Admissions: Preparing for Admissions Interviews
Admissions Digest: 10.11.2022
What's Going On in the Admissions Cycle Right Now?
Some schools are now into the application review process and are issuing decisions. Other schools, though they may have started review, are waiting to begin issuing decisions in batches after Thanksgiving (after recruitment season concludes).
Recruitment season is picking up—October is by far the busiest month for recruitment, and communications with admissions offices may slow down due to a particular office’s bandwidth during travel. Take advantage of information sessions and open houses to connect with the schools on your list, and catch them at LSAC forums and local events if your top schools are outside of your region.
This Is a Good Time to…
Make sure that you are checking your spam folder regularly. Emails from schools often get caught in this folder, and candidates lose precious response time because a school’s email is filtered. Online status checker emails, application inquiries, and even decisions can get filtered there, so add schools’ email addresses to your contacts where possible, and check your spam weekly at the very least.
FAQs from Students
What do AOs consider when they’re reviewing applications? Institutional goals, campus culture, programmatic offerings, scholarship dollars, and diversity are just some of the factors that AOs may consider. For a more detailed view of The Other Side of the Desk, listen to this podcast episode as former law school admissions professionals share their respective processes.
Helpful Link
Trying to improve your performance in the Logic Games section? Listen to our podcast episode on Building Better Boards - Tips for Logic Games with 7Sage tutors Scott Milam and Raphael Piliero.
Discussion
While many law schools only offer admissions interviews by invitation only, there are some schools that allow every candidate to interview, either by requirement (e.g. Northwestern gives three different interview options) or by candidate request (e.g. Vanderbilt). Have an invitation to interview with one of the schools you’ve applied to? Here are some tips for preparing for those conversations:
1. If your interview is with a person or panel, have some questions prepared. Consider questions that the school’s website content can’t sufficiently answer: How would you describe the campus culture? In what ways does this clinic impact the local community? What mentorship opportunities are there outside of the student orgs? What networking opportunities can I participate in to meet people specifically within my areas of interest? How does the administration support diversity and inclusion? What opportunities are there for students to build new organizations/programs? How accessible are the faculty and the Dean?
2. Dress business casual. If you’re interviewing remotely, as comfy as it can be to couple a blazer with sweats, you never want an interview to be the time when the fire alarm goes off and you have to jump to your feet.
3. For online interviews, consider your background. A plain wall, a bookcase, or a clean bedroom are all fine in terms of a background if you don’t have a green screen or the specs to have a digital background behind you. Be wary of having your interview in public, where people are moving behind you, or where you can be easily distracted. If you have to be in a room with other people, give them a heads-up so that they can give you some quiet, and wear headphones to shield your interviewers from some of the background noise.
4. If you know their identities ahead of time, research your interviewers. Being familiar with their backgrounds and career trajectory can help you demonstrate that you’ve done your homework in terms of learning about your interviewers, as they’ll have already read your application. It’s an extra step that allows you to show interest in their work and how they got to be where they are today and perhaps to determine what things you might have in common. This can also help you form the questions you might ask at the end of the interview.
5. Practice introducing yourself. If you have to share a little bit about yourself, think of what that would include. Similarly, consider what fun fact you might have to share about yourself. The “Tell us about yourself” question can be overwhelming because it’s so broad, but try to think of the main things that you want to share and keep your response to two minutes if you can. Most of these interview opportunities are not lengthy, so you don’t want to use up all of your time before you get to the actual interview questions.
6. Sleep well the night before. If you’re exhausted from studying for the LSAT or drafting an optional statement into the early morning hours, having a low energy level during the course of your interview might send the wrong message or make you appear disinterested. Sleep well, come into the interview with some enthusiasm, and don’t forget to smile!
7. Be a few minutes early. Don’t be 30 minutes early—that’s a little too much, but 3-5 minutes is great. Never have an interviewer waiting for your arrival.
8. Be familiar with your résumé, and come prepared for some curveballs. Even if you have guidance on previous interviews to reference, there’s nothing stopping an admissions office from changing their interview approach in the midst of the cycle to keep candidates on their toes. Prepare for questions about obstacles you’ve overcome, a mistake you made, your strengths and weaknesses, and where you see yourself in 5-10 years.
9. Accept nerves. It’s okay to be nervous! Go through the guidance, prepare as best you can, and know that you aren’t the first to interview with some nerves. It happens all the time. If you need a minute to collect your thoughts after an admissions officer asks you a question, tell them, “That’s a great question. I just need a moment to think.” It’s okay to take that moment!
10. Thank your interviewers. An emailed thank you goes a long way! It doesn’t have to be a super long or belabored message—just thank them for their time and consideration. Maybe let them know if you appreciated something specific that they shared. Tell them that you look forward to hearing from them soon. Short and sweet.
Also, have you read through our interview guidance? This document is updated regularly as clients share their current cycle interview experiences with us. There are great exemplars here that you can run through to feel prepared both for in-person and automated interviews.
