Top Law Schools

Age would probably not fit under the traditional URM category, but would it nonetheless afford an applicant some extra weight?

Being over 25 obviously would not help, but what about over 30? Or over 35? 40? Do (good) schools prefer "aged" students, or do they dislike them?

Zooey wrote:Age would probably not fit under the traditional URM category, but would it nonetheless afford an applicant some extra weight?

Being over 25 obviously would not help, but what about over 30? Or over 35? 40? Do (good) schools prefer "aged" students, or do they dislike them?

From what I've gathered, I don't think age matters that much. Actually, it is probably a plus because it probably means you have more experience, which would be an advantage for places like Northwestern. Additionally, it might help in terms of putting some distance into an applicant if they were to have had a low college GPA. In other words, I don't think an applicant with a 3.0 in 2010 will be getting the same look as one with a 3.0 from 10 years ago.

One of the law schools I applied to states on their website that although older (they used non-traditional) students bring a lot of experience and determination, they find that they have the lowest graduation rates and drop out in the greatest numbers so to keep up with rankings they are giving less weight to them this year "unfortunately." It might be only that law school as I haven't read any others spell it out like that before. Also I don't know how they compete against a 25 year old to get a job, what the preference of employers are, but for undergraduate they seem to have an edge over older job seekers although technically nobody is supposed to age discriminate.