Top Law Schools

Dear TLS readers,

Now that the 2009/2010 admission cycle is coming to a close, we will be reaching out to many more law school Deans over the summer for in-depth interviews.

I'm pleased to announce that we'll be kicking things off with an interview with Associate Dean Asha Rangappa of Yale Law School. Reader input is always appreciated, so please post any questions you might have for Dean Asha.

Thanks all!

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Is the LSN graph (http://yale.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats) representative of the whole application class?

What would you say to 1Ls who want to transfer to Yale but are worried that their subpar UGPA and LSAT might hold them back?

When does she have time to sleep? The amount of time she spends kicking life's ass can't be conducive to a regular sleep schedule.

Can you comment upon how YLS has been affected by the recession? Specifically, if you can address the outcomes observed by 2Ls at OCI and how Career Services is forecasting leading into the coming fall.

Ask her if she wants to post on the USS SpellCheck.

I second the LSN question: how representative is it?

Another question: when interpreting graduate degrees, is there anything in particular she looks for? How important are graduate degrees to YLS admissions specifically?

Third question: Should I, a consultant, go to YLS?

How is YLS striving to improve, or is it waiting for everyone else to catch up first?

februaryftw wrote:Should I, a consultant, go to YLS?

This

How much consideration is given to non URM diversity factors?

What advice can she share with keeping a good work/life balance in law school and in the profession?
If there is a stated interest in PI work on the application, but a lack of substantial involvement in PI does this make the applicant come off as disingenuous?
How does she feel about applicants coming straight out of UG vs. getting work experience? Will the former hurt an applicant?

Knockglock wrote: If there is a stated interest in PI work on the application, but a lack of substantial involvement in PI does this make the applicant come off as disingenuous?

Yes.

Knockglock wrote:What advice can she share with keeping a good work/life balance in law school and in the profession?

If there is a stated interest in PI work on the application, but a lack of substantial involvement in PI does this make the applicant come off as disingenuous?

+1

Thank you for securing such an awesome interview. Could you ask some transfer specific questions? While there is obviously no "typical" profile, what might a successful transfer applicant's profile look like? Do transfer students have the ability to join journals?

Looking forward to the interview.

when is this going to be posted?

What did she think of her time in the FBI? Would she recommend that career path for other upcoming JD's? Is Law Review/Class Rank as important to the FBI for hiring applicants?

How about if they look at different majors differently in the app process?

It has been suggested by some that the undergraduate institution you attended actually does matter in gaining admission to Yale.

That is, some people, even with very high numbers, will be at a tremendous disadvantage because they did not attend a more competitive undergrad (such as Princeton, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Williams, Pomona, etc.) but instead a lesser known state school or an unheard of liberal-arts institution.

At Harvard, for example, people from several undergraduate institutions seem to consistently gain admission year by year so long as their numbers are highly competitive, but at Yale this does not appear to be the case. Can you shed any light on this or offer your view on this suggestion? Is this only a myth or is there truth to this?

Would you considering taking the lead in boycotting the US News and World Report solicitations for purposes of ranking?

or

Why does Yale Law specifically, report to USNWR, knowing that their methods are highly flawed and unethical? Or do you know?

You Gotta Have Faith wrote:It has been suggested by some that the undergraduate institution you attended actually does matter in gaining admission to Yale.

That is, some people, even with very high numbers, will be at a tremendous disadvantage because they did not attend a more competitive undergrad (such as Princeton, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Williams, Pomona, etc.) but instead a lesser known state school or an unheard of liberal-arts institution.

At Harvard, for example, people from several undergraduate institutions seem to consistently gain admission year by year so long as their numbers are highly competitive, but at Yale this does not appear to be the case. Can you shed any light on this or offer your view on this suggestion? Is this only a myth or is there truth to this?

Seconded. I really want to hear an answer on this one. Anybody have any unofficial insight?

They say that transfers to Harvard were often competitive applicants to Harvard the first time around (many having been waitlisted). Considering that most T14 or even T10 applicants were not competitive candidates to Yale the first time around, will Yale consider them as transfers?

Thanks for the excellent questions, everyone. Keep 'em coming! Ken will submit the final round of questions to Dean Asha in a few days.

Would you ever be willing to regularly post openly on TLS? It has raised the vast majorities of people's opinion of Illinois and Dean Pless on TLS.

Unitas wrote:Would you ever be willing to regularly post openly on TLS?

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