Law School Interviews

Who interviews? What does it mean?

Roughly half the schools in the T20 do interviews. Some, like Northwestern, offer interviews to all students. Others, like Harvard, Chicago, and Columbia, offer interviews by invitation only. An invitation to interview is never a bad sign. Sometimes it’s a great sign, and a prelude to an offer, but it’s just as often a chance for the interviewer to ask you genuine questions before they make a decision. You should always treat it like the latter.

This handy spreadsheet tells you which schools in the T20 interview.

Basic All-Purpose Interview Advice

You must be prepared to talk about the following:

• your résumé and experience
• your interest in law in general
• your interest in their law school in particular

You should probably be prepared to talk about these:

• an academic or professional accomplishment
• a mistake, failure, or weakness
• a time you worked on a team

A couple other tips:

• Dress business casual.
• Make sure you show up early for in-person interviews. There’s no excuse for being late.
• If possible, plug into your modem for online interviews. Otherwise, do what you can to clear bandwidth: don’t download anything big beforehand; consider moving closer to your router.
• Be friendly, charming, and enthusiastic. Smile even if you’re on the phone. Don’t panic.
• Prepare at least two questions for them.

A Word about Preparing and Being Unprepared

Don’t try to memorize lines—you’ll only sound stilted. Don’t worry about hitting every talking point or being perfect. You’re just having a conversation. Speech is supposed to be messy. If they wanted to see what you could do with time to revise, they would send you written questions.

Expect that you’ll get a curve ball or two. It’s okay to give yourself time to think by saying something like, “Wow! That’s an interesting question! I hadn’t thought about that before. I guess if I had to give a preliminary answer, I’d say…” (But don’t memorize that!) If something really stumps you, it’s okay to say, “Sorry, I’m a little nervous,” so long as you pick up the thread. It’s normal to be a little nervous. They don’t expect you to knock every question out of the park. They just want to see that you can perform in an interview environment without freaking out.

A Note on Questions for Them

At the end of the interview, they’ll probably ask if you have any questions for them. I divide questions you can ask them into two categories: genuine questions and suck-up questions.

Suck-up questions are designed to show off your knowledge of a program or convey your eagerness: “I see that your Immigration Rights Clinic helps clients mount detention challenges, and I’m wondering how successful those challenges have been in the current political environment.” You can also lob softballs at your interviewer: “What does Harvard do to promote a sense of community in its large student body?” Make sure that the answer to your suck-up question isn’t easily available online.

Genuine questions are usually more broad: “what’s student housing like?” I’m a fan of questions like this because I’m a fan of authenticity in general. I think it’s also good to demonstrate that you are seriously considering the prospect of moving to their school and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on your tuition.

A few questions are both suck-uppy and genuine: “What’s your favorite part of the law school?” “What do you remember about your days as a student here?” (The last one only works, obviously, if your interviewer went there.)

See also What Questions Should You Ask a Law School Admissions Officer?

After the interview…

You should send your interviewer a short, polite thank you note. If you can’t find your interviewer’s email address, you can send your thank you note to the email address of the general admissions office.

Standard Interview Questions

• Why do you want to be a lawyer? [Duh.]
• What do you hope to do or accomplish with your JD?
• Why are you interested in X type of law?
• Why are you applying to law school now?
• Why are you switching careers? (For older applicants.)
• What interests you about our school?
• Tell me about a time you were challenged while working on a team.
• Tell me about a time you overcame an obstacle.
• What have you learned at your current job?
• Why did you study [something you studied at grad school] and how will it inform your career?
• Tell me about a time you showcased leadership.
• Talk to me about [the hobbies or interests you listed on your resume].
• What do you do for fun?

Yale

2024–2025 Yale Interview Questions

Student A

1. Can you describe your study habits?
2. If you worked in the admissions office at YLS, what would you see as your biggest strength?
3. Describe a significant academic project you completed during your undergraduate education and why you chose that project.
4. If you could teach a course on any topic, what would it be and why?
5. Walk me through something on your resume that you’d like to highlight and explain why you chose it.
6. Describe a conversation you’ve had with someone with whom you disagree.
7. How do you think your classmates would describe you as a fellow student?
8. How would you describe your ideal peer community at the law school?
9. Describe your leadership style.
10. How do you approach conversations with people with whom you disagree?
11. How do you handle conflict?
12. What are three words that describe your character?
13. What are you passionate about?
14. What is something that you’d like the admissions team to know that may not be easily gleaned from your application?
15. What is your most significant achievement?
16. What motivates you?
17. How do you like to spend your time?
18. If you worked in the admissions office at YLS, what would you see as your biggest weakness?
19. Describe a time when you struggled academically and how you responded to that challenge.
20. Can you describe a time when your work was criticized?
21. Can you tell me about an academic or professional disappointment and how you responded?
22. Tell me about a course you found challenging and how you approached that course.
23. Tell me about a time that you disagreed with a rule or policy and how you handled it.
24. Tell me about a time that you’ve been a member of a group that disagreed and how you handled that. 
25. Tell me about a time that you’ve changed your mind.
26. Tell me about a time when you made a significant mistake and what you learned from that experience.
27. Think back to a class that was challenging for you. How do you think the professor of that course would describe you as a student?
28. Describe an experience that humbled you.
29. What are your career goals?
30. What is a legal issue that you’re passionate about exploring?
31. Where do you see yourself five years after graduating from law school?
32. Why did you decide to apply to law school now?
33. Why do you want to attend law school?
34. Based on your career aspirations, why Yale Law School?
35. What do you believe are the pros and cons of attending Yale Law School?
36. What factors are most important to you when choosing a law school?
37. What is a legal issue that you’re passionate about exploring at Yale Law School?
38. Which Yale Law School programs are you interested in?
39. What is your ideal learning environment?
40. Could you tell me more about your current position and describe what you most like and don’t like about it?
41. Describe the work you pursued [are pursuing] during your graduate degree and why you chose to pursue that degree.
42. Describe your thesis and why you chose that topic.

2022–2023 Yale Interview Questions

Student A

1. Describe a significant academic project you completed during your undergraduate education and why you chose that project.
2. Describe a time when you struggled academically and how you responded to that challenge.
3. How do you handle conflict?
4. If you worked at YLS admissions, what would you describe as your biggest strength?
5. If you worked at YLS admissions, what would you describe as your biggest weakness? (I answered these questions within the first 10 minutes).
6. Questions for me? (I asked three questions, which took the other 10 minutes).

Student B

1. Tell me about your current role and what you do and do not like about it.
2. How do you approach conversations with people with whom you disagree?
3. If you were a member of the YLS Admission Committee, what would you see as your biggest weakness?
4. Tell me about a significant academic project you completed during undergrad and why you chose that project.
5. Why law and why law now?
6. Pros and cons of YLS?
7. What is something that you’d like the admissions team to know that may not be easily gleaned from your application?

Harvard

Harvard interviews most applicants on a video chat client called Zoom.

2024–2025 Harvard Interview Questions

Student A

1. Why law?
2. What have you learned from your internship?
3. How to you see yourself fitting in Harvard Law School?
4. What are you most proud of in College?
5. Do you have any questions?

2023–2024 Harvard Interview Questions

Student A

1. Why law?
2. Why Harvard?
3. Questions about your resume.
4. What are you most apprehensive about regarding law school?

Student B

2022–2023 Harvard Interview Questions

Student A

1. What are you doing this summer and what skills are you hoping to gain?
2. Why would you like to do the JDP program as opposed to applying the traditional route?
3. What do you plan to do in your deferral years? How do you think it will prepare you for law school?
4. What are you most proud of in college?
5. What are the pros and cons of Harvard?
6. What are you planning to do in your upcoming semester of undergrad?
7. What questions do you have for us? There was time for around 2 questions.

Overall the interview wasn't very conversational; my interviewer prefaced by saying that she wouldn't respond to my answers to give me more time to speak. It was different from other interviews I've had so it certainly threw me off at the start!

Student B

1. What was a challenge you faced as a leader in your extracurricular activities in undergrad?
2. What is a mentality you have as a result of the military?
3. What was your initial reasoning to join the military?
4. What is a misconception you think that civilians have of military people?
5. What are your career goals?
6. Pros and Cons of HLS?
7. What do you do for fun?
8. Do you have any questions for me?
9. Describe a time when you struggled academically and how you responded to that challenge.

Student C

1. Why law?
2. Pros and Cons of Harvard
3. What would you do if have a gap year before law school?
4. What would you want to do with you law degree?
5. Tell me an experience when you stepped outside your comfort zone.
6. Do you have any questions for me?

Student D

1. What am I most proud of?
2. Why law? Why now?
3. What are my future goals?
4. What would my ideal technology law job be?
5. Who is my best friend, and how would they pitch me to the admissions committee?
6. One question about a specific experience on my resume.

Student E

She was familiar with my file and clear on my "why law," so her questions focused on skills I've learned / challenges I've faced while working in finance and which activities, clubs, courses, etc. I'd be interested in at HLS.

Informal/friendly tone, no "trick" questions.

Student F

1. Why law?
2. Pros and cons of attending Harvard?
3. What are my future goals?
4. What kind of student would you be at Harvard?
5. Tell me about your hobbies

Student G

1. What attracts you to Harvard Law school
2. Why Law? (I don’t recall the exact wording)
3. What kind of role do you see yourself occupying at Harvard Law?
4. Could you tell me about a humbling experience?
5. What are three words your manager would use to describe you.

Student H

(Waitlist interview questions)

1. What are your plans for the Fall?
2. Would you accept a place at HLS if it was offered?
3. Why HLS?
4. Who would you need to talk with before accepting an offer at HLS?
5. HLS gives 24 hours to accept an offer off the waitlist. Will you be able to do this?
6. What three words would your partner use to describe you?
7. What kind of student would you be at HLS?
8. Describe one thing you learned about yourself this past year?

Student I

(Waitlist interview questions)

1. How did your military service inspire you to become a lawyer?
2. What's a leadership lesson you learned from your time in the Air Force?
3. Why is HLS your top choice?
4. What are you worried about if you got into HLS?
5. How soon could you make a decision if you were granted admission?
6. Are there any issues with you making the move to the east coast?

2021–2022 Harvard Interview Questions

Student A

1. Why Harvard?
2. Why Law Now?
3. Name a humbling experience?
4. What are the Pros and Cons of Harvard?
5. What is your biggest weakness?
6. What is your biggest strength?
7. What do you do for fun?

Student B

1. Why did you pursue your current position (recruiter)--explained that I initially joined and why I left/what I am doing now
2. Asked about the research project I was working on (the one I had written about in the significant pieces of writing/flowed in from the previous question)
3. What was the impetus for me to go into/be interested in criminal law (seemed like a slight variation for why law)
4. What my favorite habit was from the 7 habits of highly effective people (she also read the book as well)
5. Pros and cons of Harvard

Student C

1. Why you and why now?
2. Talk about an experience through which you brought people together
3. Where do you see your career going after law school?
4. Pros/Cons of Harvard
5. Do you have any questions?

Student D
(Interview was scheduled to be 15 minutes, and although most people seem to say they are very strict on not running over, mine was 19 minutes, mostly because she spent a good amount of time answering my two questions. Sam had read my application and based some questions on it)

1. What type of law are you interested in?
2. Pros and Cons of Harvard?
3. What is your most humbling experience?
4. What is your greatest success story?
5. What is a trait that you need to improve / change in order to be able to change the world?

Student E

1. Resume-specific questions
2. What you're most proud of during college
3. A decision you'd change during college
4. Pros + cons of harvard
5. Career after law school

Student F

1. Why Law?
2. Why Harvard?
3. Strength/Weakness?
4. Things you do for fun,
5. How would other people describe you?
6. Questions you have.

