Questions to Ask in a Law School Interview
Questions to ask in a law school interview, for the point near the end when the interviewer asks what you would like to know. They are grouped by subject: the interviewer and how they see the school, classes and clinics, where graduates work, scholarships and borrowing, student life and support, and what happens after the conversation. Each note says what the answer tells you, what to ask next, or who is best placed to answer: an admissions officer, a graduate or a current student. Nobody gets through a list this long in one sitting, so choose three or four that fit the person in front of you.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Interviewer
What sets this school apart from the others applicants usually compare it with?
Why ask it
The comparison is the useful part: any school can call itself rigorous and friendly, but only some can say what they do that the school two hours away does not. Listen for a trade-off, such as small sections bought with a shorter elective list. If the reply is all adjectives, ask what a visitor would notice within a week.
What kind of student does well here, and who tends to find it hard?
Why ask it
The first half tells you what the school rewards: speaking up in class, working alone, turning up to everything. The second half is easier to dodge, so a frank reply about who struggles is a sign you are getting a straight account. Hold the description up against how you worked in your own hardest semester.
What do you like most about this school?
Why ask it
Simple enough to ask anyone, and a good one to have ready if nerves empty your head. Notice what the person reaches for first: an admissions officer who talks about the students they admitted and a graduate who talks about one professor are describing different strengths. It also gets the interviewer onto something they enjoy, which does the last five minutes no harm.
From what I have told you about my interests, what here would you point me toward?
Why ask it
It makes the interviewer apply what they know to you in particular. A named professor, clinic or center is something you can follow up by email the same week. A shrug can mean the school is thin in your area, or only that this interviewer does not know that corner of it, so check with a second person before you conclude anything.
What surprises students most in their first semester here?
Why ask it
Staff and students often answer this differently, which is the reason to put it to both. The workload is the expected reply. How exams are graded, how early summer job applications start or how small the town feels in winter is the kind of detail you came for.
Is there anything in my application you would like me to explain while we are talking?
Why ask it
A weak semester, a gap between jobs or a second test score is easier to account for aloud than to leave for a committee to interpret. If the answer is no, take it and move on instead of volunteering weaknesses nobody raised. An interviewer who has not seen your file will say so, and then the question has cost you nothing.
Which parts of the school do you know best?
Why ask it
Asked early, it sorts the rest of your list. A graduate from ten years back can speak to the alumni network and the local job market but not to this year's clinic waitlist, while an admissions officer knows the scholarship rules and little about how a seminar feels from the back row.
How does this interview feed into the decision on my application?
Why ask it
The interviewer may write a report that goes into your file, or the conversation may be closer to recruiting, and the invitation does not always say which. Once you know, you can spend the remaining minutes either filling gaps in your application or finding out about the place. If it feels blunt across the table, put it to the admissions office by email beforehand.
What do you wish more applicants asked you?
Why ask it
It hands the interviewer the chance to name what they think matters and the brochure leaves out. Whatever they say, ask it back to them straight away. It is also the one to reach for when the conversation has already answered everything you prepared.
What made you choose this school when you were deciding?
Why ask it
For a graduate or a current student, who once stood where you are: ask what the other options were and what tipped it, whether money, a city or one conversation on a visit. Their reasons may not be yours, but the ones that still held after three years count for more than the ones that only mattered on decision day.
What did this school open up for you that you did not expect when you enrolled?
Why ask it
One for a graduate or a student interviewer. A specific answer, such as a professor who made a phone call or a clinic case that turned into a job, shows how the school works in practice. 'The community' on its own tells you much less, so ask for the story behind it.
What was your first job after graduating, and how much did the school have to do with getting it?
Why ask it
For an alumni interviewer. One career is only an anecdote, but it shows whether the career office, a professor or the graduate's own letters did the work. Ask what year they finished, because a story from a strong hiring year may not describe yours.
Is anything about to change here that would affect the class I would join?
Why ask it
A new dean, a redesigned first-year curriculum, a building project or a larger entering class would all land on your three years, and none of them is in last year's brochure. Admissions staff usually hear first. If nothing is planned, that is an answer too: what you see on a visit is roughly what you would get.
