The Dating Parity Problem

(published Christmas 2005)

Back in September or so, I was talking to an Asian woman who was insisting she had to go to law school in California or New York.  I supplied her with data about minority admissions in the midwest, and she responded, "But who will I date?!"

As kindly as I could, I explained to her that among minorities, especially in urban areas, more women than men attend both college and graduate schools, and it would be easier for an Asian woman to date an Asian man at Illinois than at Fordham.  

She didn't like this answer; nonetheless, it's true.  With more minority women than men in higher education, the dating problem won't be solved by staying in L.A.  And the reverse is true for Caucasians.  With the gender balance overall favoring men and the minority balance favoring women, there are far more white men than women at some law schools.  

So here's a look at how law school will affect your love life.  

• Most of the data came from the NALP Directory of Law Schools, 2004-5 and 2005-6.  
• I averaged two years to balance any anomalous data.
• For newer schools or schools that didn't publish in the NALP Directory, I used ABA/LSAC data.  
• The totals are approximate, since averaged numbers round up (i.e., 24.5 turns into 25).  

Do I think this data should affect where you attend law school?  No, of course not!  But you need something to keep you occupied between now and when acceptance letters come in.  And if you have any silly* assumptions about what law school holds in store for your love life, it's best to learn the reality now.

*"Silly" because you won't have time for any love life at all in law school!   

Of course, there are bunches of disclaimers and caveats.

 I'm assuming heterosexual students who only date within their own race.
I'm assuming that published data is accurate.  (Where it was wildly and obviously inaccurate, I fixed it.)  

But I've done my best to please, as I do with all Christmas presents.  Enjoy!  

