Tell Us About Your Interview

David Busis

Hi 7Sagers,

If you’ve done an an interview this cycle, help out your fellow applicants and tell us what you remember. What was the format? What were you asked? I’ll compile the answers and put them in the admissions course, but I won’t use your name.

Sprinkles

Paging @bjphillips5 @jennilynn89

Sprinkles

Also @palexandra

The 180 Bro_OVO

@"Accounts Playable"

palexandra

The only interview I have done so far was for Lewis & Clark. I have another coming up this week, so I can add more after that. For Lewis & Clark:
The interview was supposed to be via skype, but we were both having issues with that so we did it by phone. The interviewer was nice. No out of the ordinary questions, in my opinion. They started off discussing the reasons for attending law school that I provided in my PS. Asked some basic questions: Why Lewis & Clark? What are you looking for in a law school? Where do you see yourself after graduating and passing the bar? What would you be doing if you didn't go to law school? What do you feel is your greatest achievement?
They also asked me if I had ever been to Portland (where L&C is located,) and we talked about Portland for a bit.
The interviewer seemed genuinely interested and didn't play any mean interview tricks, like trick questions, asking you to say a weakness of yours, or being rude just to see how you will respond.
They gave me time for questions at the end. Definitely have questions prepared, I feel like that is really important to remember.
Be sure to have reasons you want to attend that school that extend beyond just their ranking and location. I mentioned a specific clinic I was interested in and we talked about that for a good few minutes.

If y'all have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them!

wiypdn25

Skype interview for Columbia. It was pretty short (~15-20 mins). Questions mostly pertained to information on my application, e.g. resume, personal statement, recommendations, transcript. Started by asking me to describe my current job and what I do there, and how I found out about it. Then about a specific phrase from my PS, and how that informs what type of law I want to practice. I explained that I felt that phrase said more about why I think I'd make a good lawyer. Then a question that stemmed from my recommendations, but was about how my friends would describe me (he wanted to get a fuller sense of who I am beyond the praise from a recommender). Then a question about upward GPA trajectory at UG. And the obligatory why law school and why Columbia. Pretty straightforward. He was very professional and extremely disciplined in every word he said. Nothing was superfluous. I could see that being intimidating to some folks.

abby.lu2017

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:
1. Tell me a little bit about yourself.
2. Why law school, and why law school now?
3. Why Northwestern?
4. Which one of your resume items demonstrate your leadership ability the best? What does leadership mean to you?
5. Anything not on your resume that you would like us to know?
6. What do you want to do with a law degree?
7. Favorite class in undergrad?
8. Hardest class in undergrad?

Curveball questions:
1. What would you do if you didn't get into any law school this application cycle?
2. What factors matter the most to you when you decide where to attend law school?

WillJayK

So far I have done two interviews - Cornell and Georgetown

Since I am currently located outside the US, I completed both of these interviews via Skype.

Georgetown alumni interview was quite extensive - over 40 minutes on the laptop. Yet the interviewer was super-friendly and was more than willing to give advice on law school admissions, careers after law school and life as a lawyer.

Cornell interview was done via Kira Talent application, which is an online interview platform. I had chances to practice the interviews several times before the actual recording.

For interview questions, Georgetown interview questions were generally straightforward - no curveball questions whatsoever. Cornell interview had 3-4 writing questions on current issues and personal questions (at the end of the interview, the interviewer stated something about non-disclosure). I believe that one would be able to prepare for the interviews as long as he/she gets familiarized with interview questions disclosed on the google websearch and online-forums.

danielznelson

Interview with UVA:

Super laid back (and I had already met the interviewer prior). I opted for a Skype interview when given the choice between that a phone - I just think there's more to gain from a face-to-face interview. Of course, my internet connection was lost literally ONE minute before the interview, so I hurriedly called instead.

The interview lasted about twenty minutes. I was able to ask two questions. Ms. Cleveland, my interviewer, asked me why I wanted to attend UVA and why I wanted to be a lawyer. She also asked me to talk a bit about my current job.

Micaela_OVO

Interview with WashU:

I received the interview request a couple hours after I submitted my app. An admissions officer interviewed me via Skype. She was super friendly and didn't try to trip me up at all. A few questions I remember:

• "Tell me about yourself."
• "Why do you want to go to law school?"
• "Why WashU?"
• "Why did you choose the college you went to?"
• "Have you ever been to St. Louis?"
• "What do you hope to accomplish in law school?"
• "What are your hobbies?"

I think the only tough question I had centered around the law school in my city. My interviewer noted what undergrad I went to and asked whether I wanted to attend the law school there since I was still in the same city.

Funny side note- When I started the Skype interview, I thought it was odd that my interviewer's camera was off. I brushed it off and and completed the interview talking to my interviewer's Skype picture. Towards the last few minutes, I realized I had to push a button to allow her video to show since she wasn't in my contacts. I was mortified and figured I had messed everything up (not smiling when I was supposed to, etc). Luckily, that must not have affected my interview too much- I was accepted two days later