Student G

1. Why Harvard?
2. What are some cons of Harvard?
3. What are some cons of you as an applicant?
4. How did you like your time at [undergraduate university]? Why did you choose [undergraduate university]?
5. What is one of your greatest accomplishments at [undergraduate university]?
6. Why law and why now?
7. Left time for two questions and spent about five minutes answering them.

Student H

The interviewer was super friendly. Here are the questions she asked me:

• how does your master's work inform your decision to study law?
• what would you do in law school, both inside and outside of the classroom?
• where could you grow?
• What factors are the most important for you in choosing a law school?
• pros and cons of Harvard
• short-term and long-term career goals
• something about yourself that is not in the application

Student I

• What do I like about teaching?
• What do I dislike about teaching?
• What are the pros and cons of Harvard Law?
• Where do I see my role in the social justice movement?
• What are my strategies for self-care?
• What are my hobbies?

Student J

• Tell me about why you were motivated to pursue your job.
• Tell me about your master's thesis.
• You've been to grad school before; what do you think will be challenging about Harvard?
• What are some of the pros and cons of Harvard?
• Beyond your main focus, what are some other areas of law you're interested in?
• The pandemic has been draining; tell me about your strategies for self-care during it

She asked more questions than I expected—I am not sure if it was a bad sign. My answers were quite brief. And we had time for me to ask 2 questions to the interviewer.

2019–2020 Harvard Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. I see you’ve been working in the publishing industry for a while. Can you tell me about a success you’ve had?
      2. Tell me about a time you’ve received feedback you didn’t agree with.
      3. *Best interview question I’ve ever been asked* In your personal statement you talk about your love of movies - what movie do you think would best represent your motivation for going to law school?
      4. Are there any areas of law that you’re interested in other than copyright law?

Student B

1. 1. 1. Why law and why now?
      2. How do you navigate through a difficult conversation?
      3. If you were an admission officer, what would you see as your weakness?
      4. What do you value most for a community?
      5. Questions for them (allow 2 max)

Student C

1. 1. 1. Why law school and why now?
      2. Where do you see your career going after law school?
      3. Talk about an important mentor to you.
      4. If you had to choose any contemporary or historical figure to be your mentor, who would it be?
      5. You talked about [this topic] in your personal statement - can you talk more about what you learned from that experience?
      6. As someone who’s based in [US region], what’s enticing about moving out to the east coast for you?

Student D

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. Why now?
      3. What Harvard programs are you interested in?
      4. Name one strength and one weakness.
      5. What are you looking for in potential classmates?

Student E

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. Why USA?
      3. What do you do for fun?
      4. Why are you working at your current job?
      5. An accomplishment from your current job?
      6. She also asked a lot about my thesis

Student F

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. Why now?
      3. What Harvard programs are you interested in?
      4. Name one strength and one weakness.
      5. What are you looking for in your potential classmates?
      6. What do you do for fun?
      7. Any questions for us?

Student G (Interviewer: Dean Kristi Jobson)

(Friendly, but not conversational in tone until the very end. Length was 14 minutes on the dot. Started about 5 minutes late, but made it up with extra time.)

1. 1. 1. You’ve had three jobs in consulting since you graduated. Talk about why you decided to go into each one
      2. Considering your consulting background, why law?
      3. (Follow-up) But why law instead of doing an MPP or MBA?
      4. What are pros and cons of HLS? (We know people are considering a lot of places.)
      5. What have you liked most about your experience at your current job?
      6. What skills from your professional life would serve you best in law school?
      7. How would you describe yourself in one sentence?
      8. What’s a job you would like to have long-term / how do you think about your career post-JD?
      9. Any questions for me?

Student H

(The interview lasted 16 minutes total, and had time to ask 2 questions. It wasn't conversational until the end because time was so limited, but the interviewer was very nice, honest, and funny!)

1. 1. 1. What was a humbling experience you've had?
      2. What is an achievement you're particularly proud of, personally, professionally, or academically?
      3. What would your 1L section mates say about you?
      4. Why do you want to attend Harvard Law?
      5. What's the best compliment you've ever received?
      6. What do you like to do for fun?

2018–2019 Harvard Interview Questions

Student A (2018/2019 cycle)

[Questions about professional and academic experience. Why law?]

Student B (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. Why law and why now?
      2. Why Harvard?
      3. Hypothetical: if at your time at [legal internship], you were to show up one day and find that your coworkers were your clones, what strengthens and challenges would you run into? [This is a clever way of saying “What are your strengths and weaknesses?]
      4. What are you afraid of, and what motivates you?
      5. If you were a fly on the wall, what do you think the admissions committee would say are the pros and cons of your application?
      6. If you were an admissions officer, what two qualities would you look for in a potential candidate?
      7. Do you have any questions for me?

Student C (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. Why Harvard?
      3. If you were a fly on the wall, what do you think the admissions committee might think the strengths and weaknesses of your application might be?

Student D (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. Why law school and why now?
      2. What do you like about your current job? What do you dislike?
      3. Discuss a challenge or how you dealt with critical feedback.
      4. What’s a potential downside of your application? How might you address it?
      5. What questions do yo have for us?

Student E (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. Why Harvard?
      3. Which elective would you take?
      4. If you were a fly on the wall, what are some things that you imagine the committee would say about your application?
      5. What are your questions for me?

Student F (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. • Why did you switch from [one field] to [another field]?
      • Why law?
      • What excites you most about Harvard?
      • What do you expect to be the biggest challenge?
      • Questions for us?

Chicago

2023–2024 Chicago Interview Questions

Student A

1. Why law?
2. Why University of Chicago?
3. Tell me about your work at a law firm.
4. Tell me about your prominent hobby.
5. Tell me a time when you exhibited resilience.
6. Tell me about a book that you are reading right now.
7. Who is your mentor in life?
8. Tell me about a time where your opinion on something changed.

Student B

2022–2023 Chicago Interview Questions

Student A

1. Why law?
2. Why Chicago?
3. Why did you join the military?
4. What is something you learned about yourself from being in the military?
5. What is a time you have had to have resilience?
6. Why is Chicago my top law school?
7. Any questions for me?

Student B

1. What's the best piece of advice you've received?
2. What would you be doing if it wasn't law?
3. Why would you fit in at UChicago?
4. Why law and why now?
5. Who's been a mentor?
6. What's your dream job?
7. How do your friends describe you?
8. Questions about challenges based on current job

Student C

1. Why Chicago?
2. Why UChicago?
3. Interest in the Doctoroff program and how the certificate would help me with my goals
4. After a week or two in orientation, meeting professors and your peers and faculty, how do you believe they would describe you?
5. Have you ever been/ Let’s say you are in an argument or conflict with someone representing a view completely opposite yours. How would you approach that conflict?
6. Do you have any questions for me?

Student D

1. Why Chicago?
2. Why law?
3. Tell me about your interest in podcasts
4. Tell me about a time you struggled

15 minutes of candidate asking questions.

1. 1. What is Chicago’s teach philosophy?
   2. How does Chicago faculty try to differentiate their law school from other law schools?
   3. What is the benefit of the academic quarter system?
   4. How would Chicago support someone who is interested in clerking?

Admissions person spoke a lot. Overall length of interview was 28 minutes.

2021–2022 Chicago Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. Telling about current job/why I left to do research
      2. Plans 5+ years out of law school or in general after law school
      3. Why law?
      4. Why uchicago?
      5. A challenge I faced/how I overcame it

Student B

1. 1. 1. Questions about my research, especially in artificial intelligence.
      2. Then some more on my resume and
      3. what my current work was.

Student C
(Supposed to be 20 minutes, but was more like 28 minutes in reality. My interviewer was Ann Perry (Associate Dean). She mentioned in the beginning that although the admissions team had read my application in its entirety, she had only read my resume (so more context was needed for some questions)).

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. Why law right now?
      3. Why UChicago?
      4. Have you had a mentor throughout your life? (question was motivated from our discussion of my background)
      5. How would your coworkers describe you?
      6. Remaining questions focused on my experience as an immigrant and first-generation student a lot.

Student D

1. 1. 1. Why did I choose UChicago for undergrad?
      2. Why apply to UChicago law?
      3. Why law?
      4. What principles guide my work?
      5. What programs/extracurriculars am I interested in at UChicago law?

Student E

Chicago Interview with admissions rep- ~30 minutes long, much more relaxed and casual than many on Reddit described, more conversational than I expected

1. Why law?
2. Why Chicago?
3. Do I like my undergraduate university and culture?
4. Specific questions from resume?

Student F

1. Why did I attend college where I did?
2. Why law now, why UChicago Law?
3. What qualities do I want in a law school?
4. What do I want to do as a lawyer?
5. Where do I hope to end up?
6. How do I define success?
7. Who has been a mentor to me?
8. How do I deal with stress?
9. Whether I had questions for them?

Student G

1. Why do you want to be a lawyer?
2. Why are you a good fit for Chicago?
3. Do you want to study and work in Chicago?
4. Where do you want to practice law?
5. General questions about my international travels (it was clear he had read my essays in advance)
6. Talk about your current job - what do you like and dislike the most?
7. What do you want to do after law school? Work at a firm, government, etc?
8. Obstacle you've faced and you overcame it

Student H

1. Why University of Chicago?
2. How do you define success?
3. Who is a mentor to you?
4. What is your communication/teamwork style like?
5. How do you deal with stress/conflict?
6. How do you like [current job]?
7. Why did you move to [current city]?
8. What do you feel like you bring to the University of Chicago community?
9. Left time for questions.

Student I

1. Why did you choose your undergraduate institution?
2. Why law?
3. Why Chicago?
4. What do you do in your free time?
5. How do you manage stress?
6. Do you have a mentor?
7. How would your peers describe you?
8. What do you foresee yourself doing with your law degree?

Student J

1. Aside from being a guardian ad litem, what else am I currently doing?
2. Tell me about your time living in Japan.
3. What is an obstacle you faced and how you overcame it?
4. Why law now?
5. Why Chicago?
6. How would family and friends describe me?
7. Tell me about a book you’re currently reading or recently read.
8. Tell me about a time you had to ask for help.
9. Time left for 3 questions

2019–2020 Chicago Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. If you could have a conversation with anyone (dead or alive), who would it be and what would you talk to them about?
      2. Why UChicago?
      3. Why law school?
      4. Tell me about your current job.
      5. Tell me about a book you’re reading or have read recently that changed your perspective?
      6. What do you want your legal career to look like 5 years from now? 10 years from now?
      7. Questions for us?

Student B (Interviewed by admissions officer via Skype)

Note: Interviewer was very strict about keeping time. They mostly asked questions, recorded answers, and moved on to the next question.

1. 1. 1. Why do you want to attend UChicago?
      2. Why do you want to be a lawyer?
      3. Which particular clinics are you interested in?
      4. What is a book that you read recently and how did it impact you?
      5. If you would have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and what would you ask them?
      6. What is something that you have done for the first time recently?
      7. What questions do you have for me?

Student C

1. 1. 1. Tell me about your current job.
      2. Why law school?
      3. Why Chicago Law?
      4. What is the one accomplishment you’re most proud of?What contemporary news issue are you following?
      5. What is a book that has influenced you?
      6. If you could have one conversation with historical figure, who would it be and why?

Student D

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. Why Chicago?
      3. Why are you working at your current job?
      4. [She asked about “philosophy” on the “interests” section of my résumé.]

2018–2019 Chicago Interview Questions

Student A (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. Tell me about your job at [an organization where you worked].
      2. Tell me about a social issue or current event that you’re following.
      3. Tell me about a book that influenced you or a book you’re currently reading.
      4. Which experience are you most proud of?
      5. Why law?
      6. Why UChicago?
      7. If you could have a conversation with anyone, living or dead, who would it be with?

