<p>As I have other things to do and this is getting tiresome (and, as I suggested above is of no practical value) this will be my last post</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The idea that the relevant pool is 455,000 is (fill in your favorite prejorative term). While I don’t know of any empirical study, the most plausible assumption is that most credible candidates for T14 schools will apply once and only once–whether it be in the year that they take the LSAT or some other year. Therefore, counting all three years together is fundamentally misleading.</p></li>
<li><p>The question is not LSAT’s alone, but LSAT’s and grades alone, which reduces the pool greatly.</p></li>
<li><p>168 is not even in the range for a standard white candidate at Yale Law School.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>[Yale</a> Law School | Entering Class Profile](<a href=“http://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/profile.htm]Yale”>Profiles & Statistics - Yale Law School)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you take that statement from the Stanford admissions blog at face value, I have a bridge in Brooklyn for you to look at. Most of the applications might be formally on hold at some point in the process but the admissions officer will know that most of them are going right in the trash unless something dramatic happens in the world. Further, there is nothing in the statement that suggests that the rest will not fall into line statistically as the process moves forward.</p></li>
<li><p>Anyone who knows anything about the law school world knows that deans live and die with the US News rankings–even at the below HYS T14 level. Penn wants to beat Columbia, Georgetown wants to be above Michigan, etc. In order to compete in the rankings, they need to pursue the applicants with the best numbers, period.</p></li>
<li><p>I have no doubt there will probably be some true statistical ties for the last three or so positions in the admissions process at some or all T14(not the difference between 171 and 173, or 3.85 and 3.9 gpa, but true statistical ties). In trying to allocate those three positions among say five candidates, I don’t doubt that the admissions officer will read personal statements to see if something jumps out at her. But the question was not about personal statements (even though I suspect that in most cases they will also be of limited significance) it was about ECs. Ask yourself–if you were an admissions officer at a prestigious law school would you want to take the time to sift through resumes to see who was in the marching band?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Over and out.</p>