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Law schools that interview applicants split three ways: eleven run invitation-only evaluative interviews, seven run optional or case-by-case ones, six explicitly do not interview, and the rest publish nothing. Yale's is effectively required for admission. Full breakdown across all 31 schools.
Each school links to its full interview page with the question bank and prep protocol. This table aggregates policy and format only.
#SchoolTypeDetailAcceptance rate1YaleInvitation-only, evaluativeYes: invitation-only, required for admission4.1%2Boston CollegeInvitation-only, evaluativeInvitation-only, ED applicants only8.5%3HarvardInvitation-only, evaluativeYes: invitation-only, 15-minute Zoom9.2%4UChicagoInvitation-only, evaluativeYes: invitation-only, 20-minute Zoom9.7%5UVAInvitation-only, evaluativeYes: invitation-only, one-on-one10.2%6ColumbiaInvitation-only, evaluativeYes: invitation-only Zoom11.8%7DukeInvitation-only, evaluativeYes: limited, invitation-only12.9%8TexasInvitation-only, evaluativeYes: invitation-only virtual14.0%9BerkeleyInvitation-only, evaluativeYes: invitation-only optional Kira video14.8%10GeorgetownInvitation-only, evaluativeYes: invitation-only alumni and group15.8%11Notre DameInvitation-only, evaluativeYes: invitation-only16.1%12CornellInvitation-only, evaluativeKira online assessment, invitation-only18.2%13WisconsinInvitation-only, evaluativeOptional, by invitation, virtual19.1%14WashUYesYes: Zoom with admissions team19.0%15UCLAOptional or case by caseCase by case, not required12.1%16Texas A&MOptional or case by caseOptional, test-optional applicants only12.1%17NorthwesternOptional or case by caseYes: optional opt-in, asynchronous video12.3%18VanderbiltOptional or case by caseYes: optional alumni, applicant-requested13.3%19MinnesotaOptional or case by caseOptional pre-recorded video26.7%20StanfordNoNo6.1%21PennNoNo8.1%22MichiganNoNo8.6%23UNCNoNo11.2%24USCNoNot published11.2%25BUNoNo12.1%26GeorgiaNoNot published12.7%27NYUNoNo13.4%28BYUNoNot published22.8%29Ohio StateNoNot published24.6%30Wake ForestNoNot published on school site24.6%31GWNoNo27.2%
Interview policies verified from each school's own admissions pages, July 26, 2026. Acceptance column from each school's 2025 ABA 509 report and class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary, verified July 26, 2026.
Many do, and the format varies more than applicants expect. The invitation-only evaluative group includes Yale, Harvard, UChicago, Columbia, UVA, Texas, Notre Dame, Cornell, Berkeley, Boston College and Georgetown.
Yale's is the strongest version in this set: the school states that some applicants are selected for interview as part of the evaluation and that an interview is necessary for admission. Harvard is similar in effect, since every admitted applicant completes a roughly 15-minute Zoom interview, though not everyone is invited.
Georgetown runs two distinct invitation-only programs, alumni interviews and group interviews, which is a format almost nobody else uses. If Georgetown is on your list, the group exercise is worth specific preparation.
Several schools use third-party asynchronous platforms rather than live conversation. Cornell and Berkeley both use Kira, and Northwestern runs an opt-in asynchronous video interview reviewed evaluatively.
None require one in the sense of an applicant-initiated step you must complete. Yale comes closest, stating that an interview is necessary for admission, which means being invited is a gate rather than a formality.
The schools that explicitly do not interview are worth knowing for the opposite reason: at Penn, Stanford, Michigan, UNC, BU, GW and NYU the written file is the entire evaluation, with no oral channel to rescue a flat application.
Vanderbilt is the notable inverse case. Its alumni interview program is optional and applicant-requested, and the school has reported that interviewed applicants had a higher admit rate, which makes requesting one a low-cost move.
At the invitation-only schools, yes. These are scored components of your file, not informational chats, and the invitation itself signals you are under serious consideration.
Several schools also offer non-evaluative informational meetings with admissions counselors, which are useful research and are not part of the decision. BU, Michigan and UNC all draw that distinction explicitly on their own pages.
The practical rule: if the school invited you, prepare seriously. If you requested it and the school calls it informational, be professional and treat it as research rather than as a performance.
