The Baseline: Most Law Schools Don't Interview

If you are coming from a medical school or MBA application process, the absence of interviews in law school admissions will feel strange. It should. Law school admissions is almost entirely a paper review — your LSAT, GPA, personal statement, recommendations, and supporting essays evaluated by a reader who has never met you and almost certainly never will.

That is the norm. A handful of schools break from it, and when they do, the interview carries real weight. The schools that ask to meet you are making a deliberate choice to evaluate something a file cannot show them.

Which Schools Interview — and How

  • Northwestern Pritzker: The most systematic interview program in law school admissions. Northwestern uses the Kira Talent platform, a video interview format in which applicants respond to prompts on camera. It is not optional in any meaningful sense — the school weighs it seriously.
  • Harvard Law School: Optional written application component added in recent cycles. Some applicants are invited to informal conversations with admissions staff or alumni.
  • Georgetown Law: Has used group exercises and informational sessions that function like soft interviews for waitlisted or targeted applicants.
  • Duke, Vanderbilt, and others: Several T-25 schools offer optional alumni interviews or virtual information sessions that applicants can request.
  • Lower-ranked schools: Some regional schools interview prospective students who visit campus or attend open houses. Treat these as interviews even when framed as information sessions.

The Kira Video Interview

Northwestern's Kira interview is the most structured format in law school admissions. The format is asynchronous: you receive a prompt, have a short preparation period (typically 60–90 seconds), and then record a response of one to three minutes. There is no live interviewer.

Prompts fall into a few categories: behavioural questions, hypothetical judgment questions, and perspective questions. Northwestern evaluates communication skills, clarity of thought, and authentic self-presentation.

The technology feels awkward the first time. Practice specifically — recording yourself answering questions on a timer and watching the playback. The discomfort fades quickly with repetition.

Know your numbers before the interview conversation starts

Schools that interview already want you. Walk in knowing exactly where your LSAT and GPA sit relative to their admitted class.

See your match scores →

What These Schools Are Evaluating

  • Communication under mild pressure. Lawyers speak for a living. Schools evaluate whether you organise your thoughts coherently when given limited time to prepare.
  • Self-awareness. The applicants who perform best are not the most polished. They are the most honest.
  • Judgment. Ethical scenarios and judgment questions are common. Schools are looking for how you reason through a problem with incomplete information.
  • Fit and genuine interest. Why this school, specifically?

How to Prepare

  • Know your application cold. You will be asked about things you wrote. Inconsistency between your written application and your spoken answers is the fastest way to damage an interview.
  • Prepare three to five stories. Behavioural questions can be answered with prepared narratives. Identify moments that illustrate sound judgment, resilience, and intellectual engagement.
  • Practise out loud. Reading your answers silently and speaking them at a camera are entirely different activities. Record yourself. Fix the verbal tics before the actual interview.

For video formats, check your setup. Stable internet, good lighting from the front, and a clean background are table stakes. A technical failure during a timed response is unrecoverable. Test everything twice.

When You're Invited: Take It Seriously

An interview invitation from a law school is a signal. It means the school has reviewed your file and wants more information before making a decision. Show up prepared. Be direct. Say what you actually think rather than what you imagine they want to hear. The applicants who perform best in law school interviews are not performing at all — they are just ready to have a real conversation about themselves and their goals.