4 ms·

People without merit getting admitted to top law schools because of legacy/donors happens, but not nearly as much as some people seem to think. Legacy admits ar

by MiroF 6y ago

People without merit getting admitted to top law schools because of legacy/donors happens, but not nearly as much as some people seem to think. Legacy admits are not necessarily without merit. My guess is that most of the low merit admits are people with significant political influence that the school thinks it would be beneficial for law students to network with (people like Hunter Biden who went to Yale law, Tiffany Trump, etc.) Those people are never going to get close to an actual clerkship though. Could those downvoting explain why?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
csa 6y ago
> Tiffany Trump ... who went to Georgetown law (typically in the 10-20 rank range). Note that this is the best she could do when her father was running for president.
- gamblor956 6y ago
  To followup: based on the average GPA of Georgetown Law admits, Tiffany Trump would have had to make the UPenn Dean's List to have a competitive GPA. The list is public. She never showed up on that list. Ergo, she did not have a competitive GPA. It's possible she may have had a good LSAT, but she would have needed a very high score to offset the low GPA. As Georgetown Law appears to have been the most prestigious law school that would admit her, this suggests she was a "legacy" admit (meaning, admitted due to her parents or application sponsors rather than on her own merits).
  - MiroF 6y ago
    That's not what a legacy admit is defined to be.
    - gamblor956 6y ago
      That's exactly what a legacy admit is defined as. What non-standard definition are you using?
      - xdavidliu 6y ago
        "Legacy preference or legacy admission is a preference given by an institution or organization to certain applicants on the basis of their familial relationship to alumni of that institution." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_preferences https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_preferences
      - wtallis 6y ago
        Legacy admissions usually refers to admitting a student because they're related to alumni of the same institution. Which Trump went to Georgetown?
        scottmcf 6y ago
        Eric Trump.
  - csa 6y ago
    FWIW, I completely agree that she was admitted to Georgetown (and probably Penn, for that matter) for reasons other than academic prowess. I only highlighted her name to demonstrate that celebrity and money can only get you so far. Georgetown is a perfectly fine law school, but it’s a far cry from Harvard or Yale law schools.
- MiroF 6y ago
  I'm not claiming it's a deterministic process, but it is worth noting that Gtown is the best in DC

by MiroF 6y ago

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

csa 6y ago

> Tiffany Trump ... who went to Georgetown law (typically in the 10-20 rank range). Note that this is the best she could do when her father was running for president.

gamblor956 6y ago
To followup: based on the average GPA of Georgetown Law admits, Tiffany Trump would have had to make the UPenn Dean's List to have a competitive GPA. The list is public. She never showed up on that list. Ergo, she did not have a competitive GPA. It's possible she may have had a good LSAT, but she would have needed a very high score to offset the low GPA. As Georgetown Law appears to have been the most prestigious law school that would admit her, this suggests she was a "legacy" admit (meaning, admitted due to her parents or application sponsors rather than on her own merits).
- MiroF 6y ago
  That's not what a legacy admit is defined to be.
  - gamblor956 6y ago
    That's exactly what a legacy admit is defined as. What non-standard definition are you using?
    - xdavidliu 6y ago
      "Legacy preference or legacy admission is a preference given by an institution or organization to certain applicants on the basis of their familial relationship to alumni of that institution." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_preferences https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_preferences
    - wtallis 6y ago
      Legacy admissions usually refers to admitting a student because they're related to alumni of the same institution. Which Trump went to Georgetown?
      - scottmcf 6y ago
        Eric Trump.
- csa 6y ago
  FWIW, I completely agree that she was admitted to Georgetown (and probably Penn, for that matter) for reasons other than academic prowess. I only highlighted her name to demonstrate that celebrity and money can only get you so far. Georgetown is a perfectly fine law school, but it’s a far cry from Harvard or Yale law schools.
MiroF 6y ago
I'm not claiming it's a deterministic process, but it is worth noting that Gtown is the best in DC