Student B (2017/2018 cycle)

1. 1. 1. If you could teach your fellow students at Chicago a class in anything, academic or not, what would you teach them?
      2. What type of law would you like to practice and where would you like to start your career?
      3. What would interest you about corporate law?
      4. What have you learned in your current job?
      5. What interests you about the city of Chicago?
      6. Which headline would you like to see in the news?

Student C (2018/2019)

1. 1. 1. What makes you want to pursue law?
      2. If you had a chance to collaborate with anyone alive or dead, who would it be with?
      3. What brings you to Chicago specifically?
      4. What is a book that changed your perspective on something?
      5. Questions for us?

Columbia

2024–2025 Columbia Interview Questions

Student A

1. Where are you located and what you are doing right now?
2. Do you have a thesis? What would you like to write about?
3. Why Law?
4. Why Columbia?
5. What do you like to do in your free time?
6. Do you have any questions?
7. What do you learned from your internship?

Student B

1. What type of student are you now, and how is that different from a year ago?
2. How would you describe yourself as a student in one word?
3. What excites you most about going to law school?
4. What are you going to specifically contribute to the Columbia Law community?
5. Tell me about how you contributed to your community in college.
6. Tell me about your experience with your college.

2021–2022 Columbia Interview Questions

Student A

1. What have you been busy with?
2. Where do you see yourself in one or two years after graduation?
3. Why ED to Columbia Law?
4. Questions for me?
5. Why J.D. since you already have an education background in law and are qualified to practice law in China?

2019–2020 Columbia Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. Why philosophy as major? Since it does not seem to be useful in gaining employment (Note: this is a summary, Interviewer said it MUCH nicer than this)
      2. Where do you see yourself 5 years from now in your career?
      3. Why NYC?
      4. Anything else you would like to know from me about Columbia and NYC?
      5. I answered “Why law?” and “Why Columbia?” before Interviewer asked me by tying it in to other questions. I also stressed being a non-traditional student and asked questions regarding that. Towards the end, Interviewer asked me if I would be 100% committed to coming to Columbia if accepted. I answered immediately without a pause, mentioning that attending law school is a huge financial and time investment.  I don’t want to read in to it much, but I hope that was a good thing. The interview lasted 25 minutes and 40 seconds.

2018–2019 Columbia Interview Questions

Student A (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. Why did you decide to go to [grad school]?
      2. What do you want to do five years after graduating from law school?
      3. Why Columbia Law?
      4. When did you first start playing banjo?
      5. What do you do to unwind?
      6. Questions for me?

The interview lasted about 20 min

Student B (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. Please introduce yourself and describe your academic background.
      2. What did you do in your graduate program? Why did you decide to go to graduate school?
      3. What do you look for in law school when choosing law school?
      4. What can you bring to Columbia Law School?
      5. What kind of student do you think you were in university and graduate school?
      6. Do you think you are going be active in the student community at Columbia?
      7. How long did you live in New York and what do you think is the difference between the city that you live in and the city of New York?
      8. I see that you took the LSAT many times. Can you explain the circumstances?

Student C (2018/2019 cycle)

“Columbia basically asked me about things specific to my application. At the end, they asked me why Columbia but that was the only general question.”

Student D (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. How did you end up [across the country] for college?
      2. Why law
      3. [Questions about professional experience.]
      4. Why Columbia?

Student E (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. Describe your work history and how you went from [career in science] to [career in marketing] and now to law.
      2. Describe your undergrad educational experience and your achievements while in school.
      3. What do you look for in deciding to apply to a law school and what drew you to Columbia?
      4. What kind of student to you expect to be?
      5. Questions for us?

University of Pennsylvania

2019–2020 Penn Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. Why Penn?
      3. Explain to us a little more about your multiple attempts on the LSAT.
      4. Which student organization would you be interested in?
      5. Do you have any questions for us?

New York University

2022–2023 New York University Interview Questions

Student A (Kira Interview)

1. How does NYU align with your career goals?
2. Name a time you encountered a problem, how did you solve it?
3. Name a time you were struggling on a task, how did you move past that?
4. What social issue are you passionate about and why?
5. NYU has a diverse group of students, how would you help make sure that all voices are heard and understood?

The student only had 45 seconds to prep for each question.

University of Virginia

2023–2024 UVA Interview Questions

Student A

2022–2023 UVA Interview Questions

Student A

1. Why law?
2. Why UVA?
3. An experience that prepared me for law school
4. What type of law I want to practice
5. One word my friends, family, and work colleagues would use to describe me
6. Questions for them

Student B

1. Do you like your school?
2. Why law and why now?
3. Why UVA Law?
4. How did you end up choosing your major/minor combination?
5. If you had to defer for a year, and resume building was not an issue, what is something you would like to do during this time?
6. What is one thing your friends and family would say about you?
7. Dean Blazer mentioned my DS, and asked me if I had ever been to Cuba.
8. What are some questions you have for me?

2021–2022 UVA Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. Tell me about your job.
      2. Why law?
      3. Why law school now?
      4. Why UVA?
      5. What do you want to do after law school?
      6. What do you do in your free time?
      7. Why did you decide to go to UMass from California?

Student B

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. What kind of law do you want to practice?
      3. Why UVA?
      4. What's an accomplishment that makes you proud?
      5. What do you do to find balance or relieve stress?
      6. What questions do you have for us?

From friends, I had heard that the tone of their interviews at UVA was pretty conversational, whereas I felt like it was pretty formal (though very friendly) in my experience. This might be because it was with the director of admissions or maybe because my friends did their interviews a few years ago...

Student C

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. Why UVA?
      3. What do you do in your free time?
      4. What’s something you are proud of?

Student D

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. Why UVA?
      3. Work-life balance/managing stress?
      4. Proudest accomplishment?

Student E

1. 1. 1. 1. Why are you interested in UVA?
         2. How did you end up at your current job?
         3. How did you like your undergraduate experience?
         4. What do you like to do in your free time?
         5. Left time for questions; admitted me at the end of the interview.

         Student F

         1. why law?
         2. why law school now?
         3. why UVA?
         4. What would you do to be a part of the Charlottesville community?
         5. what job current or past has prepared you most for law school?
         6. any questions you have for us?

         Student G

         The Conversation was like 14-15 minutes.

         1. How is [my undergraduate university] and why I chose to go there
         2. Why Law School at the Moment
         3. Why UVA
         4. How would the people that know you describe you in one word
         5. Ask my questions about UVA

         Student H

         1. Why law
         2. Why UVA
         3. What experience prepared you most for law school, and a characteristic that would describe you.

         Student I

         1. Tell me about yourself
         2. Why Michigan? (went to UMich for undergrad)
         3. Why UVA?
         4. What would you contribute to the UVA community?
         5. What do you want to learn at law school?
         6. How would a mentor or someone else describe you?
         7. What do you do for fun?

         Student J

         1. Why law
         2. Why UVA
         3. The experience that has most prepared me for law school
         4. One word that family and friends would use to describe me (I picked curious)
         5. If I had any questions for her

         Student K

         1. Why did you choose to go to Notre Dame?
         2. What is most challenging about your job?
         3. Why do you want to go to UVA?
         4. Talked about my hobby (running).
         5. I asked 4 questions

         2019–2020 UVA Interview Questions

         Student A

         1. 1. 1. Why UVA
               2. What was your Best/Worst day
               3. What have I changed my mind on in the past
               4. One resume item question

         2018–2019 UVA Interview Questions

         Student A (2018/2019 cycle):

         1. 1. 1. Why UVA?
               2. If I were to ask your best friend what your three best qualities are, what would they say?
               3. If I were to ask your best friend what your three biggest weaknesses are, what would they say?
               4. What is something that you think differently about or has changed about you personally as you have matured?
               5. What is something that you have learned from playing trumpet?

         Student B (2018/2019 cycle)

         1. 1. 1. Why UVA law?
               2. Why law?
               3. If you could go back to any time in your life and tell yourself something, what would it be?

         Duke Interview Questions

         Duke uses a service called InitialView to interview prospective international students. We write about InitialView interviews here. What follows are accounts of Duke’s financial aid interviews, offered to applicants who have already been accepted.

         Student A (2021–2022 Cycle)

         The scholarship committee member was very sweet and genuine, and I really feel that she’s in my corner. She asked me to tell her a little bit about myself and why I want to study law. Her next two questions were Duke-specific: are there specific offerings such as student orgs and clinics I’m interested in, and what makes Duke law a good fit for me. She then told me about some other opportunities at Duke that I might find interesting, and how Duke stands out from other schools. Her final question was about whether I had any special circumstances that I wanted the committee to know; I talked about the in-state rate the GI bill covers and the lack of a housing allowance.

         Toward the end, she explained a bit about the process.

         Student A (2018–2019 Cycle)

         I just finished my Skype interview with Dean Hoye. It was very conversational, but here are the questions he asked me:

         1. 1. 1. Tell me about your journey from choosing your undergrad degree to your decision to apply to law school.
               2. Tell me about an experience you had in an extracurricular, internship, or job that makes you proud, particularly one where you have to dig in.
               3. Law school goes by quickly. What sort of things do you hope to do in law school?
               4. Imagine you’re sitting with your career counselor at Duke Law before starting 1L fall. What sorts of things would you tell them you hope to accomplish in your career after law school?
               5. Do you have any questions for me?

         Student B (2018–2019 Cycle)

         1. 1. 1. Pick two things off of your resume to talk about.
               2. Tell us about how the skills you learned at [a job] would translate to law school
               3. What are you interested in doing at Duke Law?
               4. Hypothetically, what do you think you’ll be doing after law school?
               5. What’s one thing that you might be scared or hesitant about in law school?
               6. Have you ever been to Durham? Would you be comfortable moving there?
               7. Is there anything that you want to add to your CSS profile for us to consider?

         Student C (2018–2019 Cycle)

         1. 1. 1. Explain your journey from your previous career to law.
               2. What’s been your exposure to law so far?
               3. What do you plan to draw on from your previous background?
               4. How do you see yourself contributing to the community and what student organizations were you involved with in undergrad?

         Northwestern

         Northwestern gives you three options: an in-person on-campus interview, an in-person alumni interview, or an automated online interview via a video client called Kira. You’ll be asked to respond verbally to six different questions. For each question, you’ll have thirty seconds of prep time followed by sixty seconds of talking time. Four of the questions are picked randomly from a large bank; they often focus on your experience of (1) working on a team, (2) speaking to people who disagree with you, or (3) failing. Two of the questions are always the same: “Why Northwestern?” and “Is there anything else you’d like the admissions committee to know about you?” (or something very similar).

         Northwestern also performs a waitlist interview via Kira. Last year, it consisted of four verbal-response questions (with thirty seconds of prep time followed by one minute of response time) and two written-response questions (with fifteen minutes of response time).

         2023-2024 Northwestern Interview Questions

         Student A

         1. 1. Why Law
            2. Why Northwestern
            3. Leadership example
            4. One thing you want admissions to know about you.

      2. Student B
         1. 1. Why Law
            2. Tell Us About A Leadership Experience
            3. Is There Anything Else That the Admissions Committee Would Like To Know?
            4. Why Northwestern Pritzker.
   1. 1. Student C
         1. 1. Why law?
            2. Why NU?
            3. What's the one thing that the admissions committee should know?
            4. What is your best leadership experience?

2022–2023 Northwestern Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Why Law
            2. Why Northwestern

Student B

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Why law and why now?
            2. Name an example of your leadership?
            3. Is there anything you want us to know about you?
            4. Why Northwestern?

Note: They allowed 30 seconds for prep, 90 seconds to record your answer, and you could not "re do" an answer if you felt like you tripped over your words.

Student C

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. What is motivating your decision to pursue law?
            2. What is the best example of your leadership?
            3. What's one thing you want admissions to know about you?
            4. Why Northwestern?

