Can You Mention Your Race in Your Law School Applications?

By Sydney Montgomery, Executive Director & Founder

Can you talk about race in your law school applications? This might seem like an interesting or silly question because on one hand, of course, the answer is yes, but with the recent Supreme Court decision, a lot of people are wondering if they can actually talk about race in their law school applications.

I should first start off by saying you absolutely can and should talk about race in your law school applications. With the recent Supreme Court ruling, law schools aren't allowed to ask. You won't see a checkbox for your race on the application this year, so they won't know your race unless you tell them. However, the opinion of the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Roberts was quite clear that nothing in the opinion prohibits an applicant from discussing their race in the application.

While race can't be taken into consideration in admissions as it traditionally used to be, an applicant's race as it relates to courage, determination, and other values or hardships they've overcome can be taken into consideration as part of the admissions process.

If you come from a racial minority background, it is very important to make sure that the law school admissions readers know your racial background, and most importantly, how it relates to those particular factors.

Where can you discuss race in the application? 

There are four places that you can talk about race in your law school application: personal statement, diversity statement, “why us” essays, and letters of recommendation or resume.

The Personal Statement

As I've mentioned several times at this point, your personal statement should be a place where you talk about why going to law school is the next logical step on your journey. I refer to this as your “why law.”

Finding your “why law” is to help give you focus, both in this essay and throughout law school. There are only three years, there are only two summers, and you want to be able to make the most of it with clinics and externship opportunities. You want to be able to get a great job after your first year, and a great job after your second year. If you go in with a blank slate, you might feel a little overwhelmed because there are so many decisions that you might have to make about your 1L summer quickly.

You want to think about what is an area of law that you’re super excited and passionate about.

What's really driving me to law school? What's a problem that I really want to solve? What's specificity? Poverty is a huge issue. Racial discrimination is a huge issue. There are so many ways to solve this. But what are you going to do as a lawyer? 

As you’re thinking about that, you’re also going to think about what stories in your life led you to that passion. In your essay, you should be telling a story and weaving together multiple stories vignettes anecdotes to showcase show don't tell to showcase the development of your passion the development of this interest and really exemplify for them why law school is the next step.

As you're developing these stories, race absolutely can be a part of that, depending on what area of law you want to go into.

Let's say you're really interested in education law and policy. But you're a person of color, you're a person from a marginalized background. That absolutely can be part of your story. Maybe you're especially interested in other immigrant students like you; maybe you didn't have the advocate that you needed; maybe you experienced racial discrimination in your education. Ultimately, all of this has led you to law school. 

Well, you've just mentioned race. You've mentioned your background. You've mentioned your own personal story. It wasn't an entire essay on what it's like to be an immigrant or a person of color, but your identity has been part of the fabric of the stories that you've woven together as you explain the development of your education, law, and advocacy. 

It's not just here's three examples of the ways I've been racially discriminated against. Instead, find a story with a lot of narrative and evocative language that can really set the scene for admissions and weave that into a time when I've tried to effect change, or when I've tried to help others that are similarly situated.

Being a Black woman is at the center of my passion, and it's showing again the courage and the determination and maybe the hardship, but it's showing all of that with the strengths and what I've done and my accomplishments and why I would be a good law school student.

The Diversity Statement

We may see diversity statements change a little bit this year with the new Supreme Court ruling. Applications open from August to October, and I would not be surprised if the application prompts look a little bit different this year as schools try to figure out how to build that diverse class. 

Law school deans absolutely still care about building a diverse class. They still want students from a variety of backgrounds — racial, socioeconomic, geographic, political, religious. So, again, you might see some of the prompts changing a bit, but we're going to talk about the diversity statement as it currently is.

I've always said that your diversity statement doesn't have to be about race. Diversity is really defined broadly. It can be religious, it can be geographic, political, it could be how you were raised, maybe you're an immigrant or undocumented. There are so many things that you could really talk about in your diversity statement.

I often say that the best diversity statements are ones that are anchored in intersectionality. It’s not just being a Black person, but it’s being (for me) a Black woman with a chronic illness. That's kind of unique, and that's giving me a different perspective on the world. 

So, diversity statements are all about intersectionality. The questions of diversity statements are usually: How has an experience given you a unique perspective that will be a benefit to the law school community? How do you interact with others and yourself? How do you think about things differently because of the unique combinations of circumstances you’ve had? 

Race can absolutely be a part of it. Again, it should be centered around courage, determination, values, and nuanced thinking. It doesn’t only have to be hardship. 

“Why Us” Essays

Your “why us” essays are a great place to showcase what you’re interested about at a specific school. Writing this essay starts with researching the schools to learn more about what actually interests you. 

You can reach out to affinity groups related to the racial minority group that you identify with. To name a few: Latinx Law Association, Black Law Students Associate, and Southeast Asian Students Association. 

Reach out to them, and ask them what their experience is like at school. Ask them what they do for community building. Ask them how they integrate with the campus. Take that and use that information as part of why you're really drawn to the school. 

Now here's the thing, almost every school has a Black Law Students Association. Your essay shouldn’t just mention that they have a strong Black Law Students Association. Did you actually talk to anyone or are you just saying that? Do you even know? Instead, because you’ve done your research, you can get specific.

For example, I really love the way that in your Black Law Students Association, students are grouped into families with at least one 3L, one 2L, and one 1L student, because I am really interested in making sure that I have bonds across years, not just with the first year cohort or my section. I also really love that the Black Law Students Association has a dedicated career fair or a resume book, so I feel like this is a school that will also support my career development.

You can see that those are things that you can include in those kinds of why us essays that really show that you've done your research but also mention your race. 

Letters of Recommendation & Resumes

The final pieces, like your resume and your letters of recommendation, are a more unique space where race can be mentioned. 

In regards to your resume, you may already be involved in a Black Student Union at your undergraduate institution or maybe you help out in a local cultural group. Those should be noted on your resume. Perhaps one of your professors that you're getting your letter of recommendation from is also a sponsor of one of those organizations, so they can speak to that as well.

Your recommenders can also speak to the ways you've brought culture into discussions in a really lively and vibrant way or done research in a particular area. They can talk about how you have brought in your own personal experiences to bring your research alive. 

Final Thoughts

You absolutely shouldn't feel like you can't talk about race in your law school applications, because you absolutely can and you should. There are many ways to do it, and it will likely look different for everyone. The most important thing is that it feels genuine and authentic to you, and that you are still explaining to them why law school is the next logical step on your journey.

We’re here to support you through the application process, as well! BIPOC applicants receive up to 10% off of our one-on-one private packages! We also offer sliding scale pricing to help make consulting accessible to all. If an online course is more your speed, make sure to check out our Master Your Soft Factors Package for just $25!

As always, reach out to us if you have any questions at hello@smontgomeryconsulting.com.