Janet Laybold Interview: Law School Admissions, Personal Statements and Choosing the Right School

^{Last Updated: September 2026}

Janet Laybold, former Associate Dean for Admissions, Career and Student Services at Washington University School of Law, spent her career looking at legal education from several perspectives at once: who should be admitted, how students should prepare for law school, what makes a law school the right fit, and what students can do to improve their career prospects after enrolling.

Although the original interview took place in 2012, much of Laybold's advice remains relevant to applicants today. Her observations about holistic admissions, personal statements, recommendation letters, application addenda, networking, school selection, and career planning address questions applicants continue to face.

Applicants beginning the process may also want to explore the Top-Law-Schools.com law school personal statement resources and the site's broader Washington University School of Law profile.

What Makes a Law School the Right Fit?

Question: What do you believe students value most about Washington University School of Law?

Janet Laybold: One of the characteristics students appreciate is close interaction with faculty and fellow students. Faculty members can have an enormous effect on a student's legal education when they are accessible, invested in teaching, and interested in students' professional development.

A strong law school community also depends on the students themselves. Law school can be demanding, so being surrounded by classmates who are talented but also collaborative can substantially affect the experience.

Location matters as well. Applicants often focus heavily on rankings, but where they will live for three years, the community surrounding the school, cost of living, professional opportunities, and the geographic markets they may want to enter should all be part of the decision.

Applicants comparing schools should therefore look beyond a single statistic. The resources available throughout Top-Law-Schools.com can help applicants examine schools in the context of admissions, cost, employment prospects, location, and student experience.

What Should Applicants Look for When Comparing Law Schools?

Question: Applicants admitted to Washington University may also be considering other strong law schools. What should distinguish one school from another?

Janet Laybold: Applicants should look closely at the educational experience they will actually receive. Faculty accessibility, teaching quality, clinics, externships, practical training, student culture, professional opportunities, and alumni connections can all matter.

Applicants should also ask themselves where they are most likely to succeed. A school's reputation is important, but applicants should investigate what lies behind that reputation.

Visit when possible. Talk with current students, faculty, administrators, and graduates. Ask specific questions about the things that matter to you instead of relying entirely on rankings or marketing materials.

School-specific programs change over time, so applicants evaluating Washington University School of Law today should use current information from the law school rather than relying solely on programs described in the original interview.

How Do Law Schools Evaluate Applications?

Question: What does the law school admissions process involve, and how is an application evaluated?

Janet Laybold: Admissions committees are looking at more than a collection of numbers. Academic indicators are important because law schools need evidence that an applicant can handle demanding academic work, but an application also communicates who the applicant is.

A transcript shows academic performance and sometimes academic trajectory. A résumé provides information about employment, leadership, service, activities, and responsibility. Recommendation letters can reveal what an applicant is like in a classroom or professional setting. A personal statement can show judgment, motivation, perspective, writing ability, and personality.

Taken together, those materials can answer several important questions:

Can this applicant succeed academically?
Has the applicant demonstrated the discipline necessary to do the work?
What will the applicant contribute to the law school community?
Does the application demonstrate maturity and sound judgment?
Is there evidence of initiative, leadership, teamwork, or resilience?

Applicants should therefore treat every component as part of a complete application rather than assuming their GPA and test score tell the entire story.

How Important Are GPA and LSAT Scores in Law School Admissions?

Question: How much do factors other than GPA and LSAT scores matter?

Janet Laybold: Numerical credentials are an important starting point, but they are not the only information an admissions committee considers.

An applicant's transcript, résumé, personal statement, recommendations, work history, achievements, and other experiences can help an admissions committee understand what the applicant might contribute to the school.

An application should therefore provide evidence rather than simply make claims. Instead of saying you are hardworking, show experiences that demonstrate sustained effort. Instead of saying you are a leader, identify responsibilities or circumstances that illustrate leadership.

Applicants should also remember that testing policies vary by school and can change. Before applying, confirm the current testing and application requirements directly with each law school.

When Should You Write a Law School Addendum?

Question: When should an applicant submit an addendum explaining a low GPA, test score, or other unusual part of the application?

Janet Laybold: An addendum is useful when it gives the admissions committee important context that would otherwise be missing.

For example, a significant disruption may help explain a period of unusually weak academic performance. An addendum can also explain other genuine discrepancies in an applicant's record.

The key is to be factual.

Avoid turning the addendum into an argument, excuse, or attempt to blame someone else. Explain what occurred, provide the necessary context, and allow the admissions committee to evaluate the information.

Applicants should also distinguish an addendum from a personal statement. The personal statement is generally intended to help the committee understand you as a person. An addendum normally has a narrower purpose: explaining something in the application that requires context.

Should You Apply to Law School Early?

Question: Can applying early improve an applicant's position?

Janet Laybold: Applying early can be valuable because admissions decisions and scholarship resources develop throughout the application cycle.

More broadly, applying early gives candidates time to submit carefully prepared applications instead of rushing materials near a deadline.