Note: I was allowed 1 minute and 30 seconds for each question so I had plenty of time to provide some depth.

Student D

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Why law?
            2. Give an example of Leadership
            3. One thing you would like admissions to know about you
            4. Why NU?

Student E (Kira Interview)

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Why Northwestern?
            2. What is motivating you to pursue law? (Why Law?)
            3. Best Leadership Experience
            4. What do you want admissions to know about you?

Student F

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Why Law?
            2. What is the best example of your leadership?
            3. What is something you want the admissions committee to know?
            4. Why NU?

2021–2022 Northwestern Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. A time when you worked on a team and your team mate was disengaged. How did you motivate them?
            2. What is a characteristic or personality trait that will serve you well in law school?
            3. What is a characteristic or personality trait that you want to work on in the coming years?

Student B

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. What did you do to motivate a disengaged team member?
            2. Why Northwestern?
            3. Why law degree?

You can pace your interview because you have breaks between questions.

Student C (Kira Interview)

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Tell us about a time you motivated a disinterested team member.
            2. What is the best example of your leadership?
            3. What's your greatest accomplishment?
            4. Tell us about a time you failed an important goal and what you learned as a result.
            5. What's one thing you want admissions to know about you?
            6. Why Northwestern?

Student D

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. What is a change you've made because of a past mistake?
            2. What influenced your decision to go to law school?
            3. What are the top 3 factors that contribute to your success?
            4. Talk about a time you engaged a disinterested teammate.
            5. What do you want admissions to know about you?
            6. Why Northwestern?

Student E (Kira Interview)

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. A time you stopped short of reaching a goal?
            2. What skills will contribute to your success as a law student?
            3. Characteristic you hope to develop over the next 5 years?
            4. What to do if an integral team member is having a bad day?
            5. What you want admissions to know about you?
            6. Why northwestern?

Student F

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. A time I showed leadership,
            2. One of my biggest accomplishments,
            3. About a challenge I faced

Student G (Kira Interview)

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Why NW?
            2. What is something you want the admissions committee to know about you?
            3. Name a time you failed and how you handled it (something like this)
            4. What is something you hope to improve on in the next 5 years
            5. What is a skill you have that will be helpful in law school (something along these lines)

Student H (Kira Interview)

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Why Northwestern
            2. Why are you pursuing law degree
            3. What do you want admissions to know about you
            4. Experience working with teammate with different style as you
            5. Best leadership experience
            6. When you failed an important goal, what did you learn

Student I

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. What is a time when a failure led to future success?
            2. Your co-worker, who is integral to the team, is not having a good day or getting work done. What do you do?
            3. What is the accomplishment you're the most proud of?
            4. What are three traits that will serve you well in law school?
            5. What is one thing you want the admissions committee to know about you?
            6. Why Northwestern?

Student J

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. What is a characteristic/personal trait that will serve you well in law school?
            2. Why Northwestern?
            3. What do you want the admissions team to know about you?
            4. What do you do to motivate a disengaged team member?
            5. What is one thing you want the admissions committee to know about you?
            6. Discuss a challenge and how you overcame it.

Student K (Waitlist interview questions)

Oral questions:

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Talk about a time when you pursued a goal but then had to pivot to something else.
               2. Leadership experience
               3. Stressful situation
               4. What do you do to motivate a disengaged team member?
               5. Movie/book that changed your mind on social issue

Written questions:

1. 1. 1. Why Northwestern Law?
      2. What is one question you were prepared to answer but were not asked? How would you respond?

2020–2021 Northwestern Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. Why Northwestern?
      2. What is one thing you want the admissions committee to know about you?
      3. Something disappointing and how you handled it?
      4. Situation from 5 years ago, what would you change?
      5. When did you seriously begin considering law school, what were your first steps?
      6. What is one social issue you’d change ?

Student B

1. 1. 1. Why Northwestern?
      2. Name a time you had to solve a complex problem on your own. Give context.
      3. If you could eradicate one social issue, what would it be?
      4. Name a bias that you overcame
      5. Name a time that you were not happy with your performance. What did you do to address it?
      6. Name something that you want the Northwestern admissions committee to know about you?

Student C (Kira interview)

1. 1. 1. What’s a personality trait/characteristic that will serve you well in law school?
      2. When has a failure turned into a success?
      3. Talk about a time you had to deliver difficult news and how went about doing it.
      4. When have you dealt with a frustrating situation and how did you overcome it?
      5. Why Northwestern?
      6. What’s one thing the admissions committee should know about you?

Student D (Kira interview)

1. 1. 1. A time when you had to deal with a complex problem alone
      2. A time you felt you let yourself down
      3. (Couldn’t remember)
      4. (Couldn’t remember)
      5. Why northwestern?
      6. Something you want us to know about you

Student E (Kira interview)

1. 1. 1. What is a criticism you have been given and how did you respond to that criticism?
      2. What is more important: the result or the process? Defend your answer.
      3. What is your back up plan if you do not go to law school?
      4. What is a time you changed your behavior to make someone else more comfortable? How did it feel?
      5. Why Northwestern Law?
      6. What is one thing you would like the Admissions Committee to know about you?

Student F (Kira interview)

1. 1. 1. What was the most innovative new idea you implemented?
      2. Have you experienced any personal setbacks, and how did you respond?
      3. When someone comes to you with a problem, how do you respond?
      4. What was a challenge you faced when working on a team. A frustration? Your approach?
      5. Why Northwestern Law?
      6. What is one thing you would like the Admissions Committee to know about you?

2019–2020 Northwestern Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. Your co-worker, whose work is integral to the team, is having a bad day, how will you help them to feel better.
      2. What was a decision that you made in the past you will change today. Why?
      3. A time you fell down and got yourself up. What lesson did you learn?
      4. A major revelation about someone you worked with, and how did that change how I see the situation/person?
      5. Why NW?
      6. Something you want the administration know about you.

Student B

1. 1. 1. Why NW?
      2. Why law school?
      3. If there is one thing you could have done differently, what would that be?
      4. How do you like Chicago?
      5. Where else did you apply to?
      6. If you got accepted to all the schools you applied to, where would you pick?
      7. Is there any other information you’d like to share?
      8. [Specific questions about resume/experiences]
      9. Do you plan to work for a year or two before going to law school?
      10. What trait would serve you well in law school?
      11. What would you do if you can’t make it to the top 10% of your class?

Student C

1. 1. 1. When were you wrongly blamed for a mistake and how did you handle it
      2. When did you do something complex with little guidance
      3. When did you speak to someone with a radically difference point of view
      4. How did you deal with frustrating news
      5. One more thing you want admissions to know about you

Student D

1. 1. 1. Do you consider yourself an optimist, pessimist, or realist?
      2. How did you handle constructive criticism when you didn’t agree with it.
      3. Name a book that changed your view on a social issue
      4. Name a failure that turned out to be a success.
      5. What do you want the school to know about you?

Student E

1. 1. 1. How do you define success?
      2. What characteristics do you hope to develop and grow over the next five years?
      3. Tell me one time a failure led to future success
      4. What book or film made you change your opinion on a particular social issue
      5. Why Northwestern? What is one thing you want the Admissions Council to know?

Student F (30 seconds to prepare each question and 60 second to answer)

1. 1. 1. Give an example of an experience of turning hostility toward friendship.
      2. Why Northwestern?
      3. Describe a time of teamwork.
      4. Describe yourself to the admission committee.

Student G

1. 1. 1. How do you define success?
      2. Have you worked with someone drastically different from you? How did you end up accomplishing the work?
      3. What was the most disappointing setback in your life? What have you learned from it?
      4. Tell me about a time you had to deliver difficult news to someone. How did you go about doing it?
      5. Why Northwestern?
      6. What is the one thing you want admissions to know about you?

Student H

1. 1. 1. Explain a time when you have to change yourself to accommodate someone else. How did you feel, what did you do, and what did you learn?
      2. Explain a time when you were rejected from a job offering. Why were you rejected, and what did you do afterwards?
      3. Why Northwestern?
      4. What is one thing you would like the admission committee to know about you?

Student I (Interviewed by alum in person)

Note: Interviewer said Northwestern gave them a list of questions on the online platform, but currently they were unable to access. So, they just asked general questions (see below) and gave career advice.

1. 1. 1. Why Northwestern?
      2. Why law in general?

Student J

1. 1. 1. When did you start seriously consider going to law school? What were your first steps?
      2. Describe a time when you had a difficult conversation and what did you do about it.
      3. Tell us about a time when you failed. What did you do?
      4. What is more important to you? The result or the process? Why?
      5. What is the one thing you want us to know about you?
      6. Why Northwestern?

Student K (in-person interview)

Other than the standard Why Northwestern and Why Law questions, there was much less interviewing and much more conversing. My interviewer did not take out the prepared list of questions until the very end of the interview. He seemed much more interested in discussing the university, my intentions and answering questions I had. That said the questions he asked are numbered in order here in this email.

1. 1. 1. Why Law?
      2. Why Northwestern?
      3. How will you deal with not being in top ten percent of class?
      4. Name a time you had a conflict and how you resolved it.

Student L (in-person alumni interview)

1. 1. 1. Why law school?
      2. Tell me about a project you’ve managed and how it went.
      3. Tell me about a time you had a conflict with someone and how you went about solving it.
      4. What do you think will be your biggest challenge in law school?
      5. Why NW?
      6. People going to a law school Northwestern are top performers. How will you react if you are not in the top 10% of your class?
      7. What is one thing you want the admissions committee to know about you?

Student M

1. 1. 1. [Asked about current job/résumé-related question]
      2. Why do you want to transition into law?
      3. Why Northwestern?
      4. Do you want to work in New York?
      5. [Other resume-related questions]
      6. [Discussed Chicago/NW experiences the interviewer had as an alum]
      7. [Also time given for questions from the student]

2019–2020 Waitlist Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. Talk about a time when you pursued a goal but then had to pivot to something else
      2. Talk about a stressful situation and how you handled it
      3. What’s a movie or book that changed your mind?
      4. (not sure??) Give us an example of your leadership experience
      5. (written) Why Northwestern?
      6. (written) if you had a response prepared that we haven’t asked, please answer that question.

2018–2019 Northwestern Interview Questions

Student A’s video interview (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. What is motivating your decision to pursue a law degree?
      2. Describe a situation in which other would say you exhibited a level of maturity beyond your years.
      3. Tell me about a time when you were criticized unfairly.
      4. Think of a situation where someone else just did not get how you were feeling. What would you have done differently if you were that person?
      5. Why Northwestern?
      6. What is the one thing you want the Admissions Committee to know about you?

Student B’s video interview (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. Describe a time where a failure led to a success.
      2. Did you have a pet growing up, and if not what would you have wanted and why?
      3. Describe a relationship that went from adversarial to amicable. How did that happen?
      4. Why Northwestern?
      5. What is the one thing that you want the Admissions Committee to know about you?

Student C’s in-person interview with Northwestern (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. When you are facing a strict deadline for an important project, how do you organize and manage your time?
      2. Talk about a time when you were in conflict with another person, but then had a major revelation in seeing where they were coming from.
      3. Why Northwestern?
      4. Tell us about a time when you messed up an important play. How did you respond?
      5. What is the one thing you most want the admissions committee to know about you?

Student D’s alumni interview (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. What is your leadership style?
      2. What is one thing you want the admissions committee to know about you?
      3. Tell me about a difficult time at work and how you handled it
      4. Name a mistake and how you would do things differently if given another chance
      5. Why law?
      6. Why NU?
      7. Tell me about your senior thesis.
      8. How will you handle not being in the top of your class?

