ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE
REPRESENTATIVE

Candidate: Elizabeth Kimmelman ('07)

Hi! My name is Elizabeth Kimmelman and I am running to be your SBA Admissions Committee Representative. I would like to be your admissions committee rep for three reasons. First, I feel that USC Law is the best place to go to law school and want to make sure that the next class of students contributes to our warm and friendly environment. Second, I have enthusiasm for and experience in the admissions process. Third, I would be a great member of the SBA.

Coming to law school from Philadelphia and not having any family or friends in Los Angeles, the law school really became my home away from home. One of the main reasons that I decided to come to USC is that when I visited I was struck by how friendly and happy the students were. I really think that the student body is what makes USC such a special place and I hope to help admit students who will contribute to our fun (for law school) and comfortable environment. I also hope to work towards convincing these students to attend USC once admitted.

Furthermore, I have a lot of experience in the admissions process, both as an undergrad at Penn and at USC. At Penn, I gave tours for three years, was a tour guide coordinator, and spent a summer working in the Admissions office where I led information sessions and talked on the phone to nervous applicants and their parents. At USC I gave tours last year and will do it again this year and attended lunches with admitted students. I really love the admissions process and feel that I would be very happy working in admissions one day.

Finally, I am an enthusiastic, dedicated, reliable and organized person and I think I would be a great addition to the SBA. I have already worked with the SBA this year in my position as JLSA President and PAD VP of Academics and have a good idea of how the organization operates. I know that along with my own duties I will support other members of the SBA with their projects.

Please vote for me as your SBA Admissions Committee Representative! I would be honored to serve the student body in this position!

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Candidate: Aanand Mehtani ('07)
2Ls- check your mail boxes before you vote.

1Ls- vote for me even though I didnt bribe you.

I didnt really want to win because I payed more than my opponent for candy, so what I did for the 2Ls is write them a personal note. I dont know many of you, so all I could have said to you in my personal note is read what I have to say.

Here is what I have to say - -

A couple people have told me that If I expect to have a fighting chance in this election, I have to show that I can be serious. I am not really sure what that means. Should I copy and paste my resume?

I am a second year juris doctor candidate at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. Currently, I am about two hundred thousand dollars in debt, and I a pray everyday that after I graduate I can reconcile paying off that debt, so I can support my family, and at the same time do something which doesnt give me nightmares. I can be serious. We can all be serious. If you cant be serious, get the hell out of this law school and forget about this profession. Make room for someone who deserves to be here.

Some people that apply to law school next year will break the upper 160s on their LSATs and have 3.7s or above. Those people are going to get in unless they write something completely inappropriate in their personal statements. Others will have really low scores, and will have to have cured cancer or something close to it to have a chance. There is nothing I can do about either of these situations, and there is nothing I want to do about them.

What I want to do -- what I want you to vote for me to do is to read the applications of the people in the middle again and again and again until I can remember every theme, every emotion, every plea, every contention, every indication of intellectual curiousity, compassion, and promise. I want you to vote for me because after I do that, I want to take these thoughts I have gathered about these people and share them with others on the admissions committee who are generations older than us. I want them to hear what our generation has to say about these applicatants.

But this is all general bullshit in a sense, so what else would I look for?

Well-

1. Diversity
What does this mean? Does diversity mean that we have different shades of skin? Different ways that our bodies pee, experience erotic pleasure, and contribute to procreation? Different sexual orientations? Maybe different national origins? Hell, maybe different international origins? We're raised to believe in The Bible, or the Koran, or maybe the Bhagavad Gita, or maybe all of the above, or none of the above?
Yes. It means all of these things.
But thats not all it means.
Diversity entails celebrated difference.
I celebrate difference in opinion, difference in ideology, difference in aspirations, difference in experiences, difference in lifestyle.
All these differences are what make this country, this state, this city, and this school what it is.

2. Intellectual Curiousity.
If an applicant can demonstrate that he or she has a real interest in learning the law, be it a practical or purely academic interest, that applicant gets in over someone with similar scores who cannot demonstrate this.

3. Passion
A friend of mine has a quote on her profile - more or less it goes something like this--

"The Ancient Greeks didnt write obituaries. When a man died, they asked only one question- did this man have passion?!?"

I will be looking for passion in personal statements. I want the statements to reach out, grab me by the chest, and suck me into the stories they represent through the passion inherent in those stories. Perhaps much of this passion will have roots in youthful idealogy, but I firmly believe that it is that youthful idealogy that separates us from the rocks and the trees.

Please consider giving me your support for admissions chair. Much love and respect to anyone who is running against me, but I dont give a flying blank about my resume in an SBA context, I dont care about the popularity contest. I want to do this because USC has changed my life, and I feel like whoever does this has to take it very seriously, and do his or her job very passionately. I am ready to do that.

Aanand