Not really seeing many MAs on MyLSN Forum

[christam]

Does anyone know why? or where I can find other sources? Thanks!

CA resident, 3.4/172, decent WE (2 years)

[Ti Malice]

There aren't any better sources, unfortunately. There just aren't that many URM data points. URMs scoring 170+ are already rare (Nova will again have to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you will probably be one of the top 20-25 MA scorers in the country for the entire cycle), and it just seems that URMs don't put up info on LSN with the same frequency as non-URMs.

With your numbers, you should just apply to the entire T14. You might snag one of YHS (H being most likely), and I'd be surprised if you didn't get both CLS and NYU. You could pick up significant money in the lower T14 as well.

[bizzybone1313]

Tag. You Latino, 170+ LSAT peeps seem to be poppin' up a lot lately.

[UnderrateOverachieve]

There aren't any better sources, unfortunately. There just aren't that many URM data points. URMs scoring 170+ are already rare (Nova will again have to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you will probably be one of the top 20-25 MA scorers in the country for the entire cycle), and it just seems that URMs don't put up info on LSN with the same frequency as non-URMs.

With your numbers, you should just apply to the entire T14. You might snag one of YHS (H being most likely), and I'd be surprised if you didn't get both CLS and NYU. You could pick up significant money in the lower T14 as well.

Totally agree. Apply to every T14 you have the slightest interest in, and maybe UCLA/USC for the money?

[Nova]

With your numbers, you should just apply to the entire T14. You might snag one of YHS (H being most likely), and I'd be surprised if you didn't get both CLS and NYU. You could pick up significant money in the lower T14 as well.

+1

Although there is no source better than LSN for self reported data, here is some info:

If anyone's curious, for MA's the numbers are as follows:

Mean: 147.79
SD: 8.82
Number = 1853

Mean + 1SD = 156.61 (294-295)
Mean + 1.5SD = 161.02 (124-125)
Mean + 2SD = 165.43 (42-43)
Mean + 2.5SD = 169.84 (11-12)
Mean + 3SD = 174.25 (1-2)

Numbers are smaller because there's less MA's than AA's that apply. All approximations of course. I don't have the data on how many MA enroll/are accepted to the T-14 but iirc about 30 MA's enroll in HYS annually. Assuming everything's correct, that would correspond to an LSAT of 166-167 to be among the top 30 MA's that took the test. I have a (perhaps unfounded) presumption that MA's don't get even close to the pass that AA's get when it comes to GPA though. You'd probably still have to near 3.7 to be competitive with the lower end of those scores.

I always thought there were less AA applicants than MA.


Just out of curiosity, if there are less MA's applying than AA's, why is the boost for AA so much greater? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Because MAs make up a smaller percent of the US population. Its all relative. MAs are about 10% of the population. AAs are about 13%. Plus, MAs on average score higher so they need a higher score to reach the same percentile relative to their race than AAs. Thus their high scores are less rare, Hence less boost.
http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/brie ... 0br-04.pdf

MA:
Mean + 1.5SD = 161.02 (124-125)
Mean + 2SD = 165.43 (42-43)
Mean + 2.5SD = 169.84 (11-12)
Mean + 3SD = 174.25 (1-2)

AA:
2SD (159.5): 335.455 (335-336)
At or Above 2.5SD (164): 87.51 (87-88)
At or above 3SD (168): 14.585 (14-15)

I always thought there were less AA applicants than MA.


Just out of curiosity, if there are less MA's applying than AA's, why is the boost for AA so much greater? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

There are significantly more Hispanic and MA applicants in any given year than AA ones. But MA isn't chosen as a race on LSN as much as just Hispanic/Latino, so the data is more sparse.

Actually, among LSAT TAKERS (not applicants) AA's and total Hispanics (MA+PR+Other) are almost identical in number (around 10-13k test takers each year). The LSAT no longer has a separate category for MA's on the test, though you can be more specific on the LSAC website. The general consensus though seems to be that Hispanics outside of MA's get little if any boost at all and iirc their numbers as a group have lower LSAT means than just MA Hispanics. The data is harder to analyze however, since if you look at some school profiles, they don't distinguish between the two (some show 0 MA's or 0 HIS), and more current reports don't single out MA's as their own separate category anymore but rather we can assume they are included in the Hispanic group.

If we look at Hispanics as a whole (excluding PR) which is how the groups are categorized on the physical test now (again, you can still be more specific on the website), the numbers are as follows (2009-2010):

N: 9264
Mean: 146.43
SD: 9.65

Mean+1SD = 156.08 (1469/1470)
Mean+1.5SD = 160.905 (618/619)
Mean+2SD = 165.73 (210/211)
Mean+2.5SD = 170.555 (57/58)
Mean+3SD = 175.38 (12/13)

I don't have data on # of HIS/MA in the T14 but for comparison to white applicants, a 173 (median at H) corresponds to the top 1.5% of white test takers. This basically equates to a 167 if you're looking at Hispanics applicants as a whole and basically the same thing for MA's exclusively. For blacks, this is like a 161. Thus the AA boost needs to be significantly larger to obtain the top 1.5% than it needs to be for MAs.

Source: http://www.lsac.org/lsacresources/resea ... -10-03.pdf

thread quotes came from: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 4&t=211065