Student E’s alumni interview (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. Why Northwestern?
      3. Tell me about a time you were a leader.
      4. What is the biggest challenge that you’ve faced so far?
      5. Tell me about your current position.
      6. What is something that you’re not looking forward to in law school?
      7. What do you want to do after law school?

From past years:

1. 1. 1. If there was a shift in your career or path, how did you deal with the shift?
      2. Tell about a stressing moment in your life and how you overcame it.
      3. Have you made a sacrifice for someone else at the cost of your own well-being?
      4. Why Northwestern?
      5. Any response you’ve prepared but were not asked?

Cornell Interview Questions

Cornell usually does a recorded interview with about seven questions. Some will require a video response; some will require a written response. For the video-response questions, you’ll get about thirty seconds of prep time and about a minute to respond. You’ll get five minutes to answer the written questions.

The video questions will be fairly standard—what was your favorite class? what would you bring to Cornell? why law?—but the written questions may be hypotheticals about current affairs. Some examples from the past:

1. 1. • What do you think of the Burka ban in France?
      • The ABA is thinking about adopting a uniform bar exam. Good idea?
      • Suppose someone gets injured playing Pokemon Go. (They fell into a ditch while looking at their phone or something). Should the creators of Pokemon Go be liable?
      • If you could tell the president one thing, what would you say?

2021–2022 Cornell Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. Choose a policy position from a past presidential campaign. How would you advise the president on this topic?

Student B

1. 1. 1. How much time do you spend on social media?
      2. Some pretext about the environment and sustainability, and so how do you practice sustainability in your daily life?

2019–2020 Cornell Interview Questions

Student A

Note: A few questions required a video response (1 minute), and a few questions required a written response (5 minutes). You are able to do practice questions on the platform.

1. 1. 1. What is an international legal issue that you are passionate about? (written)
      2. What does integrity mean to you? (written)

2018–2019 Cornell Interview Questions

Student A (2018–2019 cycle)

1. 1. • What do you do in your free time?
      • What would you tell the US president?
      • How many hours per week do you spend on social media?
      • What was the most memorable class you took in university?
      • Why is Ithaca for you?”

Student B (2018–2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. How do you define integrity? (written)
      2. What role should the government play in unrestrained capitalism? (written)
      3. Name three attributes that your friends would use to describe you?
      4. What about Ithaca NY attracts you?
      5. What charitable organization would you donate to and why?

If you’re not sure how to answer a written question, consider both sides with a classic “On the one hand, on the other hand” structure. Start by making the case for one side, that is, and then say something like, “Nevertheless…” and make the case for the other side.

Note that these questions are out of date because Cornell asks interviewees not to share the interview questions.

Georgetown

Georgetown does a group interview. Dean Cornblatt typically breaks the interviewees into groups and asks them questions about hypothetical law school applications. You can bring a résumé and a question about Georgetown just in case, but you won’t have much (or any) one-on-one time with the dean.

To prepare, you might think about what qualities would be important to you if you were admitting students (passion? legal experience?), what you would want your incoming class to look like, and to what extent you would be willing to forgive or overlook some mistakes in an application. What if the application has some typos? What if it’s addressed to the wrong school? What if the essay is plagiarized?

The content of your answer probably matters less than how you say it. You should be thoughtful, confident, warm, and encouraging of other people as well. Focus not just on talking but on listening.

2022–2023 Georgetown Interview Questions

Student A
The interview was conversational and lasted about 30 minutes. I find it super helpful to review Vanderbilt’s alumni interview questions before this one. Below are the questions he asked.

1. Why Law?
2. Why Georgetown?
3. Resume-specific questions about my work experience
4. Something I would like the admissions committee to know
5. Questions for the interviewer (had time for two questions)

2021–2022 Georgetown Interview Questions

Student A

It was 45-minute long and exactly how previous applicants described. It felt much better to speak to real people than a camera, and I had fun.

Dean Cornblatt started with asking us where we’re at, where we’re from, what we’re doing, and a fun fact about us. Then he went on to give us application scenarios where we had to act an admissions committee. The scenarios were the same: a plagiarism and 1-year suspension, withdrawal from Oxford before a hearing, and a sloppy PS. He wrapped up the interview by asking us to give one word that describes an ideal candidate.

Student B

The interview was pretty much how the other student from the 2020-1 cycle described it!

At first, he told us to lose our “grim faces.” Then, he asked us to go around and say where we’re from, where we’re at, and a fun fact about ourselves. We did 3 scenarios. He shared screen with us and asked us to give a thumbs up when we’re all set reading it. In all three, he named the first student to go and wanted everyone to talk. In the second and third scenarios, he called on people one by one to go. After we all went, he told us what he thought and his decisions. He also said that there was no right answer.

All three scenarios involved students with great stats. The first was an Ivy-graduated applicant who plagiarized freshman year. Her addendum made it seem like it was a very casual and light incident, but she was suspended for a semester. The dean wrote a note for her saying that she’s been a model student since. We had four options to choose from—no impact, minor impact, major impact, or game over (deny). Most of us went with minor, two of us went with major, and Dean Cornblatt went with major, too. He said it was because of how light the student made the plagiarism seemed contrasted with the result of suspension for a semester.

The second scenario was the sloppy PS—spelling errors and used the wrong name. The student’s recommender also mentioned that he was a great writer. We were asked to rate the impact of this sloppiness to his application from 0 to 10 (game over, deny). We answered between 6-8. Dean Cornblatt said it was a 7-10 zone for sure because of the contrast between the recommendation letter and the PS.

The third scenario was an almost Oxford Masters graduate who was accused of plagiarism and withdrew from Oxford. He was already accepted into Georgetown. He let Georgetown know about the accusation but when asked, said he’d rather not get into the details. We were asked to either rescind or let him keep his acceptance. Almost all of us went with a no because of how he handled it. Dean Cornblatt asked what would’ve happened if he wrote an apologetic email that admitted fault but that still didn’t go into the story. Some of us (me included) said we would then let him keep his acceptance. Dean Cornblatt said that didn’t happen with this guy, though usually any tiny mistake in the application is followed by a frantic apologetic fixing email. Dean said he had to chase this guy down multiple times and ask him about what happened and the guy still never gave an answer. Dean said there was “fog everywhere” with this case, so he ultimately rescinded the guy’s application.

Later he told us that he was doing 450 of these group interviews, and that we should expect to hear from him about our decisions between 12/15-1/5, probably towards the beginning. He also said last year he interviewed about 2600 students, and this year 3000. I don’t know if that means the application pool increased or if he wanted to meet more people.

Student C (an hour long, group of 6, with dean of admissions):

Everything currently on 7sage is spot on, pretending to be admissions committee with the same scenarios

Student D

1. The Dean began by having us all-state “where we are from, what we are doing, where we are now, and a fun fact about ourselves.”
2. The Dean then presented a character and fitness issue to us about an applicant who plagiarized during a French course. We took about 2-3 minutes to silently read the addendum, then presented our opinions of whether it was “no issue, minor, major, or game over.” We had to of course justify our opinion. I said it was “major” but would still accept her as she took great strides to redeem herself.
3. He then presented a synopsis of a disciplinary issue of a past applicant, in which the applicant was already accepted to Georgetown, but dropped out of his master's program at Oxford due to accusations of plagiarism. He essentially dropped out to avoid disciplinary in fracture. Should his acceptance to Georgetown be rescinded? I said Yes to this one.
4. He asked one more question on the Oxford case - he explained the issue in a different way in his own words with a bit more integrity and honesty, and asked if we would still rescind the offer. The group was split 50/50.
5. The last application issue discussed an otherwise glowing application that unfortunately had a series of spelling and grammatical issues in the personal statement as well as a reference to a different law school. He asked us to rank how “bad” this was on a scale of 1-10. I stated I would give it a “5 with an asterisk,” and I stated that a few spelling mistakes are inevitable for all applicants, however the reference to a different law school was more egregious and showed carelessness. Everyone else gave it a 7-9.
6. Finally, the Dean asked us to describe in one word an adjective for successful applicants. I used the word “Unique” … however, others used words such as honest, hard-working, etc.

I think for question 6, one shouldn’t say “intelligent” or “smart.”

And that was it, he told us we would know sometime between December 20th and January 15th, however, it could always take longer.

Student E

1. Name, where we currently are located, and one fun fact about us (introduction).
2. Four scenarios: plagiarism, Oxford withdrawal before honor hearing, personal statement with mistakes/mention of wrong school.
3. One word to describe the ideal candidate.

One tip for this one is don't afraid to be bold--Dean Andy asks you to rank a couple of situations from 1-10 in terms of ability to look past/forgive the error and admit the applicant. If you think something is a big deal or not a big deal, make sure to mention it. Most people in my group, including myself, erred on the side of caution and stuck with numbers like 5-6 for all scenarios. After everyone else had gone, Dean Andy told us he thought one of the scenarios (PS with mistakes) was a 10 and total rejection of applicant. I had thought that when I heard it, but didn't want to take a stance after I heard a few people play it safe. Don't be shy!!

Student F

• Why Law?
• Why Georgetown?
• What is the specific clinic you are interested in and why?
• What are your interest areas?
• What questions do you have for me?

Student G

Over all it was a great experience. I did not feel stressed or thrown off at any point, and generally the vibe was very warm and discussion-friendly, rather than a grilling session.

It was a group of 7 applicants, with Dean Cornblatt himself conducting the "interview." He basically turned us into an admissions committee, and ran 3 different cases by us (all real situations he had to weigh in on in his time at admissions). Each 'case' was briefly screen-shared, and he then allowed each person to contribute their thoughts (it was clear from the get-go that he only wanted to hear a couple of sentences, from each person, after each case was presented; so there was no issue of trying to make yourself heard, and no one had the opportunity to hog the spotlight - he repeated several times to keep answers short so he could hear from everyone).

After everyone contributed their thoughts, he would explain what decision he had made and why, and a couple of times he asked a hypothetical follow-up question (eg. "in this case, if the applicant had instead written/done X or Y, would you feel differently?").

The leading theme was clearly "integrity" and how to deal with questions about candidates' integrity.

The cases/questions were:

1. A 24-year-old applicant with a solid LSAT and graduating in the top 20 of her class had been suspended for a semester for plagiarism. In her addendum, she said she was sorry for the mistake but also claimed it had merely been an issues with properly attributing citations; and while she took responsibility it didn't seem like she fully acknowledged the severity of the 'mistake'. He asked us to rate this issue in her app from "no problem" > "minor" > "major" > "automatically disqualifying" and explain why. Ultimately he explained that he saw it as a major issue, and denied her admission because there was a clear disconnect between how she framed the issue and the severity of the punishment. Her addendum did not do enough to explain this disconnect, and over all he felt that she spent more time trying to make the issue sound small than apologizing and taking responsibility- he said it showed a lack of growth.
2. A student who had already been admitted writes to admissions informing them that he is dropping out of his Oxford masters program early (without obtaining the degree) without providing additional info. Upon being asked about it, he volunteers that he has been accused of plagiarism in his dissertation and that he decided to drop out rather than facing the academic tribunal. Upon several attempts by the Dean to get more information in calls with him, the admitted student beats around the bush and says he would "rather not get into it." Should Georgetown rescind his offer or not? He explained that rescinding an offer is a BIG deal, and that the standard for doing so is much higher than denying an applicant. After we gave our answers, the dean explained that A) this showed a lack of integrity because he was fleeing the issue rather than confronting it, and was likely guilty; and B) he should have been extremely transparent about what had happened and volunteered ALL the information he had right from the get-go without making the admissions committee chase him down only to be stonewalled (it disrespected Georgetown, he said). Ultimately he couldn't see this person as a member of the Georgetown community and thought there might be more issues going forward. He also asked a follow-up question, "what if he had written from the start that he was under academic investigation for plagiarism and apologized sincerely for the incident and said he hoped the committee could forgive him?" The Dean said that while it would have been harder to make a decision, he would still rescind because the kid's message did not provide a detailed account of what had happened, and still required the ad com to ask follow-up questions -- and this did not change the material facts of what had happened, which were pretty bad.
3. A student with a stellar GPA and LSAT, with glowing references that describe her excellent writing abilities, applies but her personal statement has typos and refers to the wrong school in the text. How serious is this on a scale of 1 "who cares" to 10 "disqualifying." He said that if the student had followed-up with an email acknowledging the mistakes and apologizing for them, he wouldn't have cared. But that because she didn't, it showed a level of carelessness - and a lack of interest in Georgetown; so why would he waste a seat on her? The glowing references about her writing ultimately showed him that she was a great writer when she actually cared, and that the poor quality of the statement therefore reflected her lack of enthusiasm.
4. He asked for a one word answer to: "If you had to pick the single most important quality to look for in an application, what would it be?" This wrapped up the interview.