Looking back at first year, what would you do differently?
Why ask it
Save it for a student or a recent graduate, near the end. You get practical advice instead of a pitch: start outlining sooner, go to office hours before the midterm, drop a commitment that ate the fall. Listen for what they had to work out alone, since that is what the school leaves to you.
What would you change about this school if it were up to you?
Why ask it
Parking and the price of coffee are polite deflections, and you can let them pass. An answer about advising, the cost of the city or how late grades come out is a known weak spot, described by someone who likes the place anyway. A student will usually go further than staff can.
Academics
Which areas of law is the school strongest in?
Why ask it
Press for the evidence: several full-time professors who write in the field, a clinic, a journal, and graduates working in it. One well-known name is thinner than it sounds, because that person can go on leave or move. If your own interest is missing from the list, say so and see how candid the reply is.
How are clinic seats given out when more students apply than there are places?
Why ask it
A lottery, an application read by the supervising professor and priority by seniority each favor a different student. Name the clinic you have in mind and ask how many applied for it last year. The length of the clinic list on the website tells you nothing about your odds of a seat.
Apart from clinics, where do students do externships, and who arranges the placement?
Why ask it
An externship puts you in a judge's chambers, a prosecutor's office or a company legal department for credit. A school with standing placements can put you somewhere you have no connection to. One that leaves students to find their own favors people who already know a lawyer.
How large are first-year sections, and is any first-year class taught in a small group?
Why ask it
Many schools split the entering class into sections that share every course, so the section, not the whole year, is who you would get to know. Get the size of a section and of the smallest first-year class, often legal writing, since that is where a professor is most likely to learn your name.
How much cold calling is there in first-year classes?
Why ask it
Being questioned without warning in front of the room is what many applicants worry about most, and professors differ a lot in how much they do it. Some tell students ahead which day is theirs, which changes how you prepare the night before. A student can tell you what happens to someone who is not ready, and that is the part you need.
How easy is it to get time with professors outside class?
Why ask it
Posted office hours tell you little, so ask what goes on in them: whether first-years turn up, whether a professor will read a practice answer, whether an email gets a reply within the week. Recommendations and research jobs tend to start with a professor who knows you. A graduate can say who they still write to, which is a fair measure.
What academic support is there for first-year students, and who uses it?
Why ask it
Look for help that runs during the term: practice exams with comments, workshops on outlining, upper-year tutors attached to a course. Where it is offered only after a poor first set of grades, it arrives once the damage is on the transcript. The second half of the question matters because support that carries a stigma goes unused.
How much rides on first-year grades here?
Why ask it
The honest answer is a list: who gets onto a journal, which employers will interview you, whether a scholarship renews. A school that grades on a fixed curve and publishes a class rank hangs more on one set of exams than a school that does neither, so find out which this is. Admissions can give you the rules, and a student can tell you how they feel in practice.
How do students get onto law review, another journal or a moot court team?
Why ask it
Selection is usually some mix of first-year grades and a writing or oral competition, and the proportions decide who has a chance. A competition held straight after spring exams asks a lot of students with a job or a family, so get the dates. Some employers and judges look for these on a résumé, which is the reason to learn the rules before you need them.
How do students get research or teaching assistant work, and is it paid?
Why ask it
Working for a professor is one of the ordinary ways a student ends up with someone who can write a detailed recommendation. Posted openings with an application are open to everyone. Where professors simply ask the students they already know, the quiet ones miss out, and it helps to know that before your first semester.
How often is the course I care most about taught, and who teaches it?
Why ask it
Name the subject, whether that is immigration, tax or intellectual property. A catalog can list a course that runs every third year or depends on one visiting lecturer, so ask when it last ran and how many seats it had.
After first year, how much of the schedule is required and how much is mine to choose?
Why ask it
First year is largely set for you at most schools, and the difference between them shows up afterwards. A long list of required upper-level courses can make it hard to fit a clinic, an externship and the electives that brought you here into the same year. If the interviewer is a graduate, ask what they could not fit in.
