HLS in Focus

Wanted to flag our recently re-launched website.  In addition to our new streamlined navigation, we’ve also added some great new content.  For instance, check out these videos on Careers in Academia, International Law at HLS, and Public Interest.  We’ve also added spotlights on many of our talented faculty and students and clear application checklists and process explanations for those of you still finishing up your application or just trying to figure out what’s going on. 

Check it out when you get a chance and let us know what you think. 

Have a great weekend!

Josh

Quick note – I’m out of the country most of this week.  As such we’ll have a short hiatus on the blog.  We’ll be back up and running first thing Monday – enjoy the HLS Admissions Blog version of a long weekend!

One thing I was just sure would be unpleasant about law school was the Socratic method—the tradition of professors teaching class by firing questions at students who haven’t volunteered. By the time I arrived at Harvard, I had received both a lot of teasing from family and friends about The Paper Chase and a lot of assurances from people at Harvard that it was going to be nothing like that. I believed the school and ignored my friends—in fact, I deliberately boycotted The Paper Chase to avoid scaring myself unnecessarily—but I still thought being personally answerable for everything I read each day couldn’t possibly be any fun.  

Three semesters later, though, I can honestly say that Socratic “cold-calling” defined my 1L experience much less than I expected. For one thing, not many of my professors applied it strictly. Some used systems to make it more predictable who they will call: two set up “panels,” meaning segments of the class eligible to be called on certain days of the week, and one worked backward through the alphabet so each student could see his or her time coming. Three others claimed to cold-call, but took so many volunteers that the real thing became a rarity.  

Only my Torts professor was Socratic in all the ways you’d expect: rarely lecturing, cold-calling regularly and sometimes on the same one or two people for entire class periods, using students’ last names, the whole bit. This was intimidating for a while, but only until I realized that correct recitations of facts were hardly the goal. Once the first few people answered wrongly and nothing bad happened at all, I realized the professor’s aim was not to embarrass us, or even really to check our reading comprehension, but to force us to explore issues together—sometimes by sheer process of elimination, making wrong answers as useful to the group as right ones.  

Yes, this system had me reading Ploof v. Putnam and Vosburg v. Putney with a lot more care, but it was out of a positive desire to impress far more than a negative fear of humiliation. Of course, it helped that the professor was funny and entertaining, genuinely enthusiastic, and clearly a reigning expert in the field. So—although I never would have believed it at one time—the most Socratic class I had also turned out to be the most fun. And when my section convened at the end of the first semester to watch The Paper Chase with our Contracts professor, some of the loudest laughter at the classroom scenes came from me.

- Lea

One of the reasons to make friends during your first year in law school with 2Ls and 3Ls is the benefit of an early heads up.   Well, here’s an early heads up to all of you who are thinking about coming to law school (any law school) next year: there’s an ethics test at the end.  It’s called the MPRE, and it’s coming up on Saturday.  Who’s excited?  I’ll tell you who—all the 3Ls, only not so much for the exam as much as the terrific excuse for a social get-together afterward.  Oh, poor us, we have to take the MPRE.  We’ll deserve a break after it’s all over.  In fact, I predict we’ll deserve several breaks. 

The test is a two-hour multiple choice.  It’s not hard, but conventional wisdom says you do have to be prepared.  The parts I like the best are the ones about who you can and can’t give legal advice to.  You will discover this next year, but starting approximately one week into law school, anyone you know who’s not a lawyer or a law student themselves—relatives, college roommates, high school friends, whatever—will present you with legal quandaries from their lives and ask for your opinion.  The bad news is you will have no idea what the answers to any of their questions are.  The good news is it’s illegal to practice law without a license!  So, you can just tell them that giving your opinion might constitute a false expectation of competent legal representation and/or a false expectation of an invocation of the attorney-client privilege, so for their protection, you’d prefer not to comment.  They will instantly understand you and will not think this is strange at all. 

So we’ve all been studying the rules for giving legal advice and all the other components of professional responsibility for the last few days.  As it turns out, planning the celebration for after the test is more fun than studying for test itself (who would have guessed?).  As a result, we already have an elaborately orchestrated scheme that commences directly after the test is over, starting with a matinee showing of the new Chris Rock movie, a stop by the official law school post-MPRE celebration for free drinks at a bar, and then on to some show in Boston one of my friends found that’s apparently a disco-themed Shakespeare play combined with a dance club.  I’m not clear about whether the play is in the middle of a dance club, or whether the theater turns into a dance club after the play is over, but either way, I’m sure it’s obvious how a disco-themed Shakespearian dance club is the proper celebration for the completion of an ethics test. 

Failing the MPRE is kind of embarrassing, both because it’s not considered particularly difficult and because it’s an ethics test, and it’s never good to flunk an ethics test.  So my main challenge this week is to keep my eyes on the prize instead of investigating an after-hours coffee place I heard about near the disco Shakespeare theater.  Having said that, you never know when a fourth break idea will come in handy.  MPRE advice applies to the celebrations, too—it’s best to be prepared.   