Some other interesting things to mention:

- He clearly did not care if people came to the same conclusions as him. It wasn't about getting the answers "right." Rather, he wanted to see honest reflection, and how you expressed yourself. I think more than anything this was about seeing whether he liked the applicants as people. So don't stress or deliberate too long about answers, just go with your gut and be honest.

- He had already given our applications an initial read-through (and he mentioned that he wouldn't have invited us if our personal statements looked like the one in case #3 above). He explained that his process is to read through apps once (I'm assuming the committee distills out some of the worst ones, but he said nothing about that), interview those he is interested in, and then read the apps again before making a final decision. He said he would have an answer for us probably in November, but very likely no later than December 10 (soon!!).

- He explained that he's doing 3-4 of these interviews a day for months (pretty intense!!), so he's definitely talking to a whole lot more applicants than will ultimately be admitted (he said he is probably going to meet this way with about 3000 students, and the entering class is 560).

- He gave us his email at the end, and then followed up with a nice note (which I responded to of course):

"Hello [FIRSTNAME], Just a quick note to thank you for being a part of our group interview. I love these group interviews as it allows me to get to know applicants a little more and makes you more than just a file. And in this Covid world, I am particularly happy to get the chance to connect with so many of you all over the world. Yours was an exceptional group. Hope you had fun. Thanks so much for coming and I look forward to reading your application even more now that I have met you. Best, Andy"

Hope this is useful and can help other applicants to Gtown not stress out about the process!! Just be yourself, be honest and you'll do great.

2020–2021 Georgetown Interview Questions

Student A

Intro was: where we’re at, where we’re from, what we’re doing now, and a fun fact about ourselves.

We did only 2 scenarios - the one about the applicant who withdrew from Oxford, and the one about the applicant with a sloppy PS. For the latter, while the decision was still to deny, Dean Cornblatt now placed the severity of a bad PS at a 10/10.

We were asked to talk about how we would gather information from applicants as admissions personnel, directly asking, open prompts, etc.

We were asked for one word that describes an ideal quality in an applicant.

We were asked to give a weight by percentage of stats vs. rest of the application. He said it was about 70% numbers for the first review of an application, then moves to about 50%, resulting in an overall 65/35 split between stats and everything else.

He finished by asking us one of his intended optional application prompts for this year that they didn’t get to add in: "What was something you’ve done that was hard but so worth it?”

In between everything he spoke about their review philosophy, and applications in general (14k+ applications this year!). He said we should expect an answer in 2-4 weeks, and provided his email for any questions. Overall great experience. Dean Cornblatt is very personable. People really have nothing to worry about here… just be yourself.

2019–2020 Georgetown Interview Questions

Student A (Group interview with Dean of Admissions in person)

Introduction: Dean passed out name plates to put in front of us. Then, we were asked to go around and say our name, hometown, and a fun fact about ourselves.

Instructions: He handed out a packet with scenarios written out, and he told you to keep it face down until he finished his instructions. (He called out people that reached for the paper before he finished speaking.) He then divided us into groups of three, and he told to read through the first scenario. Then, we were to pretend that we were members of the admissions committee and decide as a group if the issue raised had “no impact,” “little impact,” “big impact,” or “game over impact” on the prospective student’s application.

First Scenario: A student was suspended for a year for plagiarism. She said that she made a careless mistake because she mis-cited a paper in French, and she was sick at the time. She said that she took a year off to reflect and tutor children. (The Dean asked students questions like, Can you sum up what your group thought? What did you think about her time off? What do you think about how she framed the story? The Dean ultimately said that this had a “big impact” because he did not like that the student did not own up to the seriousness of the situation—she was suspended for a year. He thinks that she is not telling the full story.)

Second Scenario: An Oxford masters student, who had already been accepted to Georgetown Law, told Georgetown that he withdrew from his masters program. When asked why, he admitted that he had failed to include citations in his dissertation, and there was going to be a disciplinary hearing about the issue. Before the hearing, he decided to withdraw from school. (The Dean said that this was “game over” because the student would not give him a lot of information, and he felt that he lacked integrity.)

Note: During the first two scenarios, he randomly called on people, and he asked them specific questions. He did not let people raise their hand and share their opinions freely. He took a more Socratic approach.

Third Scenario: A student had stellar GPA and LSAT stats as well as letters of recommendation praising her writing skills. However, her personal statement had typos, including the wrong school name. (During this scenario, the Dean asked us to rate the seriousness of the issue as a whole group on a scale of 1-10. He observed our large group conversation. The Dean then weighed in, and he believed that this should be rated as a 7. She should not have written the wrong school name. That shows that she does not care about Georgetown, and there is no point in wasting a seat on her.)

Fourth Scenario: Student A has slightly better stats than Student B, but Student B wrote an unsolicited “Why Georgetown” essay. Who should you admit if you have to choose one over the other? (He had us go around and say “Student A” or “Student B” without any discussion. The Dean said that he would let Student A in because a “Why Georgetown” essay was not required, so Student A should not be penalized for not writing one.)

General thoughts: The Dean appreciated decisiveness; he did not like it when interviewees were in between “little impact” and “big impact.” He cares a lot about integrity, so I would be sure to highlight that in your answers. He also cared about order and structure — he noticed people who did not follow his instructions precisely or spoke out of turn. He appreciates collaboration, so be sure to speak about the conclusions your group came to, not necessarily the ones that you individually came to.

Student B

The group interview actually went exactly how it was described on the 7sage 2019-2020 Interview Questions section! We were given a packet of 4 scenarios but we only got through the first 3. We were in groups of 3-4 for the first two scenarios, and then we all got together in one large group to discuss the third scenario. We returned the packet after we were done and the Dean all walked us to the elevator, shaking each one of our hands and thanking us.

2018–2019 Georgetown Interview Questions

Student A (2018/2019 cycle)

We all checked in at security, waited in a lobby area, and were given name tags. After we mingled amongst each other for a couple minutes, the Dean came down the stairs, introduced himself, and we all walked with him into a conference room, where we had name tags assigned to each seat.

He started with introductions—nothing crazy, we just went around the room stating our name, where we’re from, what we’re doing now, and a fun fact about ourselves (so maybe come with one prepared).

Then he split us up into groups. We had maybe 12 people in the room and split into 3 groups of 4. We were handed a packet with different scenarios from real applicants who had applied to Georgetown the previous year. We were told that we would be playing the role of an admissions committee, and that we were to discuss the scenario in our individual groups and figure out how much this impacted the decision, on a sliding scale.

We did them one by one. So, we started with the first scenario, talked amongst our group for a while (only 3 or 4 minutes), and then we would bring it all together. He would call on someone in each group to give a summary of what their group thought, as well as sometimes some individual questions to a student about what they thought. Then we would progress onto scenario 2, and so on.

First scenario was about a student who had been suspended for a year on account of plagiarism. She had a high GPA/LSAT, and she’d won awards for her writing before. The plagiarism in question was for a first draft of another writing piece she was submitting for an award (I think? or maybe it was just an assignment I’m not sure, but it was definitely a first draft). She chalked it up to a careless mistake because parts of it had to be in a foreign language, and because she had meningitis or something, so she was uncharacteristically tired/ill. She said she took a year off to reflect and tutor kids.

Dean didn’t like that because a whole year’s suspension from the undergrad institution is a pretty big penalty, and she seemed to not be portraying things very honestly. He said if she had just written, “I’m sorry. I take full responsibility and please note that I have never done such a thing since that time,” it might have been a totally different story. It wasn’t even that much about the plagiarism itself as the way she framed the situation. He said something like, “Sometimes it’s best to say I’m sorry and then zip it.”

Second scenario was about a student who had already been accepted, and was currently in a graduate program at Oxford. He called Georgetown saying he was withdrawing from the program. When asked why, he admitted he had failed to include citations in his dissertation, and that there was going to be a disciplinary hearing about it, but now that he’s withdrawing there would be no hearing and no effect on his record.

Obviously this was all super sketchy, but the crux of the issue here was that the offer had already been given out, and they would have to rescind without any real evidence of wrongdoing (they called Oxford and didn’t get much info, and the student didn’t give any more info). Nonetheless, the Dean ultimately decided to rescind the offer.

Third scenario was about an applicant with gleaming GPA/LSAT, letters of rec commending his strong writing skills, and then a personal statement with multiple typos and a mention of the wrong school. A lot of people in the group interview thought this wasn’t unforgivable, especially given that the previous two were pretty big ethical violations, but as it turns out it was a rejection as well. The reasoning from the Dean was that it does a disservice to the qualified applicants who did write glowing personal statements. It shows a huge disinterest in Georgetown, so he’s not about to waste an acceptance on someone who’s not serious. He also pointed out that when you care, you will reread your application fifty times before your friend tells you, “Oh my god, just press the damn button already.” So the fact that this had so many mistakes was actually pretty telling. He did, however, note that it would be different if the student had immediately apologized and sent a follow-up email with a correction. Then that would have been fine.

Finally, he gave us a hypothetical scenario that was about Amy, a student with higher grades/LSAT but no “why Georgetown” essay versus Barbara, with slightly lower stats but a compelling Why Georgetown. Everyone almost unanimously guessed Barbara would be the one to get in. It was Amy. The reasoning is that Why Georgetown wasn’t required, so Amy didn’t do anything wrong. He’s not going to assume Amy is disinterested because that could be totally off the mark. And while Barbara was advocating for herself as much as she could, the numbers still usually win out.

A couple notes on this: I think he was listening to how people were collaborating in the groups, so just make sure that you state your opinion, but that you’re a good listener and mesh well with others. When we all come together to discuss, he does call on you randomly, but don’t stress—you’ll have had the opportunity to already talk about it in your group, and even if he asks you a more particular question, you’ll have thought about the scenario enough to easily give an answer. Which brings me to my next point: don’t worry about giving the right or wrong answer. Once he hears from all our groups, he states his own opinion before we move onto the next scenario. And we were usually wrong! After all, we aren’t a real admissions committee. Don’t be fazed by it.

After the discussion, he offers closing remarks and brings up why he does these interviews, which I think might be helpful information to know, since I was certainly curious about this - after all, he’s not really looking for a right/wrong answer, and this interview doesn’t ask any traditional questions. He said it was to get to know us just a tiny bit better than he did an hour ago, and that he manages to achieve that goal, and with so many applicants, that’s really the best he can do.

He then walked us out, thanked us each individually as we got onto the elevator, and we all breathed a sigh of relief!

Student B (2018/2019 cycle)

Dean Cornblatt gave us packets that had various scenarios and we were tasked with determining how much the specific scenario should impact the individual’s chance to attend Georgetown. We did not get through all of the scenarios.

Scenario 1: a top applicant was previously suspended for one year because she plagiarized in French 101. In her description, she offered to paint a fuller picture (she was stressed out, had meningitis, and she did it by accident: as she was typing up notes and feeling ill, she mistook someone else’s work for her own). The dean asked if this should be minor, major, or game over.

