DOJ Honors Program Forum

[kpettrey]

My Avue application status has also switched from "Finalist" to a generic statement about application deadlines. I have not received an offer or a rejection e-mail yet.

[Anonymous User]

My Avue application status has also switched from "Finalist" to a generic statement about application deadlines. I have not received an offer or a rejection e-mail yet.

Are you also waiting for EOIR? I wish someone would just tell us something.

[Anonymous User]

Apparently the application status issue is an avue glitch.

[Anonymous User]

That was me asking, lol. I was convinced my computer just ate my application, as it did many times during OGIs.

There's also an update saying that hiring for EOIR is still ongoing. I just wonder how much longer it really could go on, you know.

[Anonymous User]

Got the call (One of the posters who has been waiting for a while)...I really hope you'll be getting one soon, too

[Anonymous User]

Congrats! Did you get your first choice? Was it a big/medium/small court? And do you know if your references were contacted?

Got the call (One of the posters who has been waiting for a while)...I really hope you'll be getting one soon, too

[Anonymous User]

Thank you! Third choice, I believe. Big city. And no, I don't know if my references were contacted. They all said they'd let me know, but oddly enough, they all seem to be out of town right now.

From what I could pull from the conversation, it doesn't appear that they're done yet. I think things have just been delayed this year. Good luck!

[Anonymous User]

Edit: My references were contacted. I just got an email from one, so evidently they weren't contacted all that long before I got the offer.

[Anonymous User]

For those of you with offers what sort of class rank/law school combo do you have? Can "commitment to public service" help override mediocre grades?

[Anonymous User]

For those of you with offers what sort of class rank/law school combo do you have? Can "commitment to public service" help override mediocre grades?

yes my grades were pathetic

[Anonymous User]

mine too...sometimes i wonder if they just tell the kids w/ the bad grades that the DOJ is competitive just to make them feel better...but in all seriousness, from at least what I've seen at my school this semester, grades don't seem to help or hurt you all that much in this process. It seems as if they really are looking for something beyond grades--what that something is, though, is the question.

[Anonymous User]

For those of you with offers what sort of class rank/law school combo do you have? Can "commitment to public service" help override mediocre grades?

yes my grades were pathetic

Do you mind saying which division gave you an offer?

[Anonymous User]

Guy's I"m being serious. I know that my grade question might be considered "obvious" to those in the know, but DOJ hiring is very opaque to those of us with no sort of connection to government legal work--and I have NONE.

If you were being serious with your grade response I apologize; but I know that TLS posters have a habit of being sarcastic/condescending.

[Anonymous User]

Lol, sadly, I was being serious. My grades didn't hurt me, but other divisions might take them more into consideration.

[Anonymous User]

Lol, sadly, I was being serious. My grades didn't hurt me, but other divisions might take them more into consideration.

Thank you; which division gave you an offer?

[Anonymous User]

EOIR, but I will note that I'm not a complete reject as I go to a good school and have a strong public service background.

[Anonymous User]

they seem to care more about your commitment/excitement to join the DOJ and your commitment to the mission of that component. I had gone to law school because of the type of law my component specializes in. it was the driving force in my decision to go to law school and what I focused on throughout law school and became a leader in at my school. I think this helps with any hiring. every internship I have ever interviewed for in law school I have gotten the job. I only had one interview for all my internships and externships in law school. because I was over the moon about my component's type of law and I had direct experience with my component during law school, my interview went swimmingly.

[Anonymous User]

Like some of the above posters, my grades are nothing to write home about. I'm well out of the top third (but at a T-14) and have some stinkers on my transcript, but I have also done a ton of things that demonstrate my interest in immigration law (publication, internships, classes, clinic) and I'm a darn good writer (if I do say so myself). I think that's what they cared about, far more than my grades on classes that have nothing to do with the EOIR's work. I also have a Master's degree, in a field that is somewhat related.

Then again, I think EOIR's different because it hires so many more people: I have friends with AMAZING grades and no one I know got an interview anywhere but EOIR.

[Anonymous User]

I am at a top tier school and in the top 10% of my class and on Law Review and have experience at EOIR via internships and have not gotten a call yet. Their decision-making process is less than clear.

[Anonymous User]

I am at a top tier school and in the top 10% of my class and on Law Review and have experience at EOIR via internships and have not gotten a call yet. Their decision-making process is less than clear.

Did you do SLIP?

[Anonymous User]

No I did not do SLIP, I was in the OGC before SLIP was utilized. Had SLIP been an option for me I would have applied, I was there as a volunteer.

[Anonymous User]

Well that's certainly interesting. Any red flags you can think of, and how high in the top tier are we talking?

[Anonymous User]

Soon-to-be SLIP intern here. From my (and others I know) experiences with the SLIP application process, it doesn't surprise me that Honors also doesn't utilize grades as its main criteria for selecting people. Some of us who got SLIP offers (including me) had grades that were merely okay -- above median, but nothing special, while people who had incredible grades didn't even get interview requests and/or were selected as alternates.

As the poster above said, the DOJ appears to want something different from its applicants, whether for SLIP or Honors. What that thing is precisely is the question, though it seems to have something to do with dedication to public service / government work / work in the field of your chosen component...

[Anonymous User]

Well that's certainly interesting. Any red flags you can think of, and how high in the top tier are we talking?

Not very high in the top tier, when I decided to come it was top 30, has fallen steadily since. First semester legal writing grade isn't great, but other writing grades balance it out. There is at least one BIA member from my school though, and lots of people throughout EOIR.

[Anonymous User]

Any idea how long the background check takes? The website says it can be more than seven months, but was wondering what has actually been the practice for people who have gone through it. Assume someone with many different campus addresses (so possibly extra legwork there) but no criminal/drug history of any kind. Thanks