Career Center, Career Files, Pre-Law

Applying To Law School As An Immigrant Or As The Child Of Immigrant Parents

In the last five years, nearly 70 percent of my law school admission consulting clients have had one of the following stories to tell in their personal statements and/or diversity statements for law school application.

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Mess on deskIn the last five years, nearly 70 percent of my law school admission consulting clients have had one of the following stories to tell in their personal statements and/or diversity statements for law school applications:

  1. I am the child of immigrants.
  2. I am an immigrant.
  3. I am from a foreign country, either educated in the U.S. or abroad.

Allow me to do something uncharacteristic and share a statistic:

“In 2013, 17.4 million children under age 18 lived at home with at least one immigrant parent. They accounted for 25 percent of the 69.9 million children under age 18 in the United States.” (from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states)

If this is your story, you probably can incorporate at least some of these experiences into your law school application:

  1. Ability to speak a foreign language;
  2. Ability to relate to potential clients who come from a similar cultural background;
  3. A history of overcoming language barriers, cultural barriers, and prejudice;
  4. Experiencing financial struggles;
  5. Additional difficulties in school because of the inability of parents to assist you;
  6. Struggles in college due to insufficient preparation by your public high school;
  7. Significant time spent in another country, giving you an understanding of the world; and/or
  8. Appreciation of educational and professional opportunities.

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What are some ways to incorporate these aspects of your background into your law school applications? Let’s approach this with three case studies:

Ana, age 25, from Brazil: Ana studied law for three years in Brazil then came to the U.S. to finish her degree. She speaks Portuguese and Italian. She has not faced any significant financial difficulties and did not need to work during college, but also does not have work experience in the U.S. because she does not have a Green Card as an international student. What are some themes she can emphasize in different aspects of her application?

  • Drive to study law and understanding the differences between studying law in Brazil and in the U.S.;
  • Work experience at companies/organizations outside of the U.S. and the ability to work successfully in a multi-cultural environment;
  • Showing she has been able to succeed academically, far from home and from her support network, in English, and that she has been able to learn from and contribute to the environment at her university in the U.S.

Anuja, age 22, was born in India but came to the U.S. with her parents when she was 7 years old. She was raised in the suburbs of D.C. Her parents were professionals in India, but in the U.S. they have worked in retail sales and now own their own web-based business. She worked part time through college helping with the family business, and attended college near home in order to help with her grandparents, who have lived with them for the past 10 years. What are some aspects of her background to emphasize in her application?

  • An understanding of what it means to be a responsible member of a family, to have a purpose and focus beyond yourself;
  • The experience in business, what it takes to succeed, and serving clients successfully;
  • Language and cultural skills that have benefited other members of her community who come from similar backgrounds, and an empathy with the struggles of immigrants.

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Brian, age 27, from South Korea. Brian came to the U.S. for boarding school at age 15, and obtained a degree in business from a prestigious U.S. university. After graduating, he returned home to serve in the military. He is applying to law school with hopes of working in BigLaw in Asia or in the U.S. His LSAT is very high, and his grades are also impressive, but he is worried that he will appear quite privileged and that his story is very common. He feels that he must attend a top 5 law school.  What can he emphasize in his application?

  • Military experience, particularly working closely with U.S. counterparts;
  • Undergraduate and professional experiences that led him to law (so he does not look like he should really be applying to MBA programs).

How can these ideas be incorporated into the law school application?

Ana’s personal statement can be about why she came to the U.S. to study law, and what she has learned about herself and society by studying the differences in law. It would help if she could emphasize what she plans to do with a J.D., and how her background (understanding two legal systems) will assist her in the practice of law. She could draft a diversity statement about why she took the leap to leave home, overcoming culture shock, what it was like to be in a participatory classroom environment operating in her third language, and how she delved into the university community to take advantage of her experiences in the U.S.

Anuja could use her resume to describe the family business and the number of hours worked per week. She could use her personal statement to talk about being a part of a family and the responsibility she feels, and how her capabilities in business and her drive to serve others are the result of her background. Her diversity statement could focus on her family’s story and the time she spends taking care of her grandparents, or – if she is trying to explain a lower GPA or a particularly poor semester at school – she could include this in an addendum to explain her grades.

Brian might use his diversity statement to describe family dynamics and pressures, and how he paved his own way by insisting on coming to the U.S. at a young age instead of waiting until it was time for college. He might also talk about how his fellow soldiers regarded him based on this choice, and/or how he reached out to the Korean community near his college and began tutoring kids at the local Korean church. In his personal statement, he should emphasize professional and academic experiences that led him to law.

For all of these applicants, language abilities should be described on the resume, and time spent living outside of the U.S. can be listed there in a “travel,” “personal” or “cultural skills” section, especially where a diversity statement is not invited by a school. You could incorporate a line that says, “Came to the U.S. at age 7 and graduated from ESL program in fourth grade.”

Because of the growing number of immigrants in the U.S., and because immigrant populations tend to gravitate together, there is a great need for lawyers who can serve these populations. It also shows a diverse perspective that you can offer to classroom discussions. Therefore, rather than worrying about your story being a dime a dozen, concentrate on emphasizing your story and what you bring to the table as a result.

In appreciation for the stories of so many of the applicants I am privileged to assist, I created a scholarship program for entering law students. This month, two 1Ls became the first recipients. One is the child of immigrants who experienced great hardship during college – she is attending UCLA Law. Another is an immigrant herself – one whose parents came to this country illegally. She is attending the University of Illinois. Each received a $5,000 scholarship to help them defray the cost of their first year of tuition.

Ann K. Levine is a law school admission consultant and owner of LawSchoolExpert.com. She is the author of The Law School Admission Game: Play Like an Expert and The Law School Decision Game: A Playbook for Prospective Lawyers.

 

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