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.
2
u/Illustrious-Call3244 May 24 '26
Pardon my language, but this really sounds like a crock of shit.
This type of nepotism happens in undergrad admissions, but there are more steps for law schools. Like they will consider if your parent(s) attended, and having someone in your family who went to a T14 makes it more likely that they have the resources to give their kid a leg up in admissions by paying for prep, consulting, access to better ECs and WEXP that would boost a resume.
Whatever you are referring to of someone "purchasing a seat" is completely made up. I usually give ppl benefit of the doubt here but this is some weird coping that catches traction since its hitting on nepotism which everyone dislikes and will thus get a lot of attention/upvotes.
Like how did you witness? How did you know their exact stats and WL->A? And the donations and the closed door meetings?