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Admission & Application Survey |
| Full-Time Law Program |
In most regards, Boalt is a typical top-10 law school with respect to
its admissions policies; that is, heavy emphasis is placed on an
applicant's grades and LSAT score. My student contacts on the
Admissions Committee tell me that any applicant with approximately a
3.8/170, or any reasonable facscimile thereof (i.e., 4.0/167), is
automatically admitted. In such instances, an applicant may expect a
positive response within two weeks of submitting his or her application.
With that said, however, Boalt also differs significantly from most of
its Top-10 brethren.
First, and foremost, the school has attempted to deal with California's
Proposition 54--which, simply characterized, banned affirmative action
programs of state-funded entities--by engaging in policies that may be
characterized as either (a) attempts to ensure an adequate level of
diversity in each entering class, or (b) "backdoor" affirmative
action. These policies are manifested in the school's treatment of a
special "optional" section of the admissions application, as well as
the Admissions Committee's treatment of an applicant's personal
statement. In each instance, the school actively seeks out
both "unique experiences" and evidence of various types of hardship,
each of which tend to correlate highly with some racial and ethnic
backgrounds. Of course, those from a "majority" ethnic background may
also benefit from such special considerations in certain instances.
The Admissions Committee contains several student members, elected
annually in an election that regularly produces student members quite
sensitive to diversity issues. The faculty members on the Committee,
particularly in recent years, have similar ideologies. Boalt is
therefore quite friendly to minority applicants--from what I have
heard, much more than other Top-10 schools--despite the formal
abolition of affirmative action in the University of California system
with regard to admissions.
Neither the information presented nor my tone is intended to devalue
diversity in professional school education, nor to contend that the
administration is disingenous in its use of such "plus factors" in
evaluating applications. However, I am attempting to convey as much
information as possible, and I must say that there are rumors around
the school of applicants from minority groups being admitted with a 140
LSAT score. More pragmatically and of broader application, it is clear
that applicants to Berkeley should pay careful attention to any diverse
experiences they may have to offer the school; indeed, they almost must
place a high emphasis on such experiences in their admissions essays in
order to compete with those wielding similar GPA/LSAT marks.
Another issue that is related (albeit only tangentially) to the
school's diversity battles is its clear emphasis on candidates'
undergraduate grade point averages as compared to their LSAT scores.
Again, while this is merely an opinion of mine--albeit one which I
share with many others--this is another means by which the school
justifies admitting candidates with LSAT scores that would not allow
them to be admitted to other top JD programs. I do not mean to
insinuate that this policy is only in effect for those of certain
backgrounds, however; those I have spoken with who are "in the know"
indicate that LSAT scores are de-emphasized, vis-a-vis GPA, for all
candidates. Boalt's policy on this matter makes it a great choice for
applicants who did very well as an undergraduate student but had an
uncharacteristically bad day on the day of the LSAT.
Other, perhaps less interesting ways in which Boalt differs from other
schools are (1) its reputation for making relatively quick admissions
decisions, and (2) its heavy emphasis on personal recruiting. In an
attempt to land top candidates, Boalt tends to get back to the most
desirable candidates (among some 6,000 annual applicants) very
quickly. Additionally, various alumni and student identity groups
personally contact many applicants to convince them to attend Boalt
over more prestigious schools in its peer group (i.e., Harvard,
Stanford, and Yale, and perhaps NYU and Columbia). While this is not
particularly unique, it is emphasized at Boalt to an extremely high
degree, particularly for highly-coveted members of minority groups and
many East Coast students.
Due to the issues presented above, I have actively encouraged my
friends considering Boalt to compose application materials tailored
specifically to the areas emphasized by the school; this, in my
opinion, has helped them gain admission even though they were only
borderline candidates.
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University of California - Berkeley (Boalt Hall) Admission & Application Surveys