Scenario 2: A top applicant has already been admitted to Georgetown and paid to secure his seat. He is currently getting his graduate degree at Oxford. He alerts the school that he is withdrawing from Oxford, and upon further questioning, he reveals that he was accused of not using citations for his dissertation. The school wanted to have a hearing, but he withdraws from the program so that he can keep his record clean of misconduct. Should this admission be overturned?

Scenario 3: A top applicant has glowing rec letters praising his writing, but his personal statement is awful and filled with typos (including a reference to another school). Should this be minor, major, or game over?

Lastly, the dean presented two candidates, “A” and “B.” A is a better candidate in terms of LSAT and GPA, but not too much better than candidate B. B writes a “Why Georgetown” addendum and personalizes the personal statement for Georgetown. Which candidate should we take?

UCLA

2021–2022 University of California—Los Angeles Interview Questions

Student A (Distinguished Scholars Interview)

1. Views on food policy
2. Interest in mycology

Student B (Distinguished Scholars Interview)

1. Why UCLA
2. Why law
3. I was asked about campus organizing during college
4. Majority of my interview was about high vs low tuition and scholarships being harmful to the larger student body. I was not expecting the majority of my interview to be a discussion on tuition, but in the end we ran out of time and I was not able to ask questions.

Overall, it was informal, conversational, and everyone was really friendly.

Student A’s Zoom Interview (December 2020)

The interview was with the director of admissions. The student was an ED applicant.

1. 1. • Why UCLA?
      • What would teammates and coworkers say about you? What do they like about working with you?
      • What would you like to do after school?
      • Where do you see yourself in the future?
      • How did you choose your college?
      • How did you end up at your current job?

University of Texas Law

Note: UT asks candidates to pledge not to share interview questions.

2024-2025 University of Texas Law Interview Questions

Student A

1. Tell me about a time you were challenged while working on a team. What did you do to solve the problem?
2. When did you decide you wanted to become a lawyer? What prompted that interest?

 

2021–2022 University of Texas Law Interview Questions

Student A

1. What made you want to go to law school?
2. How has Covid-19 affected your life over the past year?
3. A written “Why Texas?” question.

Student A’s online interview (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. Tell us more about your academic background. What was your favorite class or professor?
      2. What is something other than the law that you’re passionate about?
      3. Why Texas? (This required a 300-word written essay)
      4. When did you decide you wanted to become a lawyer? What prompted that interest?

Vanderbilt

2024–2025 Vanderbilt Interview Questions

Student A

1. Why law?
2. Tell me your greatest accomplishment
3. How will you contribute to the school?

 

2022–2023 Vanderbilt Interview Questions

Student A

1. Why Vanderbilt?
2. Something to the effect of, How has your time in the legal field shaped your perspective on law? (specific to my resume)
3. What do you want to do after you graduate from law school? (career goals question)
4. Something you want to convey back to the admissions committee? (I was a bit unprepared for this one but I think it went okay!)

Student B

1. Please introduce yourself.
2. How has your personal, educational, or professional background contributed to your interest in studying law?
3. Why are you considering Vanderbilt Law School?

2021–2022 Vanderbilt Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. Why law?
      2. Why Vanderbilt?
      3. What is something that isn’t on your resume that’s interesting about you?
      4. What other schools are you applying to?

Student B

1. Why law?
2. Resume questions?
3. Career path after law school?
4. Anything else to know about me?

(very casual conversation with alumni, was an hour long)

Student C

Vanderbilt Alumni Interview- over an hour long, very conversational

1. Why law?
2. Why Vanderbilt?
3. What are my future career aspirations?
4. Resume- specific questions

Student D

1. Why law school (some version of this)
2. Why did I choose my undergraduate school
3. What kind of law do you want to do/where
4. Resume specific questions

Overall very laid back and conversational - left a lot of time for me to ask questions, entire interview lasted ~20 min

Student E

1. Why did you pick your undergraduate institution?
2. What was your most rewarding experience outside the classroom?
3. Talk about the experiences you had after college
4. How would a law degree help you reach your goals?
5. What is your greatest strength?
6. What is your greatest weakness?
7. What are you looking for in a law school?

Student F

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What has your transition to the South been like (applicant recently relocated to the Deep South for work)?
3. Why Vanderbilt?
4. What do you do with your free time?
5. Tell me something you would like the admissions committee to know about you that doesn't appear in your application.

2019–2020 Vanderbilt Interview Questions

Student A (Interviewed by an alumna in person, about 45 min long)

1. 1. 1. Why Vanderbilt?
      2. Why law in general?
      3. [Interviewer also asked a lot of questions based on Student A’s resume]

Student B

Note: Student reported that the Vanderbilt interview was “pretty relaxed compared to other interviews”; interviewer only asked 2 questions and then the rest was a discussion about interviewer’s personal experience

1. 1. 1. Why law and what kind of law?
      2. How did you learn about Vanderbilt?

2018–2019 Vanderbilt Interview Questions

Student A ー interview with an alum in Tokyo

1. 1. 1. Why Law?
      2. Why Vanderbilt Law?

No hardball questions.

Interviewer said he is required to ask these two questions*
*

Student A: International students should prepare to answer why they would like to go to law school in the U.S., not in their own countries. I was asked why I didn’t choose to first go to law school in Japan and then to try to enter an LL.M. program in the U.S.

I highly recommend international students that they request interviews because it gives us chance to meet an alum living in the country and to connect with lawyers with American J.D. in that country!

Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL)

You can schedule an interview online only after WUSTL invites you. You can choose from Skype, Google Hangouts, or in-person. They prefer Skype to Google Hangouts.

2024-2025 WashU Interview Questions

Student A

1. Tell me about yourself
2. What have you been doing in your past year?
3. Question related to experience on resume that was discussed in PS
4. Why WashU?

2023–2024 WashU Interview Questions

Student A

1. What are you planning to do in your last semester of undergrad?
2. Tell us about a time in your life in which you had either changed your opinion or encountered a difference in perspective and how you deal with it.
3. What are your long-term and short-term goals following law school?

Student B

1. Tell us about a time you changed your mind.
2. Resume based questions: tell us about your current job.
3. Do I plan on finishing the CFA?
4. Why WashU?

2022–2023 WashU Interview Questions

Student A

1. Tell me about yourself?
2. Why Law and Why Wash U?
3. What can you bring to the Wash U Law Community?
4. What type of extracurriculars/experiential opportunities would you be interested in at Wash U Law?
5. What are your short-term and long-term professional goals?
6. Any questions about Wash U?

Student B

It’s super relaxed and conversational. There are banks of questions on 7Sage, but it seems like the questions can vary based on the applicant. I got a unique question that was along the lines of “recall a time where you received new information and used it to make a different decision than you had originally intended on making”.

Student C

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Tell me about your current job.
3. What challenges do the communities you work with experience?
4. How do you handle difficult clients?
5. Why law?
6. How do you handle stress?
7. What do you do for fun?
8. Are there any opportunities or programs at WashULaw you are interested in and did not cover in your Why X statement?
9. Any questions for us?

2021–2022 WashU Interview Questions

Student A

For the questions that were asked by Washington University that weren't resume-specific during my interview:

1. 1. 1. Why law now?
      2. Why WUSTL?
      3. How do you define success?
      4. Can you tell me about a time that you showed leadership?
      5. What questions do you have for me?The resume-specific ones were just asking vaguely about what my tech positions were like.

Student B

1. 1. 1. You've had this amazing career - why do you want to go to law school now?
      2. Have you been to St. Louis? (she didn't ask me specifically WashULaw - maybe because I wrote a why WashULaw statement? she also noted I had attended a webinar and had spoken to an admissions officer and students)
      3. How old is your son?
      4. How did you choose Notre Dame?
      5. Do you want to share anything with the admissions committee about your GPA since you redacted it?
      6. Are you set on moving back to the northeast post graduation?
      7. What questions do you have for me?

Student C

20mins, including time built in for your questions. I'm KJD and I'm betting that's why there are a bunch of UG-related questions. It was very friendly and felt as much about them saying why they're good for me as it was about me saying why I'm good for them

1. Your general experience at your UG school/why you chose it
2. Your favorite class and why
3. A time your opinion/viewpoint did a 180 on a topic
4. What you're looking for in a law school experience (implied why Washu, but also a chance for my interviewer to sell the school's relevant resources)
5. Your thoughts and approaches to leadership and teamwork
6. What you want to do after law school

Student D

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why law, and what are your career goals?
3. Interviewer then invited questions from the applicant and shared career resources in the applicant's area of interest.

Student E

1. Why law?
2. What I'm looking for in a law school, and
3. What about my resume (elaborating on my two jobs after graduating from college

Student F

1. Tell me about yourself -resume rundown
2. Parents info; where they live
3. Military member in the family? brother
4. How did you get to michigan; why michigan
5. How do you define success
6. What something you changed your mind about -therapy
7. Tell me about the law firm and how you got the job
8. How I got Paralegal
9. What would Jewel contribute to a law school community?
10. What are Jewel’s professional goals?
11. Why WashU Law?

2020–2021 WashU Interview Questions

Student A (International Candidate)

1. 1. 1. Why Law?
      2. Why USA?
      3. Why WashU?
      4. When did you know you wanted to practice law?
      5. About college?
      6. What do you do for recreation?

Student B

1. 1. 1. Why did you choose Berkeley? (Her current undergrad school)
      2. What led you to wanting to study law?
      3. What are you looking forward to in law school?
      4. What attracted you to WashU?
      5. Have you been to St. Louis?

Student C

1. 1. 1. I see you’ve been working in (city), so why law school now?
      2. Why early decision at WashU?
      3. What do you do to stay balanced?
      4. What is something that is hard for you?
      5. What do you think you want to do after law school?
      6. I see that you listed (city) as somewhere you would want to practice after law school. Why is that?
      7. What do you want to know from me?

Student D

1. 1. 1. Tell me about yourself.
      2. Why did someone from XX end up in XX and seek to go to law school?
      3. Why law school now and how will that tie in with your aims regarding law school?
      4. Why WashULaw and why early decision?
      5. What do you have difficulty with?
      6. Questions for me?

Student E (International Candidate)

1. 1. 1. Tell me about yourself.
      2. Why law?
      3. Why WashU?
      4. Any hobby that you picked up during the pandemic?
      5. Any questions for me?

The interview lasted about 10-12 minutes.

Student F

1. 1. 1. What was a defining experience at [undergrad inst]?
      2. What is my leadership style?
      3. What is something I have changed my opinion on?
      4. What am I looking forward to about law school?
      5. Where do I see my career in five years?

2019–2020 WashU Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. Why WashU Law?
      2. What do you hope to get out of law school?
      3. How did you get to the point of applying to law school, especially given your experience of practicing law in your home country?
      4. What do you do for fun?
      5. Questions for me?

Student B (Skype interview, very informal)

1. 1. 1. Admission officer started off by describing how much they loved my Personal Statement
      2. Why law?
      3. Why Washu?
      4. What do you plan to do after law school?

Interview only lasted around 15 minutes.

Student C (Skype interview but switched to phone because of technical issues)

1. 1. 1. [Interviewer asked for student to give a brief bio]
      2. Why law?
      3. Why WashU?
      4. [Question about interests and hobbies on résumé]
      5. What learning environment do you work best in?
      6. [Interviewer also answered student’s questions]

2018–2019 WashU Interview Questions

Student A’s interview (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. 1. Why law, and why law school?
      2. What do you want to do with your JD right after law school?
      3. Where do you want to practice?
      4. What do you hope to get out of law school?
      5. What do you do for fun?

