Each year, about 20% of the Hastings entering class comes in through the Legal Education Opportunity Program (LEOP). LEOP offers special consideration in admission to applicants who have been subject to significant adversity that may have prevented them from attaining numeric criteria that fully reflect their motivation, talent, and academic and professional ability. While standard numeric criteria are considered in LEOP admissions, great emphasis placed on non-numeric criteria. The types of significant adversity that are considered include, but are not limited to: economic, educational, expectations for achievement, geographic/cultural, linguistic, disability, and exposure to bias.
Applicants interested in applying through LEOP must address all pertinent questions on the LEOP Supplemental application (listed below). Answers to these questions will be used by the LEOP Committee to evaluate your claim of significant adversity, and by the Admissions Office to determine whether to offer admission.
- Describe the financial situation of your family from birth to college entry. Please include sources of income, income estimates, number of household wage earners, and number of dependents. Please describe any unusual expenses.
- Please describe the occupation(s) and the educational background(s) of the person(s) who raised you.
- Describe your early educational experiences through high school. Discuss the expectation level of and support for educational and career achievement in your family and community. What impact, if any, did it have on your education?
- Please list your source(s) of financial support in college by approximate percentage:
Family: ___ Employment: ___ Loans: ___ Grants/scholarships: ___ Other assistance:___
- Describe any paid or unpaid test preparation, academic support, or tutorial services you have used since elementary school.
- Identify and describe the community(ies) in which you resided from birth to age of college entry. Describe any bias you faced as a member of such community(ies) and explain what impact, if any, it had on your academic performance.
- Are you an immigrant or the child of immigrant parents? If yes, please include the country of origin, year of arrival in the U.S., and the reason for immigrating.
- If English is not your first language, how old were you when you first learned English? Was English the primary language spoken in your home?
- Have you had any learning or physical disability that may have adversely affected your academic performance? Please indicate what accommodations, if any, you were provided in high school and college. If possible, please include supporting documentation of your disability and/or accommodations.
LEOP applicants are strongly encouraged to submit an additional personal statement in which they identify and describe in detail the challenges and obstacles that they have faced and the impact these challenges may have had on their academic preparation. Applicants should include specific information on what they have done to meet and/or overcome these challenges.