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Strategic Application and scholarship help! (student of color)

stephgmeisterstephgmeister Alum Member
in Law School Admissions 100 karma

Hello All!

I am seeking out anybody who has done more research than I have on schools and esp if you are a minority. So stats first my highest LSAT is a 159 and my LSAC GPA is a 3.23... I know this seems rather low compared to many of you guys on this site but I can't do more about it, hoping my community experience and diversity will help out a bit...

I'm first generation Mex-American and first generation college student interested and have worked in public interest law. I'm mostly applying to schools in CA but anything above the top 40 seems pretty out of reach for me with my low GPA and within the median LSAT score. Wondering if you guys know of any schools that are more open to diversity or resources to look this up?

Also for scholarships, I thought there would be a lot more external ones for minorities but I have only found 1 through the hispanic scholarship fund (for entering students at least). A lot of them seem to be targeted for current law students (1L, 2L) and the schools also offer merit ones right when you apply so you don't need a separate application. I have searched within my city and found a couple I am applying to but being minority isn't a requirement.

Any advice is welcome, thank you!

-Steph

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Comments

  • Seeking PerfectionSeeking Perfection Alum Member
    edited January 2018 4428 karma

    http://mylsn.info/xema9f/

    I think you might be being a little bit too grim about the literal chances of admission. I'm not sure how well it works for predicting URMs cycles, but mylsn which automatically searches through the data from law school numbers shows some hope in the top 40 for non-African American URMs.

    However, you are right to be worried about money. They are probably worth applying to, but law school is so expensive it is hard to imagine many external scholarships big enough to make a sizable dent. Additionally, with neither statistic above median it is hard for anyone to get a very big scholarship. The good news is that you are public interest so you don't have the delusion of a shot at a big law job to pay back big debt. Additionally since the schools we are talking about have less than great LRAPs, you have to minimize debt to begin with.

    That means apply broadly and don't go without a full tuition scholarship with no GPA stipulations. Negotiate and pit the schools against eachother. If the best school you can get one at is too bad to be palatable then either don't go to law school or retake the LSAT and apply next cycle. Full tuition will leave you with some debt from room and board and books, but it will probably be manageable if you end up earning the same as you used to.

    In this quest to minimize debt, lower cost of living places than California might be a good choice.

    At a certain point, no one is admiring your JD for the law school ranking it came from so you might as well just minimize cost and hope you can get a job.

    I'm a Michigander so if I were you I would toss an app to Michigan State University School of Law. The idea is to find a place with a national name from undergrad and sports which will give you money and doesn't have a high cost of living. Check each school using law school numbers from past years.
    http://msu.lawschoolnumbers.com/applicants/1617?order=desc&sort=scholarship

  • Gladiator_2017Gladiator_2017 Yearly Member
    1332 karma

    Hey! I'm in NYC and would say CUNY Law school could be a great choice. I toured their school and asked about full rides. Their response was if you have about a 160 or higher you have a good chance of $$$. Also, check out Northeastern. They have a really interesting cooperative model where students do multiple internships throughout the year. You could theoretically go back home and work for the non-profits/agencies/law firms you're interested during this time.

    I'd also apply to Cornell - they seem really committed to brining in (ethnically/racially) diverse classes. Apply broadly! URM cycles are so unpredictable :)

  • studyingandrestudyingstudyingandrestudying Core Member
    5254 karma

    ThinkingLSAT also has some episodes on URM application issues that might help.

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