Chicago c/o 2016 Applicants (2012-2013) Forum

[Spritzpiggy]

Genuine interest in Chicago will not be an issue here, just hoping I get to that point. I'm very glad to know so many others got interviews without sending in Chicago-tailored apps though.

[facile princeps]

No Chicago tailored app. Interview went great this morning (i think). It was approximately 20 minutes.

Questions:

Why law?
Why Chicago?
Resume specific question (or two).
Why did you choose to go back to school? (i was out for a couple years in between an associate degree and now)
Who influenced your decision to go to law school?
Most difficult class in undergrad and why?
What would professors say about you?
What would friends say about you?
Describe your work/leadership style.
Tell me about challenges you've had to overcome.
What was the most difficult decision you've had to make and how did you deal with it?
Do you have any questions you'd like to ask me?

HTH someone.

ETA: She indicated that it could be a few 'weeks' of waiting for a decision. Damn. Sure as hell hope she was exaggerating. How fast was your turn around guys?

[Anonymous4444]

No RD have gotten in yet so our wait has been.....

[Rahviveh]

Decisions came out on the 13th last year, but its possible itll get pushed back due to the interviews

[facile princeps]

Ok, thanks. Guess she meant what she said.

[curious66]

No RD have gotten in yet so our wait has been.....

And the wait continues.

[reallysearch]

1) What % of those admitted have an interview beforehand? What % of those with interviews gain admission? I know this year is the first year for the new program, but what have we seen so far?

So far I think all ED admits here have been interviewed. But I think what matters is the % of people who are interviewed eventually get in; but now the sample size is too small to tell.

4) For those admitted / denied, how were you informed of their decision? I'm still stranded from my apartment because of Sandy and USPS mail forwarding is spotty, at best. Any information at all would be appreciated.

You will get an email notification. Also, watch the admissions twitter for updates

[az21833]

just got the application received. how long does it take for complete?

[reallysearch]

just got the application received. how long does it take for complete?

took me one day to go complete.

[michlaw]

New strategy being employed by Chicago, Stanford, and Columbia to avoid dropping their medians..... admit no one...I wonder if it will work...

[curious66]

New strategy being employed by Chicago, Stanford, and Columbia to avoid dropping their medians..... admit no one...I wonder if it will work...

Brilliant strategy -- Except that UVA is throwing big bucks at the 170+'s folks. At some point, the number of humans to fill all these spots with a 170+. and high GPA will run out. Then, they will love us at the 168 level . This is the only optimistic thought I can come up with . Of course, it could be 2016 by then

[ajax]

New strategy being employed by Chicago, Stanford, and Columbia to avoid dropping their medians..... admit no one...I wonder if it will work...

Brilliant strategy -- Except that UVA is throwing big bucks at the 170+'s folks. At some point, the number of humans to fill all these spots with a 170+. and high GPA will run out. Then, they will love us at the 168 level . This is the only optimistic thought I can come up with . Of course, it could be 2016 by then

Or just lie about your stats. Illinois had a nice run doing that. Didn't work out too well for them in the end though.

[bananapudding88]

just got the application received. how long does it take for complete?

took me one day to go complete.

Seriously? I've been on "Application Received" since 12/18...

[reallysearch]

just got the application received. how long does it take for complete?

took me one day to go complete.

Seriously? I've been on "Application Received" since 12/18...

It could be the case that ED applicants got some kind of priority when our files were received. But I think they are done with the ED decisions and the processing of RD files should start soon.

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[20141023]

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[06102016]

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[Rahviveh]

First time I read Regulus thread. Interesting they ask the "awkward" question since I've never heard that in a job interview before (and I've been through a lot, though none of my WE is stellar). Helps confirm Regulus' theory that Chi is trying to filter out the super-awk students that law school (and Chi in particular) is known to attract. Good thing I managed to slip through

[airbud]

Had my interview this afternoon. I thought it went very well. I wore a jacket and tie and used an iMac desktop without an external microphone or headset. After the interviewer was done with her questions, I asked two myself. Total time was about 21-22 minutes.

Without getting into specifics with the questions here (PM if you'd like), I noticed a couple of trends in the types of questions I received and the direction of the conversation:

1. They want to separate those applicants who simply submitted an app to Chi and those who really want to attend. This aspect of the interview has been dicussed already, so nothing new here.

2. Here's what was really interesting. Everything we talked about centered on what is probably perceived as the central weakness of my application: my academic credentials. When an AdComm reads my application, I'm confident they see solid softs, leadership, diverse experiences, an insightful PS, a solid resume, and excellent professional, non-academic LORs. What they don't see, however, is evidence that that I have the intellectual horsepower to keep up with the U Chi students, faculty, curriculum, and culture.

I believe my responses effectively shored up those perceived (maybe real) weaknesses and my full app is much better for it.

So, my advice: in addition to figuring out what you want to practice/study law and why you want to go to U Chi, figure out where a weakness might be in your package and prepare responses in order to built it up/address their concerns.

Anyway, hoping to hear something positive back soon!

[moonman157]

Also had my interview today. Think it went alright, she was very nice and made things comfortable. Interestingly, I WASN'T asked the "Why Chicago" question. Perhaps it's because I'm a borderline candidate anyway, and they don't have to worry about losing me to HYS, but I had actually come up with enough to talk about in response to that question that I was convincing myself that Chicago was by far my number one choice haha. I will also echo the sentiments of finding your weakness, because she asked me why I am going straight through to law school. I'm sure they pull from a ton of questions, though, there were times when she paused to think of what question to ask me next. Best of luck to everyone!

[Just]

Sorry, was trying to click pm...

[michlaw]

I don't understand Chicago. Why interview when your matriculation rate is only 25%. They make approximately 800 offers so if they oversample by the same amount as Harvard say 50 percent, they are doing 1200 interviews to get a class of 200. And they are starting so late that they have no comparative advantage either to entice those already in at HYSC or those who will accepted to those schools at the same time Chicago gets around to it. Also schools like VBPM have been using earlier notice and dollars to secure their class. Odd approach by Chicago IMO.

[vzapana]

I don't understand Chicago. Why interview when your matriculation rate is only 25%. They make approximately 800 offers so if they oversample by the same amount as Harvard say 50 percent, they are doing 1200 interviews to get a class of 200. And they are starting so late that they have no comparative advantage either to entice those already in at HYSC or those who will accepted to those schools at the same time Chicago gets around to it. Also schools like VBPM have been using earlier notice and dollars to secure their class. Odd approach by Chicago IMO.

unless interviews become standard practice across all the major schools. such a thing happening is not impossible, and if fisher does upend affirmative action, interviews could be a way to mitigate the blow to school diversity.

[one_by_one]

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[20141023]

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