Does the school offer concentrations or certificates, and what do students get from them?
Why ask it
A concentration can mean reserved seats in popular courses and an adviser in the field, or only a line on the transcript. Find out which it is here and how many required credits it ties up. Whether employers take any notice is one for a graduate working in that area.
Can law students take courses in other departments or add a joint degree, and how many do?
Why ask it
A joint degree adds cost and often a year, so the detail to get is how credits count toward each program and whether the two calendars line up. If almost nobody does it, find out whether that is lack of interest or lack of room in the schedule.
How are students taught to work with AI tools in research and drafting, and what do the rules allow?
Why ask it
Courts and employers are still settling their own positions on these tools, so nobody expects a finished policy. What you can learn is whether the required writing course covers them or only an elective does, and what the honor code says about using them on graded work. A student interviewer will know how the rule is applied day to day.
Is there a pro bono expectation here, and how do students meet it?
Why ask it
A graduation requirement with a set number of hours usually comes with someone whose job is finding placements, while encouragement alone leaves it to you. A few places also ask for pro bono hours before bar admission, so check the rule where you plan to practice and whether the school's program counts toward it.
Careers
Where do most graduates work after they finish, and in what kinds of jobs?
Why ask it
A lot of law schools send most of their graduates to employers nearby, so the map matters as much as the employment rate. Listen for the split between large and small firms, government, public interest work and clerkships, and set it against what you want. If the city you have in mind is far away, ask how many of last year's class went there.
How many of last year's graduates are in jobs that require a law license?
Why ask it
A headline employment rate can include jobs a graduate could have had without the degree. In the US, accredited law schools publish employment reports broken into categories, including positions the school itself pays for, so write down what you are told and compare it with the report afterwards. If the interviewer does not have the split, ask who in the career office does.
What share of graduates pass the bar exam on the first try, and how does the school prepare them?
Why ask it
Put the school's first-time rate beside the overall rate for the same exam in the same state, because a percentage on its own says little. On preparation, ask whether there is a course for credit in the final year, whether a commercial prep course is paid for, and who contacts students thought to be at risk. In the US, accredited schools publish their pass rates, so the figure can be checked afterwards.
Where do most graduates take the bar exam, and how do those who take it in another state do?
Why ask it
The first half tells you where the alumni are concentrated, which matters if that is not where you want to live. Bar exams and passing scores are set state by state, so a strong result at home does not settle the matter for a student heading elsewhere. If you expect to sit the exam somewhere else, ask whether the school's preparation is built around one state's version.
Which employers recruit on campus, and when does that process start?
Why ask it
Get a number and some names, then ask what share of the class finds a job that way, because a long employer list can still serve a small slice of students. Recruiting calendars differ by school and have not stood still, so ask for this year's dates. Where interviews fall early, one or two semesters of grades carry a great deal.
What do students usually do in their first summer, and does the school fund unpaid placements?
Why ask it
First-summer work is often unpaid: a judge's chambers, a legal aid office, a government agency. Whether summer funding goes to everyone who applies or is a competition, and how many weeks of rent it covers, decides who can afford to take those jobs.
How many career advisers are there, and how soon can a first-year student meet one?
Why ask it
Divide the student body by the number of advisers and you have a rough idea of how hard an appointment is to get. It also matters whether any of them practiced law, and in what field. An office that first meets students after grades come out leaves little time to plan the first summer.
How do students in the middle of the class find their first job?
Why ask it
Recruiting stories are usually about the top of the class. A good answer names channels: small-firm job fairs, state agencies, alumni referrals. 'They network' is not a channel, and you can say so politely by asking who makes the introductions.
How involved are alumni with current students?
Why ask it
Loyal alumni and useful alumni are not the same thing. Useful looks like a mentor assigned in first year, mock interviews before recruiting starts, or a stranger's email answered inside a week. If the interviewer is a graduate, ask when a student last wrote to them and what came of it.
What happens for graduates who are still looking for work after the bar exam?
Why ask it
You are finding out whether the career office keeps working with graduates, and for how long. A year of access to the job board is a different thing from an adviser who keeps phoning. It is also a fair test of how the school behaves when its numbers look worst.
