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Amanda Duffy
Megan Keaton
ENC 2135-07
28 July 2015
Florida State University College of Law: Admissions Community
A discourse community is a set or group of individuals that share a specific, dynamic, and
dependent type of language and communication. This language and type of communication is
regulated by principles and terms known and used by this community to reach a common goal.
A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant
content and discoursal expertise (Swales, 473).
The discourse community I have chosen for this project is the Admissions Department of
Florida State Universitys College of Law. This community has a very select group of individuals
with much knowledge about the legal field, qualifying them as a discourse community according
to Swales. My reasoning for choosing this community is because I am personally hopeful into
enrolling at The Florida State Law School. As an undergraduate student of FSU, I am currently
in preparation for becoming a part of this community. With that in mind, composing this project
will not only expose me to the depths of this community, but it will also allow me to endorse
myself with crucial information regarding this community and the genres involved within it.
Also, Florida State Universitys College of Law is ranked one of the best in the nation, 50th to be
exact, with some of the most competitive application requirements (Law School Application
Statistics). The particular key terms, text, and language involved in this community are
abbreviated terms used for assessment references, a particular numerical grading system, and
online application components. This set of language is circulated around the evolving

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commonality people in this community share. Most commonly, however, the inbuilt dynamic
towards an increasingly shared and specialized terminology is realized through the development
of community-specific abbreviations and acronyms (Swales, 473). These language principles
will be explained later in the review of each genre affiliated within my community.
This communitys intended purpose and function is to conduct and control the applying,
registering, administering, selecting, and accepting processes involved in Florida State Law
School. The community also assists undergraduate students in the guidance and planning of
applying to Florida State Law School. The individuals that maintain this community are a
professional and experienced office staff that contribute different aspects and are responsible for
specific duties in this community. The individuals that primarily use and benefit from this
community are undergraduate students, like myself, that are in the process of registering and
applying for law school, and eventually becoming accepted. The different roles the members of
this community part take in are the administering abilities provided by the office staff. For
example, the member of this community that I interviewed was Deborah Gautier, the assistant
director of admissions and recruitment. Her main responsibilities did not only consist of
administering the office, selecting the acceptance of students, contacting other nationally
accredited law school, and making financial decisions of the office. But she also was in charge of
researching to find particular potential law schools students and interesting them into Florida
State Law School. One of the main obligations of my job is to reach out and get students
engaged into our program. Because we are nationally ranked as a law school we attract many out
of state students that arent familiar with the amazing organizations we offer here at FSU law
(Gautier)
Other members of this community were responsible for things such as planning the social
events, analyzing the data, admissions counselors, academic support, and so on. (Florida State

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University College of Law Viewbook, 34) Why this community is essential to The Florida State
College of Law is because it provides the law school a credible selective process for the future
advocates of Florida State Law School. This community holds the highest responsibility and also
highest financial investment in regards to the entirety of FSU Law School and its future
graduates. They are trained professionals who care about the reputation of their work place and
want to continue to tradition of excellence at Florida State University School of Law.
What directs and operates discourse communities are the genres involved in it. Genres
contribute to the community what the members cannot. They are documented and representative
objects, compositions, and attributes that enable the basis and goal of the community. Genres, in
my community, influence every aspect in the admissions process and in the members of the
community itself. The genres I am particularly researching are the one that are used to determine,
evaluate, and announce the acceptances of Florida State Law School newly enrolled students.
The genres I will be utilizing in the research of my community consist of letters of
recommendation, the actual application itself, the LSAT examination and evaluation, the
application notification, and transcripts. All of which are either composed by, reviewed by, or
provided by a member in this discourse community.
The letter of recommendation is a very significant part of the admissions process. What
this letter provides is a personal written reference from a professional in the field of your
undergraduate education or community involvement that will articulate your talents,
accomplishments, and academic prestige. Usually the writers of this genre is a person in a
leadership position that has worked above or around the student they are recommending. Most
common in my community, the letters are written by professors, attorneys, state representatives,
and judges. Who receives and reads the letters of recommendation in my community are the
directors of admissions that I mentioned earlier. They will evaluate the reference from the