- Erin

Students often ask what we’re looking for in an applicant, beyond a history of strong academic performance.  While there are many other factors, one that often gets overlooked or minimized in the minds of applicants is a demonstrated history of leadership and impact.  Intellectual ability is obviously a key factor in admissions here, but we’re very fortunate to receive applications from more talented students than we can possibly fit in an entering class.  One thing that really sets applicants apart is what they’ve done with their time outside the classroom or how they’ve built upon their academic work.

Now this isn’t something that you can start to think about around the time you’re starting to fill out your law school applications.  It’s more about how you’ve spent the last few years.  Have you dedicated yourself to an extracurricular or cause?  Have you taken on a leadership role in a group or job that has allowed you to create significant change or have a meaningful impact?  There’s no one right answer here – the key is to use your application to let us know about situations where you’ve come in and changed things for the better. 

A big part of being at HLS is immersing yourself in a community of people who are dedicated to change and impact across a variety of fields.  A great way to convince us that you’ll be a positive addition to this community is to explain how you’re already doing this – I can’t wait to read about it. 

- Josh

I have noticed from talking to my law school minded friends and from reading this blog that the next law school admissions cycle is in full swing. With this comes the one-two punch of meticulous application preparation followed by the seemingly endless wait to hear back from the various schools people have applied to.

I know that it can be easy to feel that you are somehow behind in the process, or that your results aren’t matching up with those of others. I figured that being a newly minted 1L, I am not that far removed from the process, and it might be helpful to talk about my experiences with the dreaded law school admissions cycle.

My trip to Harvard Law was pretty non-traditional. By May, I was still on the wait-list at HLS and had subsequently made arrangements to go to a different law school. I was quick to set up my housing and financial aid with that school because I knew that I was going to be be out of the country all summer doing volunteer work in South Africa. I left for my summer abroad in early June, assuming that there was little to no chance I was going to make it off the waitlist so late in the admissions game.

I arrived back in the US in late July and almost immediately received an email asking if I was still interested in a spot in the entering class at HLS. To put this in context, I had been in the country for less than a day and I was planning on leaving my home in less than a week to go to a different law school. Even if I were able to prepare for the phone interview, I would still need to divert all of my energies to going to a new law school, essentially accomplishing in a couple days the preparations that every other 1L had all summer to arrange. However, HLS was my dream school, and if I didn’t at least try to get in I would always wonder if I could have. I replied to the email and arranged to take my phone interview the following Monday.

I’m going to let you guys in on a secret about the HLS phone interviews. After your interview, you will feel that your performance was anywhere from “meh” to “terrible”. Personally, mine probably leaned towards terrible. I had planned on spending most of the time talking about my experiences that summer in South Africa. My rationale was that my application talked in detail about the things I had done while an undergraduate and my summer was something new that would add color to my application. However, when I got on the phone I think interview jitters seized me and I only spent about a minute talking about my summer before delving into the activities I had done in college. Every one of my answers seemed like an unhelpful rehash of things from my application. At the end, I was pretty certain that in an attempt to sound interested in the school (which I was) I asked too many questions and I came off as poorly researched about the school (which I wasn’t). When my mother called me that afternoon to ask how the interview went, I assured her that she didn’t need to worry about adding crimson to her wardrobe any time soon.

Assuming that whoever is reading this is aware of what website they are on, you probably also know how this story ends. The next morning I got a phone call offering me a spot in the entering class at HLS. In my excitement, I pumped my fists in the air so hard that I broke a ceiling tile in my basement.

I thought my story might be helpful for any potential applicants out there to hear. I know that it’s hard sometimes, but it is important not to stress about the process too much. I remember agonizing over what I was going to say in my phone interview, only to do something completely different in the actual interview. If you are relaxed and talk about yourself and your accomplishments honestly and openly, you will be fine. It is also important not to get freaked out if your application results aren’t matching up with the results you are hearing about from other people. I had heard all the message board chatter about how not getting off the waitlist by Date X was the death knell for my application. I also had a lot of friends and friends of friends that were getting into their dream schools (including HLS) while my application results were just trickling in. It’s easy to get discouraged with all of the activity going on around these applications. It is important to stay positive about your chances, because in the end you will almost certainly end up in a school that is a good fit for you.

- Anit

Got a great question at an info session the other day: why does it take us as long as it does to review your application? 

First off, we don’t have any shortcuts or thresholds.  We’ve found that there’s no substitute for a complete reading of your application including your transcript, recommendations, personal statement, resume, and application questions.  We only evaluate candidates once we’ve reviewed their entire file – this takes longer but we think it helps us build a better class. 

Further, no one individual’s opinion holds sway – both our admissions officers and our faculty admissions committee are highly involved in reading applications.  Each application has multiple readers – again, this takes a bit longer, but we think its worth it. 