Who helps students apply for judicial clerkships, and when does that start?
Why ask it
Clerkship applications depend on recommendations and on timing, and both are easy to miss without guidance. A faculty committee or a dedicated adviser suggests the school treats clerking as a route for many students. If the help is described only through one star student's story, ask how many applied last year and how many were placed.
Could you put me in touch with a recent graduate doing the kind of work I want?
Why ask it
Say what the work is: public defense, a mid-sized firm, an in-house role. A school that produces two names within a week has graduates in that field and knows where they are. One that points to a single graduate from years back is telling you something too.
Money
If I am offered a scholarship, what would I have to do to keep it?
Why ask it
The condition is usually a grade point average or a class standing. Where grades are curved, a set share of the class finishes below the middle however hard everyone works, so a requirement near the median will cost some holders their award. The number to ask for is what proportion of holders kept theirs last year.
How are merit scholarships decided, and is there anything further I need to submit?
Why ask it
The award may arrive with the admission letter, or it may follow a separate application, an essay or a later round. A form you did not know about is an avoidable way to miss money, and admissions staff can list every one of them in a minute.
Is there a process for asking the school to look again at a scholarship offer?
Why ask it
You are asking how it works, not opening a negotiation: whether there is a reconsideration form, what the deadline is, and whether other schools' offers are taken into account. Keep any figure out of the interview. That conversation belongs after you hold an offer, and usually with a different person.
Does a scholarship stay at a fixed amount if tuition goes up?
Why ask it
A fixed sum covers a smaller share each year tuition rises, while an award set as a percentage keeps pace. Find out which kind this school gives, and check that the award letter says the same thing the interviewer did.
Are there scholarships a student can earn after first year?
Why ask it
Money held back for upper-year awards, whether for grades, service or named funds, changes what the second and third years are likely to cost. If everything is given at admission, the offer in your hand is the whole picture and you can plan on it.
Is there a loan repayment assistance program for graduates in public interest jobs, and who qualifies?
Why ask it
These programs differ in their salary ceilings, in which employers count, and in whether the help is a grant or a loan forgiven over time. How many graduates are receiving it now says more than the fact that the program exists. Government loan forgiveness is a separate thing with its own rules, which change, so check those at the source.
Will someone in financial aid go through a borrowing plan with me before I commit?
Why ask it
You want a named person and an appointment, not a link to a calculator. Loan types and limits change, so the plan should use what applies in the year you would enroll, and it should set repayment against the salaries graduates of this school report instead of a national average.
Is there emergency funding if something goes wrong in the middle of a year?
Why ask it
A broken laptop before exams or an unplanned trip home can tip a tight budget over. The two things to pin down are whether the fund is a grant or a short-term loan, and how many days it has taken students to receive money in the past.
Student life
Do students here tend to compete with each other or work together?
Why ask it
Nobody answers 'cut-throat', so ask for evidence instead: whether study groups form across friend groups, whether upper-year students pass down outlines, what happens to the notes when someone is out for a week with flu. Grading on a curve makes classmates rivals on paper, and a school either works against that or does not. Trust a student's examples over anyone's adjectives.
What does a typical week of first year look like, in class and outside it?
Why ask it
Best asked of a student, who can give hours instead of impressions: time in class, time reading, and whether Saturday is a working day. Ask what they dropped to make it fit and what they kept. If the answer leaves no room for whatever keeps you steady, be it a sport, a faith community or a child's bedtime, raise that next.
Which student organizations are most active, and how soon can a first-year join?
Why ask it
Active means events on the calendar this month and a budget, not a name on a web page. Ask about the one you would join, and whether first-years can hold a role or only attend.
What is it like to live here as a law student, and where do most people live?
Why ask it
Three years is long enough that the place matters apart from the school. Ask about rent near campus, whether a car is needed, and what students do on a free Sunday. If you would be moving with a partner or a family, ask how others in that position have managed.
What counseling and wellbeing support do law students have?