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context of the letter, the author of the letter, and the formatting and professionalism of the letter.
These are all the conventions that make up the genre of letter of recommendations. The purpose
of this genre is to inform the admissions department of Florida State Law School on the qualities
of a potential student from a credible source that is correlated in the community The letter of
recommendation I had sent to FSU Law was one from a family friend judge back home. He
watched me grow up and let me work under him as an observer. He wrote about how personable
I was and how I picked up on things quickly. I really do think it was a contributing factor to my
acceptance (Burns). How this genre helps my community meet its goal is by gaining insight
about an individual not available through data or results. Thats what differentiates letters of
recommendation from my other genres, they illustrate the character of the student rather than
their academic abilities. This allows members of the community to get a feel on a student
personally from a higher up in the legal field. Allowing them to then make an acceptance
decision for the student or not.
The next genre involved in my community is the very important and infamous LSAT.
Also known as the Law School Admissions Text. This test is composed, created, reviewed, and
evaluated by the ABA. The ABA is also known as the American Bar Association (First Year
Orientation: Resources). What the LSAT essentially does is it sets a prediction for a students
score on the bar exam. It is composed by three section; logical reasoning, analytical reasoning,
and reading comprehension. This extensive test is three hours and thirty minutes long, trying to
see how students handle pressure and time management (About the LSAT). The bar exam is the
main determining factor of whether a law school student graduates and becomes a state licensed
attorney at law. When I spoke to Deborah Gautier, the assistant director of admissions, she
informed me of how heavily the LSAT score is weighted in admitting students. Not only for the
purpose of the bar exam prediction, but it also shows how the student can really prepare

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themselves for what is required and expected in their legal field. The LSAT represents the
cognitive aspect of the predictor battery. As traditionally used in psychometrics, the category
cognitive mainly encompasses academic and test-taking capability, especially verbal and
numeric knowledge and reasoning. Overwhelming evidence shows that cognitive ability thus
defined is a predictor of job performance (Shultz, 54). Nevertheless, this is a highly contributing
factor to a students admission into law school and into this community. The purpose of this
genre is to show the admissions community that a student is prepared to handle the diverse and
fast paced curriculum of law school, as well as passing the bar. This genre allows the community
to ensure they are selecting the most prepared students for their law school, reaching their goal of
admitting the best students to Florida State School of Law. Out of all the genres used in my
community this is the one that I believe has the most influence on whether a student is accepted
or not.
Another genre involved in my community is the physical application itself. This genre is
just the basic information that is first presented to the admissions counselor. What is collected in
the application is the students full name, entire address, date of birth, undergraduate school
attended, unweighted grade point average, race and ethnicity, application short essays which vary
from school to school, and additional background information. I was going to print out the actual
FSU law school application to quote and use as a secondary source but it cost money to access it
so unfortunately I was not able to do that. The only purpose this genre really has in this
community is to give an initial impression to the admissions counselor about the student. Second
to the application, the next genre used in my community is the application notification. The
application notification is an e-mail which is sent when FSU law school admissions office have
received a students application. It provides students then a username and password that allows
you to access the online status checker (Admissions). The only function this genre serves for the

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community is just an electronic liability and security for students to privately track and monitor
their status check. It helps the community in meeting its goal by informing students of their
acceptance or not and allowing them to begin the next step of their admissions process.
The last genre involved in my community for this project is academic transcripts. What
an academic transcript is from a university standpoint is a clear and define list of all the courses
you have taken in college, the grades you received, and your overall grade point average. This
genre is made electronically by the university and sent to my community, the admissions
department of Florida State Law School. The admission department then reviews the transcript,
and uses that to assess a students acceptance or not. What a transcript shows is the academic
ability of the student through their undergraduate studies. Whether they maintained focus and
excelled, or slacked off and just passed. Transcripts are essential in any admissions community
because they are not subjective. Just data and information taken right from the gradebook that
leaves little to no room for bias judgment when accepting a student or not.
Any discourse community is dependent on its diverse set of genres. Combined they create
a cause and effect relationship that increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the community
and members involved in it. The letters of recommendation have a very formal and direct
context, and usually have a letterhead that is aesthetically pleasing to the reader. The application
is also very straight forward and to the point, it doesnt leave room for any personal or emotional
investment. The LSAT is a numerically evaluated assessment that takes extensive preparation
and time commitment, and is formatted as such a test. The admission notifications contains
nothing but information regarding the application status, and is only electronically presented to
students. An academic transcript is nothing but data collected from a university and is presented
in a very particular documented structure. All of the genres above, and their conventions,
illustrate one thing. My community, Florida State College of Law Admissions Department, is a

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very professional community that sets high expectations for its members and the overall body
and atmosphere. Being in an office setting, they identify themselves as scholarly and well
presented. Even through communications between the members is strictly formal and not
conversational, going to show the effect their professional job has on their inner community
lifestyle. The genre ecology used in this community shows a direct correlation between the
genres, the community, and its members. This is illustrated and explained on the following page

