HLS in Focus

I was asked at Wisconsin-Madison yesterday to talk more about admissions standards beyond the numbers. What is it that makes us accept one high-scoring applicant and not another? And what makes us accept some low-scoring applicants, too?

The applicants in question probably belong to one of two crucially important categories: (1) the applicant adds value to the class by virtue of who he/she is or from where he/she comes, or (2) the applicant adds value to the class because of what he or she DOES. The first category refers to some aspects of diversity (but not all): geographic diversity, “background” diversity (first-generation college student or raised in difficult circumstances), ethnic diversity, etc. The second category speaks to how prospective applicants use their time.

Our eyes light up when we see applicants who have used their time to make a difference in their organizations, communities, and schools. Our eyes light up when we see applicants who have been entrepreneurial—not in the narrow sense of starting a business, which could be great, but in the broader sense of thinking outside the box and truly creating something new. Harvard Law School is devoted to public service; we want to accept the applications of people who are going to add to that mission, not detract.

Think “director of the all-campus blood drive” or “founder of a literacy project that has taught 65 inner-city adults how to read” or “organizer of a summer program building a school in sub-Saharan Africa.” Usually this kind of work takes a commitment over time. You don’t just turn around one day and lead a trek to Africa. But it’s never too late to try….