JD-Next: What You Need to Know About this Alternative to the LSAT

Next year’s law school admissions cycle will bring change. Law.com reported that almost 25 percent of ABA-accredited law schools have been granted a variance from Standard 503—the ABA’s admissions test requirement—to use the JD-Next, in addition to the LSAT and GRE, for the 2024-2025 admissions cycle.

What is JD-Next?

The JD-Next differs from the LSAT and GRE as participants must take an eight-week online course on doctrinal concepts and legal skills in addition to a final exam. The virtual exam is given at the course’s conclusion and is based on the content presented throughout. The test is given on one of two predetermined dates and is four hours in length. It includes multiple choice questions and an unscored essay. Students must take both the course and the exam.

The test is said to measure a student’s learning ability, predict their performance in law school, and actually help prepare them for law school. And according to various studies, the JD-Next is more equitable, perhaps an answer to the long-standing racial disparities seen in standardized test scores like the LSAT.

When is the test available?

The upcoming JD-Next administration runs April 29th through June 24th with the test available on either June 25th and 29th.

The price for the course, test, and score report is $250.

Who accepts the test?

These 47 schools have been granted the variance to accept the JD-Next:

  • (University of) Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law

  • Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

  • Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School

  • Boston College Law School

  • Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School

  • California Western School of Law

  • (University of) California-Davis School of Law

  • Case Western Reserve University School of Law

  • Charleston School of Law

  • (University of) Cincinnati College of Law

  • City University of New York School of Law

  • Cleveland State University College of Law

  • Creighton University School of Law

  • (University of) Dayton School of Law

  • Drake University Law School

  • Emory University School of Law

  • Florida International University College of Law

  • The George Washington University Law School

  • Georgetown University Law Center

  • (University of) Georgia School of Law

  • Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law

  • Indiana University-Bloomington Maurer School of Law

  • Loyola University-New Orleans College of Law

  • (University of) Maine School of Law

  • (University of) Massachusetts Law School (Dartmouth)

  • (University of) Miami School of Law

  • Mississippi College School of Law

  • (University of) Nebraska College of Law

  • Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center

  • Oklahoma City University School of Law

  • (University of the) Pacific McGeorge School of Law

  • (University of) Pittsburgh School of Law

  • (University of) San Diego School of Law

  • (University of) South Dakota School of Law

  • St. Mary’s University School of Law

  • Suffolk University Law School

  • Syracuse University College of Law

  • Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law

  • Texas A&M University School of Law

  • Texas Tech University School of Law

  • Thomas M. Cooley Law School (Western Michigan University)

  • (University of) Toledo College of Law

  • Vanderbilt University Law School

  • Western New England University School of Law

  • Widener University Delaware Law School

  • (University of) Wisconsin Law School

  • Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Writing and Picture Stations

The Picture Station. It’s possible that your MMI will include a picture station, where you are presented with an image and asked to describe it. The image could show something emotionally evocative or medicine-related or look like a vacation photo. Like most MMI stations, this one tests your communication   skills. The most important thing to do here is to deliver a comprehensive response. Don’t just share what is in the image, share how the image is presented. (“On the right side…”) If the image is related to a current event or medical task, share what you know about it. If the picture makes you feel a certain emotion, share that too.

The Writing Station. Not every school will have a writing station, but the ones that do will present you with their prompt (or two and you can pick one) and a time limit. That could be eight minutes, it could be 30.  Our previous blog posts cover the type of material you might be presented with at the writing station—it could be a scenario, policy, or personal question. The only thing that makes this station different is that it is testing your written communication skills.

As we have often said, you’ll want to focus on clarity in your writing. If you complete your answer, don’t feel the need to add more. You’re allowed to be done early. You might find that you run out of time and that you’re cut off before you complete your response. That’s a shame—but it happens. Don’t dwell on it. The content you have hopefully expresses some strong reasoning, etc. You likely did just fine.

Related:

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Moral & Ethical Situations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Healthcare Policy Questions

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Role Playing Scenarios

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Teamwork Activities

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Final Thoughts

Your MBA Interview: Articulate Why You Want This MBA (Not Just an MBA)

“Why our MBA?” Or: “Tell me why you are interested in this program,” etc. This interview prompt will appear, in some form, early on in your interview.

Make it clear how this MBA will help you to achieve your goals. Your response should include school-specific details, like what classes or experiential learning opportunities you'll take advantage of, what unique resources you’ll utilize that maybe aren't available at other schools, which professors you're eager to learn from, the student clubs you'd like to join, the names of companies you’re interested in that recruit from the program, and maybe even what you like about the area. And don’t forget to bridge these details with your past experiences and future goals to reinforce your interest in these offerings. 

Whatever you do, don't say something ingratiating and general: "It's an esteemed program where I'll learn from esteemed professors who lead in their esteemed fields." We're teasing about this phrasing, but go deep rather than broad. Answer the question with a few salient details and you'll be golden.

