Law School Admissions info

Requester: 
Sander, Richard
Organization: 
UCLA
Initial Request Date: 
09/11/2013
Status: 
Records Provided

I am seeking  data, in either printed or electronic  form-   electronic  data would be preferred-on the background  and demographic  characte1istics of applicants  seeking  admission  to your law school  for the  J.D. degree  or  its  equivalent  for  the  2011-12  and  2012-13  admissions  cycles.  (By  2012-13,  for example, I am referring to the admissions  cycle that began last fall and led to the admission of first-year  students  entering  in  the  fall  of  2013).  I  am  generally  interested   in  the  objective   data  your  school systematically  collects for use in admissions  decisions. These include, if you collect this infonnation:-LSAT Score;- Undergraduate GPA;- Undergraduate  college;-Race;- Ethnicity or Hispanic origin;-Gender;-Parent's income (in any reported categories);- Parent's occupation;-Highest level  of  education   achieved   by  a  parent,  or  father's  educational   attainment   and mother's educational  attainment;-Whether the student lives in a single parent household;- State residency status;-Whether the student has parents who are alumni/ae of your school;-Any numerical admissions index used in making admissions decisions;-Was the applicant accepted?-Did the applicant enroll?In addition  to  the specific  data,  I  would  like copies  of  admissions  policies  or  background materials on how this information is used in admissions decisions. For example, I am interested in how your institution handles applicants with multiple scores on the LSAT; the adjustment method you use (if any) for undergraduate grades; whether the strength of an applicant's undergraduate school is a factor in admissions, and so on.Many institutions have, in recent years and under prodding from Supreme Court decisions in Grutter v. Bollinger and, more recently, Fisher v. University of Texas, created policies that describe how race is used as a factor in admissions, and the university's rationale for considering race.  These policies often discuss race-neutral policies the university has considered and plans the institution has undertaken for phasing out the consideration of race. I would like to receive copies of any policy or study document of this type the university has developed or produced.Of course, I am not interested in any data which could be used to identify individual applicants. At the same  time,  I want to  be clear  that the data  I am  requesting  individual-level  data, not  data aggregated by groups. To ensure that individual candidates cannot be identified names, addresses, and similar identifying data should be removed.  If the data that I request is in alphabetical order by the candidate  name it  may  be  helpful  to change this order  to further  ensure  the  privacy  of  individual applicants.

Status Date: 
12/24/2013