Why ask it
Find out whether counseling sits inside the law school or with the wider university, how long a first appointment takes in exam season, and whether there is a charge. Whether students use it counts as much as whether it exists, and a current student is the one who knows. Put in general terms, it is an ordinary thing to ask about a demanding course.
How diverse are the students and the faculty, and what does the school do so that everyone feels they belong?
Why ask it
The published class profile gives percentages, so use the interview for what numbers cannot show: whether student groups have funding and a faculty adviser, who teaches the first-year courses, and whether students who felt out of place stayed. A specific program or a named person is a better sign than a statement of values. Ask whether you could talk to a student whose background is close to yours.
What does orientation cover, and is there anything worth doing the summer before?
Why ask it
There may be an early program on reading cases and writing exam answers, sometimes by invitation only, and it is fair to ask who gets invited. On summer reading, a student will tell you whether the suggested list helped or whether the honest advice is to rest.
What support exists for students who are the first in their family to study law?
Why ask it
Much of what helps in law school is passed along informally: what an outline is, when to apply for summer jobs, how to approach a professor. A structured answer names a program, a mentor scheme or a student group with a budget. 'Our doors are always open' means it depends on you finding the right person.
How many students come straight from college, and how many worked first?
Why ask it
The mix changes the classroom and the social life around it. If you are thirty with a career behind you, or twenty-two with none, it is worth knowing whether you would be typical or one of a few. The admissions office has the figure, and a student can tell you whether the two groups mix.
Is each first-year student given a faculty adviser or an upper-year mentor, and how often do they meet?
Why ask it
An assignment on paper and a relationship are different things. The useful detail is whether meetings are scheduled or left to the student to request, because the students who most need advice are often the least likely to go looking for it. A student interviewer can tell you whether they ever met theirs.
How do exam accommodations work, and how early does a student need to apply?
Why ask it
Documentation and approval can take weeks, so the time to ask is well before the first set of exams. Accommodations on the bar exam are decided separately by the bar authorities, and some schools help students with that application as well. Nothing obliges you to say why you want to know.
How does the first-year schedule work for students with children or a long commute?
Why ask it
The details that matter are whether first-year class times are assigned or chosen, and how late required events run. A school with many students in your position will have an answer ready. One without will improvise, which tells you what your first month would be like.
What happens if a student needs to take a leave of absence for health or family reasons?
Why ask it
Three things can be lost in a leave: the seat, the scholarship and your place in the class. Find out how long each is held and how grades are treated on return, since rejoining with a different class year can change your standing. This is a policy question, so an email to the dean of students' office works as well as the interview.
Who can a student talk to in confidence about the bar's character and fitness review?
Why ask it
Bar admission usually involves a review of an applicant's record, and what has to be disclosed differs by state. You do not need to raise your own history in an interview: it is enough to learn that a dean or adviser takes these questions early. For the rules themselves, go to the bar authority in the state where you plan to practice.
Next steps
When should I expect a decision after today, and how will it arrive?
Why ask it
With rolling admissions the answer can be a few weeks, while a school that releases decisions in batches may hold every file until a set date. Knowing which saves you from reading silence as bad news, and tells you when a polite follow-up is reasonable.
Is there anything I could send after today that would help my file?
Why ask it
New grades, a promotion or a changed test score are the usual candidates. An office may add updates to the file or may stop reading once the interview report is in, and only they can tell you which. If the answer is no, a short thank-you note is all that is called for.
If I am placed on the waitlist, what would the school like to hear from me, and how often?
Why ask it
A letter of continued interest and news of fresh grades are welcome in one office and read as pressure in another. Asking now means you follow this school's preference instead of a forum's.
Can admitted students sit in on a class or talk to a current student before the deposit is due?
Why ask it
An hour in a first-year class shows you the teaching style better than any description. If the office can only offer a recorded panel, ask for one student's email address instead.
When admitted students choose another school, what reason do they give most often?
Why ask it
Best put to admissions staff, who are the ones likely to have asked the people who turned them down. An honest answer names the school's weak spot, whether cost, location or scholarship size, and you can weigh it against what matters to you. It is a bold question, so keep it for a conversation that has gone well.
