<p>Can anyone please explain how being part Hispanic would affect Son's chances for a top Law School? He is a sophomore at UNC majoring in History and minoring in PPE (philosophy, politics and economics).
Thanks!</p>
<p>Not directly on point, but we have a discussion here:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/law-school/898801-urm-admission-statistics.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/law-school/898801-urm-admission-statistics.html</a></p>
<p>What kind of Hispanic is he? If he is not Puerto Rican or Mexican, the bump is going to be negligible. Unlike undergrad, where one simply checks, the box, he should also write a diversity statement. Even for URMs at the end of the day, LSAT and GPA are still going to be king.</p>
<p>The link to the LSAC site is broken, but this is a very good discussion of URM status at TLS. According to this site, the typical criteria for hispanic URMs are a minimum of 1/4 status plus being either Mexican American or of Puerto Rican ancestry: </p>
<p>[URM</a> (Under-Represented Minority) Application FAQ](<a href=“http://www.top-law-schools.com/urm-applicant-faq.html]URM”>URM (Under-Represented Minority) Application FAQ)</p>
<p>“The two groups listed on the LSAC published data that aren’t (generally) considered minorities are Asian Americans and members of Hispanic groups not listed above. The reason for this is clear when we look again at the definition for an Underrepresented Minority. Both groups’ presence in the legal field and in law schools in general are close to or exceed their numbers in the general population. For example, Asians make up just 4.4% of the U.S. population, but according to LSAC’s estimates, they make up approximately 10% of legal students. By contrast, those groups who are considered URM’s have a much lower law school representation relative to their status in the U.S. population.” </p>
<p>There is a lot of information on the LSAC about Racial/Ethnic minority applicants as well. Generally agree with Sybbie, but you can look at the graphs at lawschoolnumbers to see the advantage that being a URMs might give a student at particular law schools.</p>
<p>He is part Argentine. The undergrad applications didn’t specify what country, they just asked if he was Hispanic. Do Law School applications get specific?</p>
<p>To add to my last post… His father was born in Argentina.</p>
<p>Yes, the LSAC does get that specific. Your child will not get much of bump in law school admissions.</p>
<p>The LSAC recently stopped distinguishing between different types of Hispanics when it reports law school data on its website. Whether this means anything is anyone’s guess.</p>
<p>Still, Hispanics of all types are underrepresented in law schools, and most who aren’t Mexican or Puerto Rican seem to get a small boost. It’s usually around 2 or 3 points on the LSAT, which is less than the boost for blacks but is still nice to have.</p>
<p>Also, you should note that law schools tend to be much more forgiving for minorities with low LSAT scores and high GPAs than for minorities whose stats are the opposite.</p>
<p>However, when you register for the LSDAC, they will ask you to check if you are Mexican, Puerto Rican or other Hispanic and then to indicate. Either way it is not going to be given much with out a diversity statement.</p>