Will Puerto Rican male get a bigger LSAT boost at HYS? Forum

[HYSnNothingLess]

I'm a Puerto Rican male with a 3.8 GPA and I'm taking the LSAT next June. I read the 2011 LSAC Official Guide to ABA approved law schools for Harvard, Yale, and Stanford and there are currently only 4 PR males at HLS, 2 PR males at SLS, and 8 PR males at YLS.

Does this mean that because PR males constitute the most underrepresented URM group at HLS and SLS that a PR male would get a bigger boost on the LSAT when applying to those two schools?

I'm not trying to rely on my ethnicity to get into a T14 law school but it'd take a lot of pressure off my shoulders if I knew that I could get a 165 and still get into HLS and SLS.

[Tiago Splitter]

I'm not trying to rely on my ethnicity to get into a T14 law school

[Tiago Splitter]

But seriously...Puerto Ricans do get the URM boost.

[HYSnNothingLess]

But seriously...Puerto Ricans do get the URM boost.

I guess what I'm really asking is- Will Puerto Ricans get a bigger boost than African Americans at HYS? If an AA with a comparable GPA (3.8 ) is accepted to HLS with a 165, then will a Puerto Rican with a low 160 get accepted too considering that PR males are less represented than AAs at HLS?

[NYCbound35]

But seriously...Puerto Ricans do get the URM boost.

I guess what I'm really asking is- Will Puerto Ricans get a bigger boost than African Americans at HYS? If an AA with a comparable GPA (3.8 ) is accepted to HLS with a 165, then will a Puerto Rican with a low 160 get accepted too considering that PR males are less represented than AAs at HLS?

URM means underrepresented according to their proportion of the population. There are more African Americans in this country than Puerto Rican Americans, so there should be more in law school.

Point is, you will get a boost...just not as strong as an AA boost. If you want HYS, aim for 167+ (but you are not neccessarily shut out with a mid 164; if your application is really good)

[NYC Law]

But seriously...Puerto Ricans do get the URM boost.

I guess what I'm really asking is- Will Puerto Ricans get a bigger boost than African Americans at HYS? If an AA with a comparable GPA (3.8 ) is accepted to HLS with a 165, then will a Puerto Rican with a low 160 get accepted too considering that PR males are less represented than AAs at HLS?

URM means underrepresented according to their proportion of the population. There are more African Americans in this country than Puerto Rican Americans, so there should be more in law school.

Point is, you will get a boost...just not as strong as an AA boost. If you want HYS, aim for 167+ (but you are not neccessarily shut out with a mid 164; if your application is really good)

No, that's not how it works. It has to do with representation in law school, not the general population - which is why Asians get no boost despite there being fewer than hispanics.

[dkt4]

No, that's not how it works. It has to do with representation in law school, not the general population - which is why Asians get no boost despite there being fewer than hispanics.

yeah, so...no.

[mickeyD]

But seriously...Puerto Ricans do get the URM boost.

I guess what I'm really asking is- Will Puerto Ricans get a bigger boost than African Americans at HYS? If an AA with a comparable GPA (3.8 ) is accepted to HLS with a 165, then will a Puerto Rican with a low 160 get accepted too considering that PR males are less represented than AAs at HLS?

URM means underrepresented according to their proportion of the population. There are more African Americans in this country than Puerto Rican Americans, so there should be more in law school.

Point is, you will get a boost...just not as strong as an AA boost. If you want HYS, aim for 167+ (but you are not neccessarily shut out with a mid 164; if your application is really good)

No, that's not how it works. It has to do with representation in law school, not the general population - which is why Asians get no boost despite there being fewer than hispanics.

Aren't you guys saying the same thing? They want representation in law school to be closer to the numbers of representation in the general population. If AAs are 25% of the general population, then they would like AAs to be 25% of their law school population.

Anyways, interested in this as well. I'm 3.5/170, retaking in Oct. PR male as well. Where do I stand at HYS with a 175+? All I keep hearing is that URM boost applies more for reverse splitters like the OP is suggesting (3.8/165).

[Verity]

But seriously...Puerto Ricans do get the URM boost.

I guess what I'm really asking is- Will Puerto Ricans get a bigger boost than African Americans at HYS? If an AA with a comparable GPA (3.8 ) is accepted to HLS with a 165, then will a Puerto Rican with a low 160 get accepted too considering that PR males are less represented than AAs at HLS?

URM means underrepresented according to their proportion of the population. There are more African Americans in this country than Puerto Rican Americans, so there should be more in law school.

Point is, you will get a boost...just not as strong as an AA boost. If you want HYS, aim for 167+ (but you are not neccessarily shut out with a mid 164; if your application is really good)

No, that's not how it works. It has to do with representation in law school, not the general population - which is why Asians get no boost despite there being fewer than hispanics.

WTF? So if they make up only 5% of the law school population they are underrepresented, despite being only 5% of the general population?

[dkt4]

175+ and you have as good of a chance as anyone.

i've heard the same thing about the low LSATs and URMs...not sure that it's actually real, though.

[NYCbound35]

URM means underrepresented according to their proportion of the population. There are more African Americans in this country than Puerto Rican Americans, so there should be more in law school.

Point is, you will get a boost...just not as strong as an AA boost. If you want HYS, aim for 167+ (but you are not neccessarily shut out with a mid 164; if your application is really good)

No, that's not how it works. It has to do with representation in law school, not the general population - which is why Asians get no boost despite there being fewer than hispanics.

Aren't you guys saying the same thing? They want representation in law school to be closer to the numbers of representation in the general population. If AAs are 25% of the general population, then they would like AAs to be 25% of their law school population.

Anyways, interested in this as well. I'm 3.5/170, retaking in Oct. PR male as well. Where do I stand at HYS with a 175+? All I keep hearing is that URM boost applies more for reverse splitters like the OP is suggesting (3.8/165).

Yea we're saying the same thing; i probably could have been a little more clear though. If H has 4% AA and 2%PR, AA are still more represented because they represent 20% of the population while PR represents 3%.

*Disclaimer - numbers are made up

[Verity]

Yea we're saying the same thing; i probably could have been a little more clear though. If H has 4% AA and 2%PR, AA are still more underrepresented because they represent 20% of the population while PR represents 3%.

*Disclaimer - numbers are made up

FTFY

[HYSnNothingLess]

175+ and you have as good of a chance as anyone.

That can't be true! I get a boost...

[HWS08]

You can't always rely on Law School Predictor, but I just put in your numbers and checked the URM box and it came back with "deny" or "weak consider" at Harvard and Yale until you hit 169 on the LSAT. You may be SOL even with a 165.

[dkt4]

175+ and you have as good of a chance as anyone.

That can't be true! I get a boost...

was responding to mickeyd, sorry