That does not mean applicants should submit an incomplete or poorly edited application simply to apply sooner. A strong application submitted slightly later is generally preferable to an early application containing weak essays, careless errors, or unfinished materials.

Applicants should always consult each law school's current admissions calendar and deadlines because application timing and procedures can change from year to year.

What Should You Do Before Applying to Law School?

Question: What advice would you give students preparing to apply?

Janet Laybold: Begin building relationships early.

Talk to current law students. Speak with lawyers. Contact admissions offices when you have legitimate questions. Learn about the profession rather than viewing admission itself as the final objective.

These conversations can help applicants understand what legal education and legal practice are actually like. They can also become the beginning of a professional network.

Networking does not have to mean aggressively asking people for opportunities. It can simply mean forming genuine professional relationships, asking thoughtful questions, staying in contact, and learning from people who have already traveled the path you are considering.

LawCrossing's guide to networking in law school without feeling fake or desperate provides additional guidance on building professional relationships authentically.

How Should You Choose Between Law Schools?

Question: What should an admitted applicant consider when deciding which law school to attend?

Janet Laybold: Fit matters.

Applicants should ask where they are most likely to succeed academically, professionally, and personally. Visit schools when possible and speak with students, professors, administrators, and graduates.

Important considerations may include:

Total cost of attendance and expected debt
Scholarship terms
Employment outcomes
Geographic placement
Practice areas of interest
Faculty accessibility
Clinics and experiential opportunities
Student culture
Career services
Alumni network
Bar passage outcomes
Location and cost of living

The best choice is not automatically the school with the highest ranking. Applicants should consider what they want from their legal education and how effectively each school supports those objectives.

How Should Admitted Students Prepare for 1L?

Question: What should students do before beginning their first year?

Janet Laybold: One of the most useful things students can do is establish a routine and become comfortable with their new environment.

Law school introduces a different method of reading, analyzing, discussing, and applying information. Students benefit from learning how to manage their workload consistently rather than reacting to every assignment as a crisis.

Mentoring can also be valuable. Upper-level students can provide practical advice about professors, classes, study methods, recruiting, extracurricular activities, and the transition into law school.

Students should seek assistance when they need it rather than assuming successful law students handle everything independently.

For a broader career perspective, LawCrossing's guide to how law students can shape career outcomes through early choices explains how decisions involving coursework, experience, skills, and networking can affect later employment opportunities.

How Should Applicants Evaluate Law School Scholarships?

Question: What should applicants understand about scholarships and financial aid?

Janet Laybold: Cost should be part of the law school decision from the beginning.

Applicants should understand both the amount of an award and the conditions attached to it. They should look at the complete cost of attendance, not simply tuition, and consider how borrowing may affect their options after graduation.

Applicants should also compare scholarship offers alongside likely career outcomes rather than evaluating either factor in isolation.

The specific scholarship statistics discussed in the original 2012 interview are historical and should not be interpreted as current Washington University School of Law figures. Applicants should review the school's current scholarship and financial aid information before making enrollment decisions.

What Makes a Strong Law School Personal Statement?

Question: What advice do you have for applicants writing personal statements?

Janet Laybold: Think of the personal statement as an opportunity to tell an admissions committee something important about yourself that it would not otherwise know.

Everyone has stories they tell when meeting people. The challenge is selecting the story that gives the admissions committee useful insight into who you are.

The word personal matters.

An essay that spends nearly all of its time describing another person may leave the reader knowing very little about the applicant. Likewise, simply converting your résumé into paragraphs wastes an opportunity because the committee already has your résumé.

The strongest personal statements frequently reveal qualities through specific experiences rather than simply naming those qualities.

Applicants can find additional examples and detailed writing guidance in the TLS Law School Personal Statements resource center, which covers topic selection, structure, common mistakes, examples, revision, and admissions expectations.

LawCrossing also offers additional guidance on submitting law school essays and personal statements.

Should You Customize Your Personal Statement for Every Law School?

Question: Should applicants write a separate personal statement specifically for an individual school?

Janet Laybold: Applicants should be careful not to force school-specific material into an otherwise strong personal statement if doing so disrupts the essay.

When a school allows an optional essay explaining why the applicant is interested in that institution, it may make more sense to use that opportunity.

Most importantly, applicants should follow the current instructions provided by each law school. Some schools ask broad personal-statement questions, while others specifically ask about motivation, goals, background, perspective, or interest in that institution.

Never assume the same essay automatically satisfies every school's prompt.

What Personal Statement Mistakes Can Hurt an Applicant?

Question: Can a personal statement actually damage an application?

Janet Laybold: Yes.

Poor judgment in topic selection can create problems. So can weak writing, grammatical mistakes, excessive personal information that does not advance the essay, or an essay that reveals little about the applicant.

Applicants should particularly avoid:

Writing primarily about someone else
Repeating the résumé
Using clichés without adding personal insight
Making unsupported claims about character
Trying too hard to sound impressive
Ignoring the school's actual prompt
Failing to proofread
Including the wrong law school's name in a customized essay
Adding unnecessary information simply to make the essay longer

A memorable essay does not need to describe an extraordinary event. It needs to help the reader understand something meaningful about the person applying.