	Total		Black		Asian		Hispanic		Native Amer.		White/Other
School	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women
Akron	114	72	6	5	3	2	3	2	0	0	102	64
Alabama	113	62	6	7	3	0	1	1	2	0	102	55
Albany	132	145	3	12	7	15	5	6	0	0	118	113
American	175	255	10	24	15	37	17	27	1	1	133	167
Appalachian	95	54	1	2	3	2	1	1	1	0	89	49
Arizona	81	75	2	4	6	11	9	10	4	4	60	46
Arizona State	109	87	1	6	6	5	13	14	4	9	85	54
Arkansas Fayetteville	92	74	10	16	0	4	2	0	0	1	81	54
Arkansas Little Rock	82	83	2	7	1	2	1	0	1	1	77	74
Ave Maria	65	34	0	1	3	2	1	3	0	1	61	27
Baltimore	166	174	14	20	5	11	5	4	0	1	143	140
Barry	114	105	7	8	6	5	11	12	1	2	91	79
Baylor	92	82	1	1	5	6	3	5	1	0	83	72
Boston College	131	138	6	9	12	15	7	6	0	0	107	109
Boston University	135	144	4	6	19	22	7	6	1	0	104	110
Brigham Young	91	63	3	1	5	5	6	5	1	0	77	53
Brooklyn	258	239	12	10	22	49	11	11	0	0	213	169
Cal Berkeley	107	173	6	10	18	39	12	21	1	2	70	102
Cal Davis	81	114	2	3	16	31	8	13	0	2	56	66
Cal Hastings	201	221	3	6	47	54	13	17	1	1	139	145
Cal-UCLA	157	148	6	9	21	26	10	15	4	2	117	97
Cal Western	167	152	2	4	15	20	12	12	3	2	136	114
Campbell	119	64	1	3	1	0	2	1	0	0	115	60
Capital	138	128	7	14	1	4	3	3	1	1	127	107
Cardozo	171	150	3	8	16	14	9	12	1	0	144	118
Case Western	162	97	6	4	12	11	2	1	0	0	142	70
Catholic	146	176	4	11	11	13	9	6	2	1	120	145
Chapman	89	95	1	0	14	23	5	5	1	1	69	66
Chicago	105	88	6	10	12	15	11	14	1	1	77	49
Chicago Kent	197	154	11	12	23	15	12	8	1	2	152	118
Cincinnati	66	66	3	9	4	4	1	1	0	1	58	52
Cleveland State	136	118	7	10	4	6	6	1	0	0	120	101
Colorado	78	88	2	5	3	11	6	4	3	4	65	65
Columbia	212	172	14	23	26	30	14	12	1	2	158	106
Connecticut	109	102	3	11	5	11	11	10	1	0	89	71
Cornell	101	91	3	15	18	20	5	7	1	1	75	50
Creighton	97	73	4	2	1	1	4	5	1	1	88	66
CUNY	56	108	7	14	9	12	6	15	0	0	35	67
Dayton	111	89	5	4	4	6	5	2	1	2	45	35
Denver	184	165	7	8	11	9	9	9	12	11	146	129
DePaul	195	196	8	17	16	12	15	12	2	0	156	156
Detroit Mercy	116	113	2	8	1	2	1	2	0	0	113	102
Drake	85	83	3	6	1	3	2	1	0	1	79	72
Duke	116	93	9	15	9	7	3	4	1	0	96	68
Duquesne	112	90	1	2	1	2	1	0	0	0	110	86
Emory	125	134	3	9	10	10	2	7	0	0	110	108
Florida	197	179	11	22	8	11	22	19	1	1	156	128
Florida Coastal	235	202	16	25	4	6	5	11	3	3	208	158
Florida International	54	46	6	9	2	1	21	21	0	0	25	15
Florida State	122	109	6	9	7	6	7	15	2	0	101	79
Fordham	252	226	11	16	23	28	18	25	1	1	201	157
Franklin Pierce	92	67	3	4	12	8	3	1	0	0	75	54
George Mason	122	71	5	6	8	8	6	2	0	1	103	55
George Washington	294	233	18	30	22	33	26	25	2	2	226	144
Georgetown	315	265	19	38	28	24	14	14	1	1	254	190
Georgia	122	125	13	24	5	4	2	4	1	0	103	94
Georgia State	110	110	8	18	5	10	3	3	0	1	95	80
Golden Gate	174	215	4	9	42	37	12	13	2	0	115	158
Gonzaga	120	108	1	1	9	11	6	5	2	2	104	89
Hamline	122	153	5	6	5	6	5	5	1	1	107	137
Harvard	311	247	23	33	34	41	15	15	3	1	237	158
