<p>Does anyone have any information on Yale's 12-point admissions system? </p>
<p>I couldn't find much other than this gem: The</a> Secret - (203) Admissions Blog</p>
<p>I have heard a rumor that being a URM or a legacy gives you a 1 point bump (out of 12) -- does this have any merit? </p>
<p>I'm just genuinely curious because it is so different than most law school admissions. Thanks.</p>
<p>According to your profile you are 17 years old, so you may be jumping the gun on this one. If you look at my user history you’ll see that I once asked a question about Yale Law on the eve of my entrance into college. Though it would still wonderful to go there, I’m not sure if I even want to go to law school. Things change. Moreover, Yale Law School is incredibly difficult to gain admissions to. It is probably on par with the likes of MIT econ PhD or Harvard med school. At this point, before your college career has even began, it is senseless to worry about one point on the Yale Law 12-point admission scale. You don’t have a GPA (unless you have a **** ton of dual enrollment classes), and you don’t have an LSAT score. Not only is it possible that you don’t do as well as you would like on either, it is also possible that your interests may change. Maybe you will realize that some other career path or discipline is something that you are passionate about. There are other careers that can offer you what you may be looking for, whether it be money, prestige, interesting work or anything else.</p>
<p>Finally nobody can answer your question about the points because I assume no one has ever worked in Yale Law School admissions. It is definitely true, however, that URM status can help a lot when applying to many graduate and professional schools. I think one of the more credible users claims that certain groups get a bump of more than 5 LSAT points.</p>
<p>Lol walteral, I realize that. I don’t even know if I want to go to law school (nor where I want to go to college, for that matter), but I was just interested since both my parents went to YLS. </p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with being curious, even if the information isn’t particularly useful.</p>
<p>Thanks for your post though – rereading it, it makes a lot of sense. Plus, this forum probably wouldn’t be the best place to ask my question in hindsight.</p>
<p>You should call them. I don’t think they would tell you, but getting an answer from them would be more likely than getting an answer from the internet. Also your parents may have a better idea than someone here about the impact of URM status.</p>
<p>Edit: Yeah no problem.</p>
<p>Yes, at least a few years ago, YLS gave a one point bump for being a URM and one for being a legacy at Yale LAW School–having a parent who went to Yale College helps not one iota.</p>
<p>I know this because YLS says so upfront in admissions materials. I believe the Yale Daily News has also had a few articles about Yale Law admissions which said so.</p>
<p>@jonri: You don’t think URM bonuses are handled via the presumptive admissions process – e.g. admissions office admits them directly? That’s how I’d always figured they did it. Of course, faculty members would be free to use affirmative action (however they desired) in their own ratings as well.</p>
<p>I don’t know for sure, of course…but I don’t think so–unless URMs fell in that presumptive admit category for other reasons. </p>
<p>And, while I know faculty COULD exercise aff action, I think many choose not to do so because they are aware that URMs get +1 and don’t think it’s necessary to do more than that. I think socio-econ disadvantage is something different and that faculty do consider that–but I’m guessng. </p>
<p>Again, I may be out of date. I’m talking about the process five years ago, but I suspect if the point for legacies had been dropped it would have made the news.</p>
<p>Currently I work closely with graduate admissions for a quant heavy department at my school. I process the applications and am privy to the comments the faculty members leave on the evaluation forms. Although YLS may or may not be a different beast entirely, the faculty at my department do give preference to certain groups. There is even a little check box and a line for underrepresented applicants (e.g. female American citizens). Again I have no idea if it is like that there, but the possibility of the faculty members giving the bump is definitely there.</p>
<p>I doubt YLS gives URMs a one-point bump on its 12-point scale. First, this is illegal (see Gratz v. Bollinger). Second, if URMs received only a one-point boost, then there would be virtually no URMs at Yale. Instead, the top schools take the top black, Hispanic, and Native American applicants to ensure that they make up a proportion of the class similar to their proportion of the U.S. population. Effectively, URMs compete with each other for the 20% of seats reserved for them.</p>
<p>Also, I assume that legacy at YLS means very little unless your parents are big donors or really famous (such as the Clintons). YLS is so tiny that it doesn’t have room for a large legacy student contingent.</p>
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<p>On the one hand, this is also illegal (see Bakke v. Regents). On the other hand, there’s almost zero doubt that you are correct (see dissents in Grutter v. Bollinger).</p>
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<p>Right on both counts. </p>
<p>The dissents in Grutter v. Bollinger are pretty powerful. (You gotta love how a “narrowly tailored” usage of affirmative action miraculously leads to a virtually identical proportion of each minority group year after year, or better yet, how two Native American students in each class constitute a “critical mass.”)</p>
<p>Oh, I should have corrected though – if memory serves, it’s based on proportion of applicants, not proportion of US population.</p>
<p>“Also, I assume that legacy at YLS means very little unless your parents are big donors or really famous (such as the Clintons). YLS is so tiny that it doesn’t have room for a large legacy student contingent” </p>
<p>– In response, wouldn’t that make a “legacy” all the more rare at YLS, and thus offer more incentive to accept certain legacies (thus bolstering future donations)?</p>
<p>Okay-- I just googled my own posts ;). This question came up on this board in 2005. At that time, the only thing I could find in writing was a 1995 Yale Daily News article, which said:</p>
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<p>Obviously, that’s a long time ago. Still…I know that the policy was still in affect more recently than that. If the policy had been changed, I’m sure it would have made the news.</p>
<p>Whoops, I’ve been thinking in terms of public schools. Would Bakke apply to a private institution like YLS? Can’t think of why it would. I suspect I’ll have to retract my previous statement.</p>
<p>Thanks jonri – that is pretty significant since it is only 12 points (and according to the dean, all 12s and most 11s are accepted)</p>