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The Law School Application is the dominant genre used in my ecology and community. Its what
connects the genres and community itself together. It requires the letter of recommendation, as
well as the LSAT score. Once a student submits their application they are provided with an
admissions notification, informing them that their application submission is evident. Law school
application also requires the genre of an academic transcript, also providing the students grade
point average. The law school applications, letters of recommendation, LSAT scores, and
transcripts are all evaluated and reviewed by the admissions counselors in my community.
Meaning, the admission counselors have a similarity in judging documented information to gain
insight into the academic and personal capabilities of a potential student. The community shares
that expertise and knowledge through a bond that allows them to properly communicate with
each other with a specific set of language principles as mentioned earlier. What the genre
ecology says about the community as a whole is that it is a very close knit, written in stone kind
of community, with a very particular communication style. Once again, a very professional and
formal type of community. The whole process of applying and become accepted was extremely
intimidating. You are constantly surround by professionals and people you know are much more
intelligent than you. But overall, once becoming a part of this community you start to realize you
are where you belong (Burns)
Referring back to the cause and effect relationship shared between the community and its
genres. The community of Florida State College of Law Admissions has a close connection and
impact to each of its genres. The community is solely responsible for evaluating, judging,
categorizing, clarifying, and forwarding the genres to and for an appropriate source. For instance,
the letter of recommendation is reviewed by the admissions council, and is used entirely to their
personal discretion if it is an effective reference or not. This is an aspect that is incredibly
dependent on the community when submitting the genre. Also, the LSAT serves primarily to

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inform the admissions department on the academic ability of the student compared to the bar
exam. Without the law school admissions department community, there would be no use or
relevance for the LSAT. The existence of the genre and its community in this case are completely
dependent of each other. There are two types of members in this community. The admissions
department office staff that administer the application process is one category of members, and
the other category of members are students who undergo and apply for the admissions process
and create the genres involved in it. Similar to the genres and community, these two types of
members are dependent of each other. The students submit the applications with the following
genres, while the admissions counselors review and examine it. Without the work of the student,
there would be no review from the admissions office. The community itself has an effect on each
contribution made through its members. Each and every genre in my ecology falls under the
primarily genre of the application. The application process itself combines all of the genres
together because they are the requirements. The letters of recommendation are a requirement, the
providence of the LSAT score is a requirement, the academic transcript provided by the
undergraduate university is a requirement. The application notification is a requirement on the
behalf of the admissions office. The community combines this because it follows a structured
organization pattern, but also allows different representatives of the students abilities to be
presented and examined. How they evaluate the order of importance of the genre is reflective of
the community as well. In some circumstances, one genre will have more influence on the
determination of acceptance than another. The LSAT score might contribute and be judged more
harshly to a certain students acceptance if they have an insufficient grade point average. In
another situation a letter of recommendation composed from a judge might hold a greater weight
then a letter of recommendation from a professor. It differentiates between the credible author of

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the letter and the context within it. Every genre in this community has a different effect and
perspective from member of the community, but somehow is used to reach a common goal and
produce the same result, law school acceptance. Thats what the intended goal for this
community is, and they can relate and rely on each other through the dynamic of the genre
ecology. When you think about it, the community is the genre ecology. All with specific purposes
designated to evaluate specific things. Different members of the community responsible for
certain genres and commination. Everything is comprised of smaller pieces that makes up the
whole. Thats the operation of a discourse community, a shared group of genres, language, and
communication that can attain the desired outcome.

Works Cited Page

"About the LSAT." About the LSAT. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2015.
"Admissions." Admissions. Florida State College of Law, n.d. Web. 22 July 2015.
Burns, Daniel, Personal Interview, 23 Jul 2015

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"First Year Orientation: Resources." Law School Terminology. Hamline University, 15 July
2013. Web. 19 July 2015.
Florida State University College of Law Viewbook. 2014-2015 ed. Tallahassee: n.p., 2014. Print.
Gautier, Deborah, Personal Interview, 27 Jul 2015
Shultz, Marjorie M., and Sheldon Zedeck. "Admission to Law School: New Measures."
Educational Psychologist 47.1 (2012): 51-65. Print.
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Writing about Writing. Eds. Doug
Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. New York, Bedford/St. Martins (2011): 468-479. Print
"Top Law Schools - TLS Stats - Law School Application Statistics." Top Law Schools - TLS
Stats - Law School Application Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 July 2015.