Related:

Your MBA Interview: Day-of Tips

Your MBA Interview: Prepare a Three-Minute Elevator Pitch

Your MBA Interview: SAR Responses

Your MBA Interview: Make a Claim and Back it Up Responses

Recent Kaplan Survey Found Majority of Pre-Law Students Seek a Law School Where Students Hold Similar Political Views

The majority of pre-law students, 58 percent, say that it's important to them to attend a law school where students share their political and social views, according to recent Kaplan Survey results. About one-third of respondents, 36 percent, said this was “not important.” Just six percent responded that they “weren’t sure.” 

Explaining their perspectives to Kaplan, students who noted political fit’s importance made the following comments:

  • “I want to feel free to express my opinions without the fear of a backlash.”

  • “Even though it is important to dissent with respect and grow with people with opposing views, I consider that in this day and age it’s very difficult to survive in hostile environments.”

  • “Before the end of affirmative action, this was not as heavy of a concern. Now, I fear for a lack of community and support should I attend a school that does not value diversity and inclusion highly.”

Students who responded that political fit was not important were more likely to feel that political discourse and disagreement provided a richer learning environment. “I’d rather attend a law school with a range of political ideologies. I think it’s important to discuss differing beliefs and learn to respect everyone’s opinions,” one survey participant said. 

Notably, Kaplan fielded the survey prior to the October 7th attacks on Israel by Hamas. Kaplan’s Executive Director of Government and Legal Programs, Amit Schlesinger, speculates that if the survey had taken place post-October 7th, and amidst the ensuing tension on campuses nation-wide, the percentage of students calling political fit important would have been significantly higher.

To get to know better the programs you’re considering, we recommend the following: 

  • Visit the school. If at all possible, meet with faculty and students. Sit in on a class discussion. Observe an extracurricular group meeting. Attend a social event if you’re able. This will help you to get a full view of what your life could look like as a student there. 

  • Use social media. Follow the school on social media, as well as various student run clubs/affinity groups and/or the school paper. You will learn a lot about the perspectives and discourse that you’ll experience as part of the student body. Reading comments beneath posts will also provide you with insight on how students engage with each other and the posted content. 

  • Reach out to current students and alumni in your network. If you’re not able to visit the campus, it may still be possible for you to set up meeting(s) with students and alumni who live near you or via zoom to hear about their experiences and get useful insight into the school’s culture.

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Teamwork Activities

Medicine is a team sport. To gauge your collaboration skills, some schools will assess you in teamwork activities that you complete with another applicant. The pair of you might be asked to create an action plan together or one of you may act as an instructor and the other as a doer. (And then that gets flipped in a second exercise.)

An interviewer might ask you to build something with Lego blocks or do a puzzle together within a short timeframe. Only one of you can see a picture of the finished product, and the other person must listen to verbal instructions to assemble it. Medicine is intensely collaborative, so as silly as it seems to build a primary-colored train together, this activity will show some important communication skills. (And because more medical schools are shifting towards small group learning experiences—they want to see how you'd behave in them.)

Other schools may ask you and a larger team to find a solution to a problem or create a plan for a future program together. Things can get a little more heated here because opinions play more of a role. The most important thing to remember is that your teammates are not your competition, they are your colleagues. Listening to and empowering your teammates is a big deal. If you notice someone being left out of the conversation, be the person who asks, "What do you think, Tony?” If you're blocking out what a teammate is saying because you're waiting for your turn to speak, you will not do well in this team activity.

What if I don't finish?

That's okay! This isn't really about building the Lego train. You might be paired with a complete dud of a partner, someone who is so nervous that they can't focus. If you're the instructor in this activity, keep your cool and show patience with your partner. Search for new ways of explaining the same concept. If you are the doer, ask thoughtful questions. This is going to reflect well on you, finished project or not.

Related:

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Moral & Ethical Situations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Healthcare Policy Questions

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Role Playing Scenarios

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Writing and Picture Stations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Final Thoughts

Your MBA Interview: Prepare a Three-Minute Elevator Pitch

The first question your interviewer asks will likely be something general that invites the widest-ranging answer. This question comes in many forms. It could be as short and blunt as: Tell me about yourself. It could be: Walk me through your resume. It could be: Talk to be about anything you believe will enhance your candidacy for admission. 

These opening questions require a three-minute answer. Think of it as an elevator pitch response. Naturally, your response should reiterate your commitment to pursuing an MBA and make it clear why an MBA will benefit your career and help you to bridge your past experiences with your future goals. It is okay to stay in a linear timeline: I did X and transitioned to Y. What's important is explaining the motivation behind your decisions. You can also share who you are via your three most impactful experiences. 

Practice some possible responses to ensure you're not going wildly under or over the three-minute mark. Don't try to memorize anything word-for-word as this will lead to fumbling with your words or coming off as wooden. But have an outline in mind—some milestones you know you want to pass. 

Some sub-questions you might answer to build your "Tell me about yourself"-answer are:

  • What was your path to this point? Did you always know you would pursue a career in business?

  • How has your work experience prepared you for business school?

