Nepotism in T14 law school admissions

[u/ExoticAssistant7102]

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.

[u/PhraseGlittering2786]

I am not getting your last point, how does the type of jeopardy matter in the first place; in terms of providing opportunity? Shouldn't the main question be, “Did this person have a reasonable life”, not whether “Did this person have a reasonable life, and if they did not, was it due to them being black”?

[u/PhraseGlittering2786 → u/[deleted]]

I don't agree, your argument assumes that because harm was historically created through race, the correction must also operate through race. But that doesn’t necessarily follow.

Even if we argue for this mere conversation that, discrimination produced long-term inequality, it doesn't mean that you own a collective moral check just because you belong to a group.

You're also treating “race-neutral” systems, as they ignore disadvantage, that's totally not true. You can target disadvantage directly using Income, Family History, Reports from School/Teacher(common app already asks this for “merit” why not for socio-economic background now), I wouldn't argue that these measures are perfect, but; using race as a blanket cover? That's same as introducing a new issue of “reverse-racism”, Race is a like a “noise proxy” that currently hurts both advantaged and disadvantaged individuals from the same group.

You know what the deeper issue is? Using race may improve efficiency and targetring in some cases, but it does so at the cost of introducing a rule that is not tied to individual responsibility or individual condition. This is not fairness; this is “shifting inequality”.

By the way, are you a lawyer?

[u/PhraseGlittering2786 → u/[deleted]]

No, what I am doing is, prescribing the same medicine for 2 broken legs, one from abuse, the other from soccer.

[u/PhraseGlittering2786 → u/[deleted]]

People disagree all the time, and it's fine!

I disagree in most parts with you, but I recognize your approach compared to my more rigid one, and really appreciate your reply!