7Sage Guide for the LSAT Writing Sample
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7Sage Rewards
We are pleased to announce our new rewards system! When you purchase a 7Sage product, you earn rewards that you can use throughout your law school journey. Redeem them for LSAT Tutoring, Admissions Consulting, or our Bar Prep course. For more information, and to learn how to view rewards you’ve earned, click here.
7Sage Webinar: Navigating Character & Fitness Questions
Join 7Sage Consultants on Tuesday, October 25 at 8 p.m. ET for a discussion about character and fitness questions on law school admissions applications, how to approach drafting disclosure statements, amending applications, and what your local state bar office considers when law graduates apply for licensure. There will be time reserved for a Q&A session. Register here.
Recruitment Events
American University (Washington College of Law) is offering in-person and virtual information sessions.
In-person info sessions are offered on Mondays and Fridays at 2 p.m. ET (register here).
Virtual info sessions are offered
Arizona State is offering virtual JD information sessions every other Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. MT. Register here.
Berkeley Law will host a panel to discuss exploring JD options, including law admissions deans from Berkeley Law, UC Irvine, Northwestern, USC Gould, and Duke Law on Tuesday, October 25 at 6 p.m. PT. Register here.
Boston College has canceled in-person events for this semester. They are offering virtual coffee chats with current student ambassadors (sign up here) and virtual information sessions on Wednesday, October 19, and Wednesday, October 26, at 12 p.m. ET (register here).
Boston University is offering an in-person open house on Saturday, October 15 starting at 9:30 a.m. ET. (register here). They will also be offering virtual information sessions every two weeks:
Cardozo Law is offering virtual information sessions on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. ET and Friday afternoons at 2 p.m. ET. Register for a session here.
Columbia Law is offering a virtual information session on Wednesday, November 2 at 12:15 p.m. ET. Register here.
Duke Law is offering virtual information sessions at 2 p.m. ET on the following days (registration link here):
Thursday, October 27
Thursday, November 10
Thursday, December 8
Fordham Law is offering virtual admissions sessions on Monday, October 17 at 12:30 p.m. ET (register here) and Thursday, October 20 at 5:30 p.m. ET (register here).
Harvard Law is offering virtual Q&A sessions on Thursday, October 13 at 8 p.m. ET (register here) and Thursday, October 27 at 12 p.m. ET (register here). Their next in-person information session will be offered on Friday, November 18 at 2 p.m. ET. Register here.
The LSAC is offering an in-person forum in New York on Friday and Saturday, October 14 and 15. Participants must register by October 12. The event will be located at the New York Hilton Midtown. Click here to register. They are also hosting a digital forum on Saturday, October 22, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET. Participants must register by October 20. Click here to register.
Northeastern Law is offering outdoor law school tours, showcasing three of their law school buildings. Each tour is led by a current law student who will take Q&A during the tour. Schedule a tour here.
Northwestern is offering in-person, student-led tours. Registration is required to participate in this hour-long tour with a current JD student. Next tour dates: Friday, October 14, and Friday, October 21, at 12 p.m. CT (register here).
Notre Dame Law is offering in-person visits, which include an admissions information session and a student-led tour of the law school on Fridays at 11 a.m. ET. RSVP here. They also offer group information sessions via Zoom every other Wednesday, which will include time for Q&A. RSVP here.
Penn Law is offering an Ask Me Anything: The Application Process event Tuesday, October 13 at 12 p.m. ET (register here).
UCLA Law is offering in-person law school tours on Mondays and Fridays. They are also offering virtual law school tours on Wednesdays. Register here.
University of Michigan is offering a series of workshops (register here):
October 12 at 12 p.m. ET: Why Michigan & General Q&A
October 19 at 8 p.m. ET: Why Michigan & General Q&A
University of Southern California is hosting a Nuts & Bolts of the application process series virtually on Wednesdays at 12 p.m. PT. Upcoming sessions are Letters of Recommendation on October 12 and Financial Aid on October 19. Register here. Additionally, USC Law will offer an in-person information session on Friday, October 21 at 10 a.m. PT. Register here.
University of Virginia will host in-person Q&A sessions each Friday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET. No registration is required.
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. To schedule an in-person campus visit, click here.
Yale Law is offering one-on-one appointments with a member of the admissions office to address prospective student questions. Schedule here. They are also offering a series of online open houses (space is limited for most events, and these events fill up quickly—these events still have spaces left):
Tuesday, October 18 at 5 p.m. ET: Online Open House with the International Community (register).
Wednesday, October 19 at 5 p.m. ET: Public Interest & Clinics @ YLS (register).
Thursday, October 20 at 5 p.m. ET: YLS Financial Aid (register).
Wednesday, October 26 at 5 p.m. ET: International Law @ YLS (register).
Wednesday, November 2 at 5pm ET: YLS Online Open House (register).