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3 Tips for How to Impress in Your Law School Interview

By George Khoury, Esq. on February 18, 2018 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

If you're asked to interview as part of your application to law school, don't stress too much over it, but also don't treat it like an interview for a summer job at a car wash. Dress professionally, appear well-groomed, and be ready to talk about yourself and what you bring to the table.

It won't hurt to do some research about your interviewer and the school either. If you can claim that the law school was named after one of your heroes, you may be able to score some school spirit points. However, if that's not the case for you, read on below for three tips on how to make the best impression possible at your law school interview.

Show Your Passions

Being passionate about the law is important, as is showing that you have the drive and dedication to succeed. Be ready to talk about examples outside of class work when you committed to something and followed through on it to completion. Whether that was a project for a school club, or something from your social, or even personal, life, all that matters is that the example reflects your ability to commit and follow through.

Protip: Using stories about your successes are a great way to show your interviewer what you bring to the table.

Keep It "Business Casual" Real

If you can maintain a friendly, open, back and forth conversation, you'll be viewed as more personable. And being personable and friendly can only help. Avoid being crass, crude, brash, or overly bold. Being a bit bold is good, but not so much as to jeopardize friendly appearances.

In one of those "all things being equal" situations, if the admissions had the choice between candidates whose only difference being that one was friendly while the other was neither friendly nor rude, the friendly person will probably win every time as a personable student body is simply better for everybody. The same holds true for employment interviews as well.

While being professional is important in the legal field, remember, when you're interviewing for anything, you're asking to join up with a group of people, so personality actually does matter (both yours and theirs). Simply put, schools and employers would rather have friendly, positive attitudes.

Know Thyself, Literally

Read the application you submitted over and over again. You need to know what you submitted, and be ready to discuss it. If your essay is about a deeply personal topic, you may need to be ready to confront those issues directly while keeping your composure.

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