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Am I diverse?

seth.reidseth.reid Free Trial Member
in Law School Admissions 49 karma

Hello! First, wanted to say how much I've appreciated this community. Haven't said much, but through prepping and then waiting for the LSAT results, watching this forums has been a great help.
I wanted to get thoughts about a possible diversity statement. I had never really considered myself diverse. I'm kind of the staple for what being non-diverse looks like (straight, white, male, middle class). But going through the admissions course on 7Sage, it really emphasizes that diversity can look a lot different than is normally considered and one of the main examples they go with is whether someone was homeschooled. Which I was.
So I wrote a diversity statement and my main point was that being homeschooled taught me that even though I don't always have surface-level commonality with people who experienced a more traditional educational experience, there's always a commonality that can be found by going deeper. Example I give: playing on the golf team for my local public school.
So, two questions:
1. I don't want to be insensitive by claiming to be diverse even though I lack the typical diverse qualities. Am I in danger of doing that?
2. Do you think this lesson is a worthwhile contribution to diversity? This learning to find commonality with all people.
Thoughts would be great! Thanks!

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Comments

  • nicole.brooklynnicole.brooklyn Alum Member
    341 karma

    I think that your being homeschooled contributes to a school’s diversity (so long as the prompt doesn’t specifically ask for socio-economic disadvantage). Fair game for a diversity statement.

    However, the question I would ask is this: does this anecdote about high school & golf add to your application? Does it reveal something to the ad com about yourself that is not otherwise present in your application? The rule of thumb seems to be not to write a diversity statement just because you can... only write one if it adds quality.

  • seth.reidseth.reid Free Trial Member
    49 karma

    That's helpful! I think it adds a level of depth to the application. They wouldn't have known that I was homeschooled or how it affected me, otherwise. I'm still a little torn. Not sure if its benefits outweight the negative.

  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    edited October 2017 23929 karma

    Hard to say, and I think it will largely come down to how it's written. One thing you said kind of gave me pause. "I have never really considered myself diverse." If that was your mindset, then just make sure your statement doesn't come across as forced or like you're reaching.

    Otherwise, I think the topic is great! I'm sure being homeschooled makes you incredibly diverse.

  • Paul CaintPaul Caint Alum Member ⭐
    3521 karma

    @seth.reid If you think it has given you a fundamentally different perspective on life than most people, I say write about it!

    ^To me the answer to that question is yes - I think it would be really interesting to read about how someone homeschooled interacts with the world.

  • seth.reidseth.reid Free Trial Member
    49 karma

    @"Paul Caint" said:
    @seth.reid If you think it has given you a fundamentally different perspective on life than most people, I say write about it!

    ^To me the answer to that question is yes - I think it would be really interesting to read about how someone homeschooled interacts with the world.

    Thanks Paul! I think it's one of those background differences that, growing up, didn't seem to be much different than others. But now that there's some distance from high school, it's cool to notice how it distinguishes.

    @"Alex Divine" said:
    Hard to say, and I think it will largely come down to how it's written. One thing you said kind of gave me pause. "I have never really considered myself diverse." If that was your mindset, then just make sure your statement doesn't come across as forced or like you're reaching.

    Otherwise, I think the topic is great! I'm sure being homeschooled makes you incredibly diverse.

    Yeah, I want to be careful of that. I am just now thinking about how this makes me diverse, and I think it's okay to just now be realizing that. But the last thing I want to do is force an impression of diversity that doesn't really correspond to reality.

    Thanks for the thoughts, y'all! I discovered, to my lament, 7sage pretty late in the lsat game, but I have been recommending this community and the curriculum to anybody I meet that's beginning the lsat studying. Thanks for the help!

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