Who Should Write Your Law School Letters of Recommendation?

Question: How should applicants select recommenders?

Janet Laybold: Choose people who actually know you.

For applicants who are still in school or have recently graduated, professors can often provide valuable insight into academic ability, participation, writing, analytical skills, intellectual curiosity, and work habits.

The recommender's title matters far less than the substance of the letter.

A detailed letter from a professor or supervisor who knows an applicant well can be far more useful than a generic letter from a prominent person who barely knows the candidate.

Applicants should ask directly whether the person feels comfortable writing a strong recommendation for admission to law school.

What Makes a Recommendation Letter Useful?

Question: What distinguishes a strong letter of recommendation?

Janet Laybold: Specificity.

A strong recommendation provides examples showing how the applicant works, learns, interacts with other people, handles challenges, communicates, or contributes to a classroom or workplace.

Instead of simply stating that someone is intelligent or hardworking, the recommender can describe situations that demonstrate those qualities.

Applicants can help recommenders by giving them sufficient time and providing useful background materials, such as a résumé, transcript, personal statement draft, or summary of relevant goals and accomplishments.

When Should Law Students Start Thinking About Their Careers?

Question: What should students understand about career preparation?

Janet Laybold: Career development should begin long before graduation.

Students should think about the kinds of work they might enjoy, the geographic markets that interest them, and the experiences that will help them test those interests.

One of the most important steps students can take is connecting with attorneys in relevant practice areas or locations.

Informational conversations can help students understand what lawyers actually do, how different practices operate, what employers value, and what experiences may improve their candidacy.

LawCrossing's Building Career Clarity: A Practical Guide for Law Students provides a useful framework for exploring practice areas, gaining experience, finding mentors, and developing long-term career goals.

Why Does Networking Matter for Law Students?

Professional relationships can influence almost every stage of a legal career.

Networking can expose students to practice areas they had never considered, provide insight into firms and employers, connect them with mentors, and make them aware of opportunities.

Students do not need to wait until they are searching for a job.

Classmates, professors, alumni, attorneys encountered during internships, bar association contacts, and other legal professionals can all become part of a long-term network.

The goal should not be to collect as many contacts as possible. Strong professional relationships develop through genuine interaction, reliability, curiosity, and continued communication.

Students starting without an established legal network can also review LawCrossing's Smart Networking Tips for Law Students with Zero Connections.

What Should Applicants Know About Washington University School of Law Today?

Because the original interview took place in 2012, applicants should not rely on its school-specific statistics, programs, testing rules, scholarship figures, or recruiting descriptions as current policy.

Admissions requirements, standardized testing policies, recommendation requirements, scholarship procedures, career programs, and application deadlines can change. Applicants interested in Washington University School of Law should therefore verify all current requirements directly with the school before applying.

The TLS Washington University School of Law profile can also provide broader information about the school and its place within the legal education landscape.

Key Lessons from Janet Laybold for Today's Law School Applicants

Treat your application as a complete picture. GPA and test scores matter, but your essays, résumé, recommendations, experiences, and judgment contribute additional information.
Use your personal statement to reveal something meaningful. Do not simply repeat information available elsewhere in the application.
Use addenda for explanation, not argument. Give necessary context concisely and factually.
Choose recommenders who know you. Substance is more valuable than prestige.
Research law schools beyond rankings. Consider cost, employment outcomes, geography, academic offerings, culture, career services, and fit.
Build professional relationships early. Networking is useful before law school, during law school, and throughout a legal career.
Think about career development from the beginning. Academic choices, practical experience, mentors, and professional relationships can shape later opportunities.
Verify current school policies. Admissions requirements, scholarships, programs, employment resources, and application procedures change over time.

Final Thoughts

Law school admissions can appear to revolve around numbers, but Janet Laybold's advice highlights something broader: applicants are presenting evidence of who they are, how they work, what they may contribute, and whether they are prepared for the demands of legal education.

A thoughtful application should therefore do more than satisfy a checklist.

It should give an admissions committee a coherent picture of the person behind the transcript and test score.

At the same time, applicants should evaluate law schools just as carefully as schools evaluate applicants. Cost, career outcomes, location, educational opportunities, professional networks, and personal fit can all affect the value of the next three years and the career that follows.

For more information about Washington University School of Law, see the TLS Washington University School of Law profile.

Related Top-Law-Schools.com Forum Discussions

Law School Admissions Forum — discussions about applications, admissions strategy, recommendation letters, addenda, and related admissions questions.
Law School Personal Statements Forum — applicant discussions, critiques, examples, and personal statement advice.
Law School Acceptances, Denials and Waitlists — admissions-cycle discussions organized around schools and applicant outcomes.
Choosing a Law School Forum — discussions comparing schools, tuition, scholarships, employment opportunities, location, and other decision factors.
Washington University School of Law Applicants Discussion — historical applicant discussion covering admissions decisions and scholarships.
Law School Application Components Discussion — discussion of personal statements, supplemental essays, scholarship materials, and other application components.