The Latino Admission Outlook in the University of Houston Law Center
According to the Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, the University of Houston Law Center has been ranked highly since 2009 in the number of Hispanic admissions and conferees. In the anticipated freshman slots of close to 500 for this academic year, 10% of the prospective candidates are expected to be Hispanics. Based on a Texas-based newspaper, the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) has seen a dramatic growth of Hispanic law school enrollees. For the past decade, Hispanic law school applicants had increased by almost 40% as compared to only 10% increase among the black and caucasian students.
The admission process in University of Houston Law Center (UHLC) is very competitive. Out of the more than 7,000 law school applications received for this academic year, only 20% are given admission notices or about 1,400 prospective candidates. The UHLC admissions committee has a tough job ahead sorting out through the various application components of student applicants. The committee has to accept only student applicants who they believe will have a satisfactory performance in the law school.
One important criterion that UHLC is utilizing is the scores of the applicants in the Law Admissions Test (LSAT). LSAT is the standardized test that all law student applicants should take prior to law school admission. The range of scores in the LSAT is from 120 to 180. Based on the research data, the median LSAT score of the accepted law student candidates is 162 and the lowest LSAT score of the accepted candidates is 140. The prospective candidates with lower LSAT scores were accorded admission opportunities because of their high GPAs, letters of recommendations and quality leadership skills based on the candidates’ work experiences.
Although expected to contain only flattering information about the student applicant, the UHLC admissions committee still gives significance emphasis to the personal statements being provided and the letters of recommendation. In the three-page double-spaced personal statement, the student applicant can write about his or her personal challenges, special skills and professional extracurricular activities. However, the admissions committee is quick to emphasize that the personal statement is not a restatement of the student applicant’s resume. The student applicant can even discuss any personal negative record or experience.
Although aware of the of the differing GPA system among the various schools, the UHLC still gives relative importance to the undergraduate GPA of the student applicant. The median GPA of the accepted candidates in UHLC is 3.37 and the lowest GPA is within the 2.5 range.
Despite the high admission standards of the University of Houston Law Center, it is still one of the preferred law schools among the Hispanics. According to Raymond T. Nimmer, Law Center Dean, the finding of the Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education is a significant achievement since it displays the diverse community within the UHLC campus and the hard work of both the faculty and staff of the Law Center.