Interviews

Do all law schools interview candidates? Does Wisconsin Law School conduct interviews? 

Who gets to interview?

How should I prepare for a law school interview?

Interview follow-up

Do all law schools interview candidates? Does Wisconsin Law interview?

General Admission Interviews: While most law schools will not interview potential candidates for law school, there are some that will. Most commonly interviews are used by highly ranked law schools (e.g. University of Chicago). For Top 20 law schools (i.e. Minnesota), it is fairly common- roughly a dozen of the Top 20 schools use interviews in some part of their admission process. It is also becoming more common at other law schools.  Wisconsin Law School also added an invitation only interview component in Fall 2023. You can find the Wisconsin interview questions here.

Character and Fitness Interviews: It is always possible that any law school could ask to interview you if they have questions about something on the character and fitness portion of your law school application. Most character and fitness disclosures do not need follow up, but in rare cases more information would be helpful to determine if a disclosure could potentially preclude a candidate from practicing law (ex. felony convictions, crimes of dishonesty). The questions you would be asked in this type of interview would be much different and would mostly revolve around the potential issue. However, the advice here regarding preparing for an interview may still be helpful, because such an interview still serves as a chance to make a good impression on a law school.

International Students: Some Top 14 schools require international students to complete an interview through a program called InitialView instead of requiring a TOEFL or IELTS. Find more information about these interviews here

Who gets to interview?

There are only a few schools that allow all candidates to interview as part of the regular application process.  Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Minnesota, and St. John’s have had a process to offer all applicants an optional interview.  We strongly suggest that if you are given the opportunity to interview, you complete that interview.  These interviews are seen as even more important than your personal statement in terms of getting to know you.

Some schools, especially high ranked law schools, may interview candidates on an invitation only basis, choosing only to interview candidates who are in the maybe admit pile. Therefore, receiving an invitation to interview from a school like Harvard, Columbia, or Wisconsin is likely a good sign.

Some schools allow waitlisted candidates to interview. Washington and Lee has interviewed waitlisted candidates, while Northwestern has offered a chance to interview for a second time to waitlisted candidates.

Some schools (e.g. NYU) may only use interviews as part of the selection process for particular scholarships.

How should I prepare for a law school interview?

It is important to present yourself well by arriving on time (or early) and dressing business casual. If you need an interview outfit, The SuccessWorks Career Closet gives students with financial need free professional and business casual attire for interviews, career fairs and the workplace. The Goodman Community Center Career Closet also offers free professional attire to members of the Madison community. If you are appearing by phone or video, check out these Tips for Phone and Video Interviews to make sure your environment and connection are setup correctly. Your interviewer will be evaluating you to see if you are someone they would want to be around, and someone they would want representing their school.  A pleasant attitude and mature demeanor will be optimal.

You should come prepared with a few well thought out questions of your own that you’d like them to answer about the law school. In general you want these questions to be something that cannot be easily researched online.  They will expect you to have done your homework and researched the law school before the interview. You can find some ideas of what to ask law school representatives here.

Find out in what format your interview will be and who will be conducting the interview.  You may be interviewed in groups or 1 on 1, and you may be interviewed by a law school dean, an admissions representative, or an alumni of the school.

You won’t be able to predict every question that you will be asked in the interview, but you can check this list of interview questions that have been asked of candidates in recent years for ideas. It is almost certain that you will be asked why you want to go to law school, why you want to attend this law school, and to talk about your background and experience. It is always helpful to prepare a general elevator pitch about yourself so that it sounds fluid and not rehearsed. Successworks explains how to prepare your personal “pitch” for when you are asked a question like “Tell me about yourself”.

Interview follow-up

You should send your interviewer a concise, polite thank you note. If you don’t have your interviewer’s individual email address, you can send your thank you note to the email address of the general admissions office. Here are some suggestions if you are struggling with wording.