Hawaii	45	59	1	0	24	37	1	2	1	1	19	20
Hofstra	172	156	5	17	14	14	7	13	2	0	146	113
Houston	185	216	2	4	14	26	15	12	2	2	152	172
Howard	61	95	50	84	3	4	2	2	0	0	7	6
Idaho	64	43	1	1	4	4	2	3	0	1	58	35
Illinois	138	88	8	8	28	20	8	10	2	1	94	51
Indiana Bloomington	122	89	5	8	8	6	2	6	0	1	108	70
Indiana Indianapolis	176	173	6	20	6	7	12	7	1	0	152	140
Iowa	125	107	4	9	6	5	5	6	2	1	110	88
John Marshall (GA)	39	26	5	6	2	0	0	1	0	0	32	19
John Marshall (IL)	276	201	8	12	16	17	13	8	1	1	240	164
Kansas	92	73	4	2	6	7	9	5	2	3	72	57
Kentucky	83	62	2	6	2	1	0	1	1	0	79	56
Lewis & Clark	119	114	2	3	9	16	7	6	2	3	101	87
Louisiana State	117	117	9	15	3	2	1	3	1	1	105	97
Louisville	69	73	2	4	1	4	1	2	1	0	65	64
Loyola Chicago	120	144	2	6	10	14	4	7	1	1	104	118
Loyola LA	216	199	8	10	44	55	21	24	1	2	143	109
Loyola New Orleans	105	128	7	14	5	5	2	13	1	2	90	96
Maine	41	47	1	0	3	2	1	1	0	0	37	45
Marquette	139	103	6	4	4	3	1	2	1	0	127	95
Maryland	108	141	6	27	13	13	3	7	0	1	87	94
Memphis	80	61	7	11	1	1	1	1	0	0	72	49
Mercer	78	64	4	9	2	3	0	1	1	1	71	50
Miami	234	176	12	15	7	8	21	30	2	0	194	124
Michigan	209	188	11	16	21	25	17	16	5	6	157	126
Michigan State	202	149	6	4	11	9	3	3	1	1	182	134
Minnesota	155	122	3	3	15	16	6	4	2	1	130	99
Mississippi	109	89	5	14	1	2	1	0	1	0	103	74
Mississippi College	113	61	4	9	1	0	0	1	1	0	108	51
Missouri-Columbia	89	62	4	5	1	2	1	0	1	1	82	56
Missouri-KC	104	81	2	2	5	4	2	1	0	2	96	74
Montana	41	40	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	41	39
Nebraska	76	60	4	3	3	3	2	3	0	1	68	51
Nevada (UNLV)	80	72	2	5	7	10	5	3	1	1	67	55
New England	163	199	4	8	9	12	5	11	0	1	146	168
New Mexico	55	59	3	2	1	3	13	12	5	8	34	35
New York Law School	254	261	11	23	16	24	9	13	1	2	217	200
North Carolina (Chapel Hill)	123	113	12	17	9	5	5	3	3	2	95	87
North Carolina Central	68	97	35	62	1	2	1	1	2	3	29	29
North Dakota	36	36	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	3	33	33
Northeastern	72	130	5	13	3	16	6	8	1	4	57	89
Northern Illinois	54	62	4	10	6	5	6	4	1	1	37	43
Northern Kentucky	123	91	3	6	1	1	2	3	2	1	116	82
Northwestern	134	108	7	10	15	16	13	7	0	0	99	75
Notre Dame	99	84	5	6	6	7	8	5	0	1	80	65
Nova	176	158	4	18	6	6	27	36	0	1	140	98
NYU	228	203	16	27	22	23	14	16	0	0	177	138
Ohio Northern	61	62	3	4	1	2	2	1	0	1	55	55
Ohio State	138	115	9	15	13	15	6	3	0	0	111	82
Oklahoma	83	90	4	5	2	5	3	1	5	12	70	68
Oklahoma City	146	98	3	6	7	4	6	7	9	5	122	77
Oregon	107	79	3	4	8	4	7	5	1	2	88	65
Pace	109	146	2	5	6	7	4	6	0	1	98	128
Pacific-McGeorge	211	171	5	5	26	23	9	11	2	1	170	132
Penn	137	121	10	13	15	16	7	14	1	2	104	77
Penn State Dickinson	110	90	5	11	7	8	7	5	0	0	92	67
Pepperdine	125	139	6	6	11	17	4	6	0	1	105	110
Pittsburgh	131	110	5	12	5	5	3	1	0	1	118	92
Quinnipiac	98	92	2	2	2	3	2	2	1	0	92	87
Regent	95	89	2	12	3	5	2	3	2	0	87	70
Richmond	91	69	4	5	4	3	1	1	1	0	83	61