Student B’s interview (2018/2019 cycle)

1. 1. • Summarize your life up until this point. How did you get to the point where you are applying to law school?
      • What do you want to get out of law school? What are you most looking forward to in law school?
      • Where do you want to practice? Any geographical preferences?
      • What do you want to do after law school?

Courtesy of the 7Sage Discussion Forum:

I had my interview with WUSTL last Friday and I wanted to tell you about my experience!

It was a Skype interview but the connection was terrible so the interview ended up being over the phone instead. The Admissions Officer that interviewed me was super friendly and the interview overall was pretty informal.

She started off by asking me about a few specific things on my resume such as my recent job change and what I do for work now. I was also in the men’s rowing team at my University so she asked me what that was like and how I balanced schools and a sport at the same time. I think this question was more geared to seeing how I handle multiple responsibilities at once.

Next, we talked about why I wanted to go to Law School and why WashU in general. I think my answer hit the nail on the head because I talked about specific clinics that WashU offers that I would be interested in and the interviewer responded very positively to it. Doing your research before the interview to interject school specific answers in super important. Also, having a solid answer on why you want to go to law school is definitely a must. She also asked if I had even been to St. Louis which I responded that yes I have and that I’ve actually self-toured the school to which she was surprised/happy about. Where in ultimately want to end up after graduating was something she also asked.

The second most important question I thought was asked is what I hope to get out of law school. I prepared for this question by doing research into the classes and clinics WashU offers and how I could adapt that after I graduate. I also threw in a part about certain organizations that I would be interested in. This question was so important in my opinion because it had you cover a wide arrange of topics, specifically: Why this school? Did you do any research on the school? Did you research the city? What can you do in law school other than academics? How will you use your skills gained after law school? What is most important to you? Do you have any idea what you want to do after law school?

The most IMPORTANT question that you NEED to have an absolutely solid answer on is a time when you showcased leadership. I was not going to prepare for this question nor did I even come across my mine before a buddy of mine who used to work for the Center for Career Development at our University told me to prepare for it and I am so happy I did. I definitely would have struggled with that question by it catching me off guard and not having some sort of formulation of the answer beforehand. It was then followed by a time I had to overcome a struggle, but my answer for the leadership question actually encompassed this question as well so the interviewer did not ask for another answer to it.

Washington and Lee Interview Questions

Student A (waitlist interview in 2019–2020)

1. 1. • Is there anything you’d like to add that isn’t already in your PS?
      • Why Lexington/ Washington & Lee?
      • What do you think you will bring to our law school?
      • Student A was also prompted to ask the interviewer questions about the school.

George Mason Interview Questions

2021–2022 Georgetown Interview Questions

Student A

1. 1. 1. Why Law and why now?
      2. What do you want to do career wise with a law degree/5-year plan?
      3. What are you looking for in a law school experience?

2020–2021 George Mason Interview

Student A (December 2020)

1. 1. • Interviewer asked about my interest and what I would like to do in the future with my law degree
      • We discussed my current job and my recent move.
      • Interviewer told me a lot about the school and herself.
      • I asked 3 questions

Bonus Northwestern Questions

1. 1. 1. Describe a time where you had to tell someone difficult news.
      2. How do you define failure and how do you deal with it?
      3. Are you someone who solves complicated problems using easy solutions or do you solve easy problems using complicated solutions?
      4. When working in a team do you prefer to speak up or listen to others?
      5. Tell me a time you were part of a team with low morale/motivation. What did you do to resolve it?
      6. Tell me about the most stressful time in your professional career. What made it so stressful and what did you do to get past it?
      7. What is the relationship between your successes and your failures?
      8. Tell me about a time someone didn’t understand how you were feeling. What would you have done differently if you were that person?
      9. Why Northwestern?
      10. Why Law?
      11. Are you an optimist, pessimist?
      12. How would you cheer up a classmate who was visibly upset in class one day?
      13. What’s your backup plan if you don’t go to law school?
      14. If your professor asks for help on a subject you don’t know, what would you do?
      15. Talk about a time where you worked with people that had disagreements, and what did you do to resolve those.
      16. What would you add to the Northwestern community?
      17. Tell me about a time where you worked with someone that had a different work style than you, and how did you keep a good relationship?
      18. Something you believed in for a long time but don’t anymore.
      19. One change you would make looking back over your life.
      20. If you could eradicate one social problem what would it be?
      21. When’s a time you applied for a job and didn’t get it? How’d you deal with it?
      22. Time you got frustrating news.
      23. How have you facilitated a disagreement between two teammates?
      24. Talk about atmosphere where you were very productive-what was the environment like?
      25. When you and a colleague didn’t see eye to eye-what did you do?
      26. Think of a time when you had to do something you didn’t want to do and what was in your head.
      27. 3 values to instill in a business.
      28. Think of a time where you had to overcome bias.
      29. Describe a time where you were in an adversarial position. How do you deal with these types of situations?
      30. Why Chicago?
      31. Tell me about a time where you analyzed a large set of data, how did you go about it and what was the outcome?
      32. Tell me about a time where you did extensive research on a subject.
      33. Are you someone who solves easy solutions using complicated problems or solves easy problems using complicated solutions?
      34. Describe a time where you had to deliver difficult news to someone.
      35. Define success/ define failure.
      36. If your professor asks for help on a subject you don’t know, what would you do?
      37. Are you an optimistic/pessimist/realist
      38. How would you cheer up a classmate who was visibly upset in class one day
      39. Tell me about the most stressful time in your professional career. What made it so stressful and what did you do to get past it?
      40. What is the relationship between your successes and your failures?
      41. Tell me about a time someone didn’t understand how you were feeling. What would you have done differently if you were that person?
      42. Describe when you were most productive…what was that environment like?
      43. Why NU law?
      44. Tell me about a time you were part of a team with low morale/motivation. What did you do to resolve it?
      45. If law school doesn’t work out, what’s your backup?
      46. Describe specific example of problem solving strategy used
      47. Describe a failure
      48. If we asked people you hypothetically mentored what your best qualities are what would they say
      49. What other law schools did you apply to? (And defend those answers.)
      50. What’s not on your resume that you think I should know?
      51. Why did you enter a field other than law out of college? (And for those who don’t have work experience, be prepared to sell why you should still be let in.)
      52. Why law?
      53. Be able to go through all your resume blurbs and talk about each experience.
      54. Time you failed and what you learned?
      55. Difficult time with a co-worker and how you resolved it?
      56. What experiences have helped drive your interest to law?
      57. A time you did something for someone else over yourself.
      58. Describe a situation where you were in an adversarial position and how you dealt with it/describe your general philosophy for dealing with adversarial situations.
      59. What do you want to be known for?
      60. What motivates me to get out of bed in the morning?
      61. When teammates are not agreeing, what do you do to facilitate understanding?
      62. What is a time when someone said I displayed good judgement, what was it and what was my thought process to reach that decision?
      63. Think of a time when you had to do something you didn’t want to do and what was in your head?
      64. What are three values you would instill in your business?
      65. Think of a time you had to overcome bias?
      66. What’s a time you applied for a job and didn’t get it? How’d you deal with it?
      67. How have you facilitated a disagreement between two teammates?
      68. A time you got frustrating news - how’d you deal with it?
      69. Talk about a time you were very productive - what was the environment like?
      70. When you and a colleague didn’t see eye-to-eye - what did you do?
      71. Name a time where you were part of a team that had low morale/was struggling, and what you did about it.
      72. Name a time when you had to work with a difficult person, what made them difficult to work with, and what did you do about it?
      73. Name a time when you were incorrectly blamed for something, and what did you do about it?
      74. Personality trait that will help you most in law school.
      75. Something you believed in for a long time but don’t anymore.
      76. One change you would make looking back over your life.
      77. If you could eradicate one social problem, what would it be?
      78. Name a time you analyzed a large data set or did extensive research on something.
      79. Talk about a time when you analyzed data and came up with a recommendation?
      80. Talk about a time where you worked with people that had disagreements. What did you do to resolve those?
      81. What would you add to the NU community?
      82. Talk about a time where you worked with someone that had a different work style than you, and how did you keep a good relationship?

St. John's University Interview Questions

Student A (2020-2021) (International candidate video interview. 30 seconds to prepare, 1 minute to answer)

1. 1. 1. Why do you want to go to law school?
      2. What type of law are you interested in?
      3. Tell me about yourself.

University of Tennessee Interview Questions

Student A (2020-2021)

1. 1. 1. If a movie were made about your life, what genre would it be and who would play you?
      2. If you had a million dollars but could not spend it yourself, how would you spend it?
      3. If you had to delete all but three apps from your phone, what would you keep and why?
      4. If you could live anywhere outside of America, where would it be?
      5. What opportunity at UT Knoxville are you most excited about? (or something like that).

Everyone I spoke with seemed to have the same questions. You have unlimited prep time, but three takes at recording your response. Each response can be no more than one minute long

Villanova University

2021–2022 Villanova University Interview Questions

Student A

1. Why did you pick your undergraduate institution?
2. What was your most rewarding experience outside the classroom?
3. Talk about the experiences you had after college
4. How would a law degree help you reach your goals?
5. What is your greatest strength?
6. What is your greatest weakness?
7. What are you looking for in a law school?

Student B

1. Why did you choose to go your undergrad institution?
2. What do you want to be remembered for?
3. What job do you want to have straight out of law school?

The other questions were specific about my leadership roles and which I found most fulfilling. I was also asked about what I specifically did under some of my positions in clubs.

Lewis and Clark

2021–2022 Lewis and Clark Interview Questions

Student A

1. Why law school?
2. Why Lewis and Clark?
3. What do you want to do with your law degree?
4. Where do you currently locate?
5. Do you have any concerns with Law school? (Except tuition)

University of Minnesota

2022–2023 University of Minnesota Interview Questions

Student A

1. What Minnesota Law club/org would you join or start?
2. What destination birthday party would you pick if you could pick anywhere?

The count down from the question and the recording is about 5-10 seconds I think, then 30 seconds to answer it.

Student B

1. Which UMN campus organization would you join and why
2. What is your favorite book or movie and why?

Ohio State University (OSU) Scholarship Interview Questions

2022–2023 OSU Moritz Scholarship Interview Questions

Student A

1. Tell me about your prior experiences.
2. Why law?
3. Why OSU?
4. What do you want to do with your law degree?
5. Specific questions from the resume.

University of California, Berkeley

2023–2024 University of California, Berkeley Interview Questions

Student A (Kira Interview)

Looking beyond the four corners of your application, please share more about why you are applying to law school by answering one or more of the following questions:

1. What about you (your experiences, your values, your perspective, etc.) calls you to law school?
2. How will you use your law degree with integrity, vision, creativity, and/or to innovate?
3. What makes you hopeful, optimistic, or excited about entering the legal profession?
4. How do you see yourself contributing to or advancing the public good as a lawyer, scholar, or advocate?

4 minutes, or 500 words maximum

You can do either a video or a written answer (but not both).

 

University of Wisconsin-Madison

2023–2024 University of Wisconsin-Madison Interview Questions

Please see below the interview questions for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle. All applicants invited to participate in an interview will be asked the same questions.

For any questions, contact the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid (admissions@law.wisc.edu).

1. Tell us about your interest in Wisconsin Law.
2. What are your goals for obtaining a law degree?
3. Can you share experiences you've had that make you ready for law school at this point?
4. Please tell us something about yourself that you would like the Admissions Committee to know but is not in your application?
5. What questions do you have for us?

University of St Thomas

2023–2024 University of St Thomas Interview Questions

Student A

1. Why Law?
2. Why Now?
3. What you want to do with your law degree (where you see yourself in 4-5 years)?
4. Why St Thomas?
5. Think about a situation where you worked as a member of a team where you were successful and also encountered obstacles.