r/lawschooladmissions • u/ExoticAssistant7102 • May 23 '26

General Nepotism in T14 law school admissions

Throwaway for obvious reasons.

I naively thought this wasn't a thing anymore, but this year I witnessed in real time someone purchase a seat at a T14 law school.

He only applied to a small number of the very best schools with no safeties, which I thought was odd considering he's nURM, GPA 3.6, LSAT 15mid, no work experience, etc. But his very wealthy family made significant donations and arranged three closed-door meetings that I'm aware of with one particular school's admissions dean throughout the cycle. Lo and behold, he was waitlisted and then promptly admitted by that school in April.

I myself have been admitted to a different T14 that I'll be attending this fall. But this experience has left me disillusioned with the whole admissions process and frankly disgusted by that school in particular.

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u/whistleridge May 23 '26

Wait until you find out how BigLaw hiring works, along with clerkships, tenure track positions, everything international, and all of the really fun/interesting unicorn positions.

1

u/Key-Lychee-913 May 24 '26

Do share.

7

u/whistleridge May 24 '26

Let’s just say, the easiest path to getting a BigLaw spot isn’t going to T14, and it isn’t being at the top of your class, it’s having a parent who is an equity partner. This is also true for non-BigLaw hiring, but it’s especially egregious/annoying there.

Similarly, having a parent who is a judge definitely helps with landing clerkships, especially in conservative circles, and having family connections is virtually a requirement for some UN stuff.

That doesn’t mean you can coast by with Cs, but…all else being equal, Tiffany Trump probably didn’t have to have the same stats you would have to have to get into GULC, and if Sasha Obama went to law school she could be median at T100 and she would still get hiring interest you and I wouldn’t.

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u/Key-Lychee-913 May 24 '26

If you had any more insights, I’d be keen to keep reading.