What is the deposit deadline, and can it move if I am still waiting on another school or an aid offer?
Why ask it
Deposits are often non-refundable, and deadlines at different schools rarely line up. Learn who grants extensions and write to that person well before you are a week from the date.
Can an admitted student defer for a year, and would a scholarship carry over?
Why ask it
Policies run from an automatic yes to case by case with a reason required. The scholarship is the part people forget: a deferred seat with the award withdrawn is a different offer.
Making a Law School Interview Useful
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Know what kind of interview this is
Evaluative or informational
Some law school interviews are assessed and factor into the decision; others are recruitment conversations after a likely admission. Ask the admissions office which this is, because it changes how much of the time is yours.
Who is across the table
An admissions officer can answer process and scholarship questions precisely. A graduate can speak to outcomes and the local market. A student can tell you what the year feels like from the inside. If you are not sure which you have, the question about which parts of the school they know best sorts it out in a sentence.
Have three questions, not twelve
The time left for your questions is usually short, so a list this long is for choosing from. Pick one about academics, one about careers, and one about money or student life, and keep one from Next steps for the end.
Match the group to the person
The Interviewer and Next steps questions work with anyone. Take Academics and Student life to a student or a professor, Careers to a graduate or the career office, and Money to admissions or financial aid staff. Anything with a factual answer, such as a deadline or a scholarship condition, can also go in an email afterwards, where the reply is in writing.
What you are likely to be asked
The usual ground
- Why law, and why now instead of two years ago or two years from now.
- Why this school in particular, with reasons that would not fit the school down the road.
- A walk through your résumé, including any gap or change of direction.
- A time you disagreed with someone, handled a setback or changed your mind.
- What you expect to do with the degree, held loosely enough to be believable.
- Whether you have any questions, which is where this list comes in.
Let your answers set up your questions
If you said you want to do housing work, ask about the housing clinic and who gets a seat in it. A question that follows from something you said earlier shows you were in a conversation, and it gets a more specific answer than one read from a list.
If the interview is a recording
Some schools use recorded video answers with nobody on the other end. There is no one to ask, so take your questions to an admissions event, a student ambassador or an email to the office.
Ask for numbers you can check
- In the US, accredited law schools publish employment outcomes by category. Ask the school for its own breakdown and compare the two afterwards.
- Ask what proportion of conditional scholarship holders kept the award last year, and where that figure is published.
- Ask how many students applied last year for the clinic you want, and how many got a seat.
- Ask whether first-year grades are curved and whether a class rank is published. Both have yes or no answers.
- Ask how many graduates are receiving loan repayment assistance now, and how many first-summer funding applications were turned down.
- Where a claim is vague, ask for the year it refers to. A figure from a strong hiring year can stay in circulation long after it stopped being typical.
Common mistakes
Asking about rankings
An interviewer has little useful to say about a ranking, and the question can read as though rank is your only criterion. Ask about outcomes in the region you want to work in instead.
Asking what is on the website
Course catalogs, application deadlines, and clinic lists are published. Ask about access, capacity, and outcomes, which are not.
Only asking about prestige
Scholarship conditions, clinic access and academic support can shape your three years as much as reputation does, and they are much easier to get straight answers about.
Not asking a student anything
If a current student is present at any point during the visit, they can tell you things nobody on staff will. Save your least polished questions for them.
Negotiating in the interview
Asking how scholarship reconsideration works is fine. Naming another school's offer or a figure you want is not, since the interviewer usually cannot act on it and it changes the tone of the conversation. Save it for after you hold an offer.
Before you decide
Steps
- 1Write down the scholarship conditions exactly as stated and ask for them in writing.
- 2Compare the employment breakdown you were given against the school's published report.
- 3Note whether clinic access was described as open to everyone or competitive.
- 4Add estimated rent to tuition and compare schools on that total rather than on tuition alone.
- 5Note anything a student said that contradicted the official account, and ask a second student about it.
- 6Put the decision date and the deposit deadline you were given in your calendar, and hold any follow-up until the first has passed.