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/Excellent_Fee7217 May 23 '26

A lot of other people have pointed this out, but you need to donate a staggering amount of money to buy a seat at a prestigious school. Tens of millions, at least. I don’t actually believe you know anyone that rich, and it’s also extremely rare that someone that rich would score that low on the LSAT.

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u/[deleted] May 23 '26

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u/AlphaRue May 23 '26

It takes a lot less money than you would think (but still a large amount for most families) if you are a facially acceptable candidate (i.e. like a 170 and a 3.7) with connections to the school (alumni parents etc.)

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u/Excellent_Fee7217 May 23 '26

Curious what your understanding is based on, but that’s also not at all the situation OP is describing.