PENN LAW and DUKE LAW Dean interviews == taking questions! Forum

[Tangerine Gleam]

I'm pleased to announce that Dean Renee Post of Penn Law and Dean Bill Hoye of Duke Law have both granted interviews with TLS!

These interviews will be taking place next week, so please post any questions you may have for Dean Hoye or Dean Post about admissions, academics, or student life at Duke or Penn. Ken will be taking the best user suggestions and incorporating them into his own questions.

General questions for both Deans of Admission are of course welcome; however, if your inquiry is specific, please specify which Dean/school you are addressing. Thanks!

[holydonkey]

employment stats. # of firms signing up for OCI increasing? How much? How many students are working in school sponsored programs after finishing their degree? If you are an applicant considering entering law school next year and have the option to wait a year, should you apply for Fall 2011 or wait for Fall 2012? What are graduating students below median doing after leaving school? Other than school sponsored programs and OCI, what is your OCS office doing to find students jobs? If a student is unable to find a job, how do you help them with loan repayment?

[Tangerine Gleam]

Bada boom. Thanks for the great questions, Holy Donkey.

Official TLS term of endearment recommendation: Blessed Ass.

[peeker82]

To Dean Bill Hoye of Duke Law,

What is the difference between the Priority Reserve List and the Waitlist at Duke? The Priority Reserve letter says that the committee looks at the Priority Reserve list first. Does this mean that Priority Reserve students generally get offers before Waitlisted candidates? Given the low number of offers this late in the game, does this leave any chance for anyone in the Waitlist? Also, can you offer any estimates on how large the Priority Reserve list is in comparison to the Waitlist?

Thanks!

[holydonkey]

Bada boom. Thanks for the great questions, Holy Donkey.

Official TLS term of endearment recommendation: Blessed Ass.

Ty Ty.
Also for Penn: All I got for my application fee was a robotic status checker ding. Applicants deserve at the very least a nice letter letting us know that this is the most competitive year ever and informing us that we shouldn't feel bad about getting dinged because we rock in so many other ways. Why won't you validate me???

[ptacs72]

Dean Post:

can you talk more about the waitlist? what can students do to get off of the waitlist and into the class? What are you looking for in waitlisted applications that you didn't see in the first round? at this point, is it even worth it to add to the application, or are you just trying to replace anyone who drops out of the class? can you comment your comment that [sometimes you waitlist people just so they can say they weren't rejected from Penn], does this still happen?

[sumus romani]

You asked for it :

The shift in reporting employment statistics from "median in class" to "median in firms", "median in public interest", etc. is extremely disturbing and the shift undermines prospective students making informed decisions about law school. I take it that the median in class is no longer 160 at your school. Is this true? Also, in effect, those unemployed are easily left out of the statistics after this recent switch. What justifies your switch in reporting employment statistics?

[HyeMart]

thoughts on how a splitter straight out of undergrad can improve his chances

[tru]

.

[PlugInBaby]

Dean Post:

Penn has a reputation to be very receptive to LGBT applicants. Does having an LGBT background or aspirations for LGBT advocacy improve chances for admission by any amount?

[Dany]

Penn: Maybe a "what not to do" for their supplemental essays? I'm not sure if they'll be the same this fall, but hearing a little bit about what they do and, more importantly in my opinion, don't want to see in the 5-year plan, art/literature, etc., would be great! Also, should someone strongly interested in Penn do more than one of these essays? How many is overkill?

Thanks for getting all of this together!

[MURPH]

Would someone who is riding out the waitlist at Penn or Duke have a better chance if s/he reapplied at the very beginning of next cycle? Would that candidate most likely just end up on the waitlist again?

[anonym1202]

I am currently on the waitlists for both Penn and Duke. I have sent updates and received no response. What is the likelihood of gaining admission or how can we improve chances?

Why are your institutions so secretive about the waitlists ...I feel that I have no closure, no response...and I have three more months of summer ahead filled with doubt and "what if's" and cannot make any plans.

[D Brooks]

Why'd you both YP me? I wrote good Why essays.

[tru]

.

[D Brooks]

I am currently on the waitlists for both Penn and Duke. I have sent updates and received no response. What is the likelihood of gaining admission or how can we improve chances?

Why are your institutions so secretive about the waitlists ...I feel that I have no closure, no response...and I have three more months of summer ahead filled with doubt and "what if's" and cannot make any plans.

Ughh...

Treat waitlists like rejections and make plans accordingly. Law schools have nothing but contempt for the students. Your worries are last of their worries. HTH

TITCR.

[upwardtrend]

when will the interview transcripts be availible?

[Core]

when will the interview transcripts be availible?

Bumping this question.
Thanks for doing the interview!

[tru]

.

[Tangerine Gleam]

Ken sent the questions off last week -- we'll hopefully have replies posted by the end of the month.

[paralegal]

When does Duke Law expect to be fully accredited by the ABA?

Called Duke Law...... they said that Duke Law is fully accredited by the ABA...

Called the ABA..... they said that Duke Law is fully accredited by the ABA...

Phone number for the ABA: (312) 988-5522

[Reedie]

Is this still happening?

[myrockyourrock911]

Is this still happening?

+1

[lawls]

Is this still happening?

+1

+1. And what happened to the Harvard/Yale interviews + our questions, did they ever happen?

[let/them/eat/cake]

thoughts on how a splitter straight out of undergrad can improve his chances

The bums lost. My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir.