Saturday, November 19, 2005
|"Honey, as far as I'm concer-erned, the tables have turned."|The University of Texas School of Law has graciously deemed me as meriting a fee-waiver based on my academic performance as well as LSAT score.This is humorous to me because, of all 189 (I think) ABA approved and provisionally approved law schools, UT is the one and only school against which I have an ideological stance against applying (although BYU with its "Honor Code" is pushing it).Two months ago I received their need-based fee waiver application in the mail. Beyond the normal financial situation questionnaire, they also required:a) the creation of a "budget"b) an essay-like explanation of why I cannot afford to pay the appc) that they see a clear reason for admitting me -- in other words, if I'm likely to get in, then and only then will they give me the fee waiver, but that is based on being academically competitive. Apparently I am that, according to the email I received today, but at the time I did not know/think that given my GPA (so I'm really thinking it's the being black that's suddenly made me so competitive) and lack of an LSAT score.My primary issue with this application is not about me. It's about the truly poor (because, truth be told, I could have paid the $70 -- it would have meant eating breadless sandwiches for a week, but I could have done it) chicano applicant who works 55+ hrs a week (most of his money going to help out his family, because his dad was injured on the job and has no insurance/worker's compensation), whose grades aren't very strong (but who it's clear upon speaking with that he's very bright) who's doing all he can to stay afloat and get himself through school. Are you going to put this boy through all of these additional rings to apply? As if he hasn't been through enough already? Doesn't it occur to them that maybe the mere fact that this person cannot afford to pay the measley $70 application fee that perhaps there are a number of reasons (beyond their grades and LSAT score) why he isn't "academically competitive"? And then, if he doesn't get the fee waiver -- after taking out the time to fill out this extra and extraneous fee waiver application -- then not only are you telling him that he will most likely be rejected, but you are also telling him that he owes you $70 because he had to submit his application for admission along with the application for the fee waiver in order to be considered for the fee waiver.I have half a mind to apply to UT and then, if I get in, explain to them exactly why I'm not going: "I got into Stanford, but also..."
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 03:42.
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