as opposed to GPAs definitely concerns me, especially for Stanford which I've *heard* gives Mex/PR less of a boost than peer schools in general. Any body have any validation or refutation of this? Is Stanford pretty much just a crapshoot for everyone?