Roger Williams	118	120	2	3	6	9	3	4	1	1	107	105
Rutgers Camden	151	91	6	6	9	10	7	4	0	0	129	72
Rutgers Newark	161	107	22	19	21	17	16	10	1	0	101	62
Samford	109	70	3	9	1	1	1	2	2	1	104	59
San Diego	191	157	6	3	27	24	10	13	2	2	148	116
San Francisco	135	124	6	10	19	29	12	10	1	1	98	76
Santa Clara	155	161	8	12	33	48	17	23	0	2	97	77
Seattle	151	193	7	6	15	23	8	9	2	3	120	154
Seton Hall	219	176	7	13	23	20	10	15	1	1	179	128
SMU	156	138	4	9	13	13	8	11	2	2	130	103
South Carolina	132	110	8	10	1	2	2	2	0	0	122	97
South Dakota	44	37	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	1	42	35
South Texas	224	194	6	14	17	15	22	18	2	1	177	146
Southern	99	87	50	66	0	1	1	2	0	0	48	19
Southern Cal (USC)	106	105	4	14	20	26	11	11	0	1	71	54
Southern Illinois	90	53	0	2	4	2	1	1	0	0	85	49
Southwestern	171	177	8	9	34	37	18	23	0	3	112	106
St. John's	174	146	10	13	11	9	14	5	1	0	138	119
St. Louis	143	155	3	8	4	4	3	6	1	1	133	137
St. Mary's	178	123	5	2	4	5	38	35	2	4	129	77
St. Thomas (FL)	158	140	5	14	4	7	40	57	0	1	109	61
Stanford	94	75	9	6	7	13	12	11	3	0	65	46
Stetson	162	189	7	17	6	6	19	24	1	2	131	141
Suffolk	275	272	9	7	15	20	7	10	1	2	243	234
SUNY Buffalo	122	122	5	10	12	9	4	6	1	1	100	97
Syracuse	157	128	3	12	7	8	8	5	1	1	139	103
Temple	170	168	11	19	19	18	11	6	1	0	129	125
Tennessee	77	81	6	14	0	1	3	1	1	1	68	65
Texas	266	213	9	18	13	18	39	34	2	1	204	143
Texas Southern	115	146	42	86	5	10	29	27	1	0	39	23
Texas Tech	120	115	3	3	4	5	14	17	1	1	98	90
Texas Wesleyan	119	125	3	12	7	8	9	9	2	0	98	96
Thomas Jefferson	228	169	3	5	14	20	12	12	2	0	198	133
Thomas M. Cooley	804	763	59	167	53	53	46	41	4	2	643	501
Toledo	117	92	6	5	3	3	1	4	0	0	107	81
Touro	162	117	13	15	13	11	6	8	1	0	130	84
Tulane	164	158	7	15	4	13	8	7	1	2	146	121
Tulsa	144	83	2	6	0	5	3	4	4	7	135	61
Utah	76	53	1	1	5	4	5	1	2	0	65	47
Valparaiso	101	102	4	7	1	1	4	3	1	0	93	91
Vanderbilt	110	103	5	22	7	6	7	4	1	1	92	70
Vermont	96	100	7	9	1	6	4	5	2	2	83	79
Villanova	138	122	2	8	5	16	7	6	0	1	124	92
Virginia	214	151	11	16	15	17	3	2	1	1	185	116
Wake Forest	94	80	4	10	4	2	7	5	0	0	79	63
Wash. U (St.Louis)	143	95	7	8	12	11	2	1	2	1	120	75
Washburn	88	71	4	6	3	4	4	3	2	2	76	58
Washington	75	112	2	3	4	13	1	3	3	4	66	90
Washington & Lee	73	54	4	5	7	3	1	0	0	1	62	45
Wayne State	106	110	7	15	5	9	3	3	1	2	91	82
West Virginia	83	83	3	4	0	2	1	1	1	1	79	75
Western New England	113	95	2	7	2	8	3	4	1	0	105	76
Western State	104	119	0	8	21	23	13	19	1	0	69	69
Whittier	191	201	10	18	30	40	24	23	1	1	127	120
Widener	334	281	9	19	17	16	4	5	1	0	304	242
Willamette	109	70	3	1	7	3	2	4	1	4	97	60
William & Mary	112	92	6	8	4	4	2	1	1	0	100	79
William Mitchell	164	168	4	6	8	6	3	4	0	1	151	152
Wisconsin	155	132	6	17	12	11	16	11	3	4	120	90
Wyoming	43	34	1	0	0	1	3	2	0	1	39	30
Yale	105	88	6	11	9	14	9	7	0	0	81	57
Totals	24553	22288	1137	2042	1716	2085	1338	1428	183	190	19422	16024