interviewing question: why did you choose your law school? Forum

[Anonymous User]

if, during a screener, an interviewer asks 'why did you choose your law school?' -- is it appropriate to say which other schools you chose it over? esp if the others are ranked higher? or is that bad to do.

[Icculus]

if, during a screener, an interviewer asks 'why did you choose your law school?' -- is it appropriate to say which other schools you chose it over? esp if the others are ranked higher? or is that bad to do.

I would have an answer as to why you chose this school over others. What about this school made you realize it was for you? I don't think there is any right answer, though ones I thought about but ultimately discarded as a mistake:

1. Well it was the only T14 that was going to take my 2.79 GPA.
2. I heard the women here were hot, well you know, law school hot.
3. Preftige.

Be honest, if it had a clinic, program, prof, etc. you really liked explain that. If you visited and just realized it was going to be a great fit say that (firms are all about fit from what I can tell.) I explained that I chose NU b/c the majority of students have WE and it caters to an older student body and I thought this would be a good fit for me because blah, blah, blah. Let them know you actually thought about the decision and have reasons for making it.

Edit: I don't think it's necessary to say what schools you didn't choose unless you have a good explanation of "it was between x and y, and y offered this that x didn't."

[bdubs]

Only if it demonstrates valid and sensible reasoning for choosing your current school.

Example: If you're applying for a local firm and you chose the best option in the local area, it's fine to say I considered X peer/better school and Y peer/better school, but I really wanted to live and work here.

[Anonymous User]

What if you took a large scholarship at MVP over a smaller one in CN, but want to practice in NY? Can you be blunt about it, or should you think of more "politically correct" reasons?

[Anonymous User]

What if you took a large scholarship at MVP over a smaller one in CN, but want to practice in NY? Can you be blunt about it, or should you think of more "politically correct" reasons?

Find another reason, this sounds bad. You might be able to be more subtle and mention the high costs of law school as one reason, but I wouldn't say: "Oh, well Michigan offered me 90k in scholarships but NYU only offered me 30k, so I settled by going to Michigan."

Is your interviewer from your school? Definitely don't disparage the school like that to an interviewer who is an alum.

[Anonymous User]

2:39 here. Yeah, that would definitely not be my only reason -- just wondering if it was worth mentioning so they don't doubt my commitment to the market.

[Icculus]

2:39 here. Yeah, that would definitely not be my only reason -- just wondering if it was worth mentioning so they don't doubt my commitment to the market.

I would not mention it, especially if you have other reasons you can focus on.