Every law school interview we have seen reduces to five archetypes, and this drill is original to Lovare rather than reproduced from any school's materials.
Tell me about yourself, in ninety seconds, structured past to present to future. Why law, answered with a concrete trajectory rather than a conviction. Why this school, answered with one specific resource tied to one specific goal.
A failure or conflict, told with the turn at the center: what changed in how you operate. And what you would add to the class, answered as contribution rather than as credentials.
Practice protocol: record yourself once per question, listen back for filler and vagueness, re-record once, and stop. Two passes beats ten unreviewed reps, and over-rehearsal reads as rehearsal.
Live evaluative Zoom interviews at Harvard, UChicago, Columbia, UVA and Texas, all invitation-only and all scored components of the file rather than conversations.
Asynchronous video assessments at Cornell and Berkeley, both through the Kira platform, and at Northwestern through an opt-in recorded format. These are answered on camera against timed prompts with no interviewer present, which is a different skill from conversation.
Alumni interviews at Vanderbilt, which are optional and applicant-requested, and at Georgetown, which also runs a group interview format that almost nobody else uses.
Narrow exceptions worth catching: Boston College interviews only ED applicants, and Texas A&M offers an optional virtual interview only to test-optional applicants. Both are easy to miss on a general list.
At Penn, Stanford, Michigan, UNC, BU, GW and NYU the written file is the entire evaluation, with no oral channel that can rescue a flat application or repair a weak paragraph.
That raises the weight on the personal statement specifically, and on any optional essay the school offers. It also raises the value of the letter of continued interest if you are waitlisted, since that becomes the only voice you have.
There is an upside worth naming. No interview means no bad-day variance, which quietly favors applicants who write better than they improvise. If that describes you, a no-interview school is a structural advantage rather than a missed opportunity.
Every number in the table comes from a primary disclosure: each school's 2025 ABA Standard 509 Information Report for admissions, cost and aid, and its class of 2025 ABA Employment Summary for outcomes. Both are filed annually and both are free to read.
We did not use rankings, surveys or reputation. Where a figure required arithmetic, such as a percentage or a net cost, we state that it is our arithmetic and give the inputs so you can check it.
Where we could not verify something, the table says so rather than filling the gap with an estimate. That is why some rows read not published or not verified instead of carrying a number that would look more complete and mean less.
It cannot tell you your outcome. Every figure here describes a class of several hundred people, and your position inside that distribution is set by first-year grades that have not happened yet.
It cannot price your offer, because aid depends on where your numbers sit against each school's medians rather than on the median award. Half of every school's grant recipients got less than the figure shown.
And it cannot capture fit, culture, or whether you will do your best work in that building for three years. Those are discoverable only by visiting and asking current students specific questions, which is worth more than any table on this site.
Treat it as a scored component, because at every invitation-only school in this table it is one. The invitation itself means you are under serious consideration rather than being screened out.
Prepare the five archetypes rather than a script, and record yourself once per question. Over-rehearsal reads as rehearsal, and interviewers probe exactly the answers that sound prepared.
For asynchronous platforms like Kira, add one extra rehearsal for the format itself, since answering a timed prompt into a camera with no interviewer present is a genuinely different skill.
Many do. Eleven of these 31 run invitation-only evaluative interviews, including Yale, Harvard, UChicago, Columbia, UVA, Texas, Notre Dame, Cornell, Berkeley, Boston College and Georgetown. Seven run optional or case-by-case programs.
None require an applicant-initiated interview. Yale comes closest, stating an interview is necessary for admission, so the invitation functions as a gate. Harvard interviews every admitted applicant, though not everyone is invited.
Penn, Stanford, Michigan, UNC, BU, GW and NYU state that they do not conduct evaluative admissions interviews. At those schools the written file is the entire evaluation.
At invitation-only schools, yes, and the invitation itself signals serious consideration. Several schools separately offer non-evaluative informational meetings with counselors, which are research rather than assessment.
Drill five archetypes: yourself in ninety seconds, why law, why this school, a failure with a turn, and your contribution. Record once, review for filler and vagueness, re-record once, then stop.
Written by Ali, Georgetown Law, founder of Lovare Institut.
July 30, 2026
July 30, 2026