So while we want to get you a decision as quickly as possible, we also want to make sure we’re giving your application the consideration it deserves.   Hang in there and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. 

Have a great weekend!

Josh

As promised, the second half of our top ten tips for applying to and choosing a law school:

6. Personal statement (what it should be):

First, your personal statement is a writing sample.  It should be well written and free of grammatical errors.  It is also your chance to tell us more about you in a way that is not reflected in the other elements of your application.  Let us know how your broad range of experiences, coursework, and extracurriculars fit together and suggest law school is the right next step.  Let your personality and writing style shine through and tell us what we should know about you.

7. Personal statement (what it should not be):

Because everyone is different, we do not suggest the use of  “successful admissions essays” type books.  Typically those essays were successful because they were a good fit for a particular applicant, in the context of their overall application.  Squeezing your experience and background into someone else’s structure is a bad idea – in addition to this tactic being easy to recognize, it also keeps you from figuring out how to best tell your story. 

Your personal statement should also not be a resume in prose.  We’ve seen what you have done; this is your opportunity to tell us how that experience changed you, how you were affected, how you grew, or what you learned.

8. Take time off (if you want):

If there is nothing else on the planet that you would rather do than go to law school right after you graduate, you may skip to #9; if you are even thinking about taking time off, read on.  Law school is a pretty serious commitment of your time, energy and money.  You’ll go to law school for three years and then you will work for 40-50 years.  We encourage you to get experience, travel and make sure that you want to go before applying.  This is the perfect time in your life to experience something different, explore your options and get ready for your next step.

9. Once admitted, visit schools: 

Most law schools, including HLS, will have programs for admitted students to visit the campus.  Take advantage of those opportunities to meet current students, faculty, and your potential future classmates.  Websites and pictures can provide a sense of a law school, but you’ll get a much better idea for the feeling of a school if you’re able to visit campus.

10. Be active on the waitlist

If you find yourself on the waitlist, you should update your file with fall or spring semester grades if you are still in school.  You should remove yourself from the waitlist if you have made plans to attend another law school.  If you are not admitted to your top choice and your interest in attending remains through your first year at another law school, consider applying as a transfer applicant.

Welcome to the first in our series of Friday postings about the application and admissions process.  Each Friday, I’ll be posting updates on our process, interesting stories from this admissions cycle, and the occasional application pointer. 

Recently, I was asked to put together a “Top Ten” list of application tips for a student conference on the law school application process.  Since the tips are applicable to all of you as well, I figured I’d share some:

1. Start early and plan ahead

Take time to put together a well-crafted, thoughtful application.  Create a calendar of deadlines and all the application steps and work backwards to build a schedule. At HLS, and many other schools with rolling admissions, your chances will be better if you apply early.

2. Put your best foot forward

The most compelling applicants have a good sense of why they want to come to law school and can often cite specific experiences that they’ve had that make this move a logical next step.  Spend some time thinking about what you want to convey and how you can use all of your application materials together to get this message across.  It is OK if you are not really sure exactly what type of law you want to practice, but you should have a sensible reason for pursuing a law degree.

3. Use addenda wisely

Many students have something on their application that might raise a question for the reader.  Examples include large gaps of unaccounted for time, a “withdrawn” grade on a transcript, or multiple, widely varying LSAT scores.  The best way to handle any issue that might raise a red flag is to address it: simply, directly, and honestly.  A short addendum can go a long way in alleviating a reader’s concerns.  Keep in mind that while addenda are useful, you should focus your efforts on making your case within the contours of the required application. 

4. Choose the right recommenders

When choosing recommenders, be sure to pick people who know you well, not just who gave you an “A” in their course or a good performance review at work.  The key to a good recommendation is a recommender who can offer deep insight into who you are and what you can contribute, often by referencing specific examples.  Finding someone who knows you well, and reminding them of your interactions, often results in the most effective endorsement of your candidacy. 

5. Proofread, Proofread, Proofread

Your application is your best shot to make a good impression on the admissions office.  Given that, readers will assume that your application is your best work.  Any typos or spelling or grammatical errors suggest that either you’re not capable of producing error-free work or that you didn’t care enough to do it in this instance.  Neither impression is helpful to your chances for admission.  

Have a great weekend!  See you next Friday…

Just got back from the student activities fair.  Have to say I was completely blown away by the level of student-driven activity going on at HLS.  All told, over 90 organizations had booths at the fair.  The Ropes-Gray room in Pound Hall was absolutely packed with students. 

While I can’t say I had a chance to speak to every student group, I would be willing to guess that every HLS student must be able to find at least one organization that appeals to their interests.  In fact, I learned that while the process for starting a student organization is quite straightforward, the biggest challenge is actually trying to come up with something that isn’t already being done! 

For a sense of what student organizations are doing at HLS, check out this page: http://www.law.harvard.edu/current/orgs/index.html