I received my score, and I'm a bit disappointed. It's two points below my expected score, and three below my most recent PT average. This score is 4 points below the 25% of my reach, and 1 point to 3 points above the 25% of schools i know I'll be satisfied with.I know I wouldn't be able to see a significant increase if I take December, because I'm writing my thesis right now and that takes up most of my time. Here are my options:
1. Apply to internships/jobs and wait to retake in Sep 2017. Then apply Fall 2018. There are a couple of drawbacks for this option: I'm an international student, and finding a paid internship/job is not the easiest thing, especially because I hold a liberal arts degree in the social sciences. If I have to apply while being unemployed, it will be a bit financially difficult for both my parents and me. I am also currently working with an application counselor, and I don't know if she is willing to wait until next cycle to continue working with me (without asking me to pay for next year as well).
2. Apply this cycle, and make the decision of retaking/reapplying when I get my admission results. If I'm happy with my results, I will enroll 2017. If not, I can retake the LSAT and reapply.
What do you all think?
Had two interviews this cycle, one was for Washington University in St. Louis, and the other one was for Northwestern University.
For Wash U:
They sent an interview request within a week of the submission of my completed application. The gist of their request was: "We found much to admire in your application, and we would like to get to know you more." My counselor and I thought that there were 2 main objectives of their interview: 1. I am an international student, so they wanted to gauge with my spoken English ability; 2. they wanted to get to know me beyond my resume. And we prepared accordingly. The interview took place over Skype, and it was exactly what we anticipated. The assistant admission's officer asked questions about my extracurriculars, "why law school", "why WashU", questions about my hobbies, and questions about my upbringing. She also gave me time to ask questions. The interview was very informal (we ended up chatting about rock climbing, baking, and our favorite tattoo artists), and my answers were about 40-50 seconds long each. The total interview was about 20 minutes.
My offer arrived in my mailbox around 2 and a half weeks after the interview with a very generous scholarship offer.
For Northwestern:
I scheduled their on-campus interview, and I had a current student (she's a 2L at Northwestern) interview me. The interview was 35 minutes long. They asked for my resume before the interview, and basically went through my resume with me during the interviews. Questions asked:
Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Why law school, and why law school now?
Why Northwestern?
Which one of your resume items demonstrate your leadership ability the best? What does leadership mean to you?
Anything not on your resume that you would like us to know?
What do you want to do with a law degree?
Favorite class in undergrad?
Hardest class in undergrad?
Curveball questions:
What would you do if you didn't get into any law school this application cycle?
What factors matter the most to you when you decide where to attend law school?