Admissions Interactions: Institutional Scholarships and Scholarship Committees
Admissions Digest, 02.15.2022
What's Going On in the Admissions Cycle Right Now?
Law schools will continue to push out admissions decisions and scholarship offers as quickly as they can. Admitted students should anticipate communications regarding scholarship decisions, reconsideration policies, and upcoming events. Waitlisted candidates should prepare any relevant updates for submission, as admissions offices may take looks at their lists as we near commitment deadlines this spring.
A surprising number of candidates submit applications on the very last day possible, often within the final hour. For schools with February 15 application deadlines, DO NOT wait until the last few moments to submit your application. If technology fails, or something causes you to be unable to submit a timely application, there is typically no opportunity to receive an exception allowing some sort of alternative submission. Schools will not reopen their applications—a candidate who misses the deadline will have to wait to apply in the next cycle.
FAQs from Students
Are you updating your bank of questions related to law school interviews? Yes! As we receive new information, we continue to update our interview content.
Helpful Link
Wanting to chat with other 7Sagers about the February LSAT? Here’s the official discussion thread.
Discussion
This week, our discussion continues on interactions with the law schools in terms of institutional scholarship interviews and committees.
Institutional scholarships are named scholarships, often endowed, which have special requirements that candidates must submit to be considered. These requirements typically include an additional essay or prompted statement. There may be specific GPA or standardized test score requirements. Additional documentation may be necessary. Often, these scholarships have very rigid deadlines by which all of the requirements must be met for consideration.
In many instances, eligible candidates are only considered AFTER an offer of admission has been made. This is done, in part, to narrow the pool before moving the eligible candidates on to the next stage of consideration: the scholarship committee.
Often, each named/institutional scholarship will have its own assigned committee formed to consider the pool of eligible candidates. These committees can be comprised of admissions officers, faculty members, administrators, and/or alumni members. Committee members will often have access to the submitted scholarship materials in addition to the full application to help them assess and rank the strongest candidates for each award. Members will often review all of the candidates and then convene for a committee meeting where the group as a whole will come to a consensus on a ranking of the strongest candidates.
If the scholarship that you’ve applied for has an interview component for finalists, those strongest candidates will then receive invitations for interview. These interviews are often facilitated by panels of individuals—either members from the scholarship committee, admissions, the faculty, the alumni, prior recipients, or some combination of these groups.
There, you can anticipate questions that help the panel members get to know you and assess your fit for their law school community. You might be asked about your future goals, what you picture yourself doing on campus as a student, how you envision yourself contributing as an alumnus, how you see yourself benefiting from the award you are being considered for, or how you see yourself making the world a better place with a degree from that institution.
In a scholarship interview, it’s important to be yourself—let your personality shine through, give honest and detailed responses, and don’t worry about whether your answer might be the “right” answer. The best answer is the one that’s most genuine. These interviews aren’t super long, but it’s a good idea to take notes if any of the panelists drop little nuggets of wisdom, and thank-you notes following the interview are a good idea, so be sure that you’ve learned everyone’s names.
Lastly, always go into an interview having at least one question to ask the panel—a good catch-all is why each of the panel members has chosen to be a part of that school’s community. If you’re not yet settled on that school as your first choice, the answers you receive to this question might help you gain more perspective.
Next week, we’ll continue this scholarship conversation and discuss reconsideration and negotiations. Stay tuned!
Upcoming Recruitment Events
Boston University Law is offering guided tours and some financial aid webinars during the month of February. For guided tours, proof of vaccination and mask wearing are required, and interested applicants may sign up via the tour calendar here. On Wednesday, February 23 at 5:30 p.m. ET, the financial team is offering a virtual webinar on Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Register here.
Duke Law is offering law student-guided tours on Mondays and Fridays at 2 p.m. ET. Tour size is limited, so registration is advised. Register here.
Notre Dame Law is offering in-person visits for prospective and waitlisted applicants on Mondays, which include a class observation, admissions information session, and student-led tour. Visits are limited to 10 people at a time. Register here.
UCLA Law is offering online information sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 12:15 p.m. PT. Register here.
WashU Law in St. Louis is offering meetings with admissions, virtual open houses, and live-streamed events. For more details and to sign up, click here.