  • Do you want to expand on any meaningful professional experiences and how they reinforced your interest in graduate business education?

  • What are your post-MBA career goals? 

  • How will an MBA bridge your past with your future? 

  • What fun fact about you could you close on?

Admissions committees like it when applicants include personality in their answers, especially when answering this question. Revealing something fun about yourself encourages a connection between you and the interviewer.

Related:

Your MBA Interview: Day-of Tips

Your MBA Interview: Articulate Why You Want This MBA (Not Just an MBA)

Your MBA Interview: SAR Responses

Your MBA Interview: Make a Claim and Back it Up Responses

Application Tips: How to Approach Stanford Law School’s Optional Essays

In addition to the standard personal statement and resume, Stanford Law School (SLS) invites applicants to submit responses to up to three optional essays. SLS provides one optional diversity essay prompt, as well as four short-answer essay questions of which candidates may answer up to two. We urge you to respond to the maximum number that you can. Compelling responses will only strengthen your candidacy. 

Optional Essay. At Stanford Law School, we value the ability to communicate constructively across differences – even when the stakes are high or the differences significant. Please discuss a time when you encountered a viewpoint that contrasted with your own and explain how you responded. Would you do anything different if the same thing happened today? Your essay should be approximately one to two pages in length.

This is a timely question. SLS generated headlines and controversy last year after students disrupted a guest speaker, 5th Circuit Judge, Kyle Duncan. In the aftermath of the incident, SLS officials made a public apology noting that the protest was not aligned to the school’s values around free speech and that students would be required to attend free speech training. Similar controversies at Yale and other elite programs have led the ABA to push forward legislation that would require law schools to enact policies protecting the free exchange of ideas on campus.  

Given this context, SLS is looking for students who are able to exchange ideas respectfully and with humility, even when impassioned. Engage the reader in a situation when you disagreed with another party or were challenged to learn more about a contrasting position. Were you able to listen and learn from someone you disagreed with? How did you remain calm? Did maintaining respect for the other speaker allow you both to come closer to one another’s position? Did you come to an agreement? If not, how did you maintain your relationship despite the differences? What parts of the interaction were you proud of? What mistakes did you make? Be sure to provide insight into what you learned from the experience and how those insights will inform your interactions with students, professors and visiting speakers at SLS.

Optional Short Essays. If you think these optional short essays could help us get a better sense of who you are, we encourage you to consider submitting your responses to no more than two of the following questions.  Note that there is a 100 to 250-word limit for each question. 

As you consider the four short-answer essays, keep in mind your overall application. Select the questions that will allow you to enhance and complete your profile.

If you could sit and chat with anyone, living or from any time in history, who would you chat with?  What's one question you'd ask?  Why?  

The key part of the question is the “Why?”. Give a person and a question, but spend most of your limited word count on the why. What about this person do you admire and/or are curious about? What do you hope to learn from them? 

You're given the opportunity to teach a one-day class to your fellow students at Stanford Law School.  Based on your particular skills and talents, what would you teach?

This essay provides a great opportunity to showcase a non-academic side of yourself with the admissions committee. Do you have a unique hobby or interest? Have you mastered the chocolate souffle? Are you an avid guitar player? Show the admissions committee what you are most passionate about.

The library in the town where you grew up has been destroyed.  Choose three books to contribute to rebuilding the library's collection. 

The key part of the question is also the “Why?”. Give three titles, then explore why each one is meaningful to you. Did one prompt a significant evolution in your perspective and/or have a particular impact on your community? Is another relevant to the town’s history? Did your third title elevate minority voices? Show the reader what you value most through the books you select.

Music has a way of setting tone and mood for any occasion.  With this in mind, pick three songs or musical works to be playing in the background as the Admissions Committee reviews your materials. 

It’s time to get creative and show some personality! SLS is looking for students who will be collaborative and form lasting personal and professional relationships, so exposing a bit of vulnerability to showcase a quirky or sentimental side is a good idea. You could choose three titles or musical works that correspond to different parts of your life (i.e., a running mix, a study mix, and a social mix). You could propose a theme and pick three titles that fall under that theme. Or you may opt for three songs representing different eras in your life. As with the other optional questions, be sure to spend most of the word count on the “why?”. 

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Role Playing Scenarios

"Enter the room and…" Not every school that utilizes the MMI will use role-play. But if they do, you could be presented with scenarios—in an in-person interview, it is sometimes taped to the door of a room—in which you must enter the room and speak to the actor inside as if they were your patient, a patient's family member, your colleague, or a close friend. An interviewer might be in the room watching, or there might be a camera in the room catching your big debut. (Since more schools have moved to doing interviews remotely, the “room” might be on Zoom or Kira.) Time yourself doing these practice prompts. In addition to other MMI prep, if you’re working with Apply Point, your AP advisor can act as a patient and give you notes at the end of the session.

You're not always going to "win" these scenarios. Your fake patient could continue to push back against your advice, etc. The point here is to show your empathy, thought process, and—this is the part people mess up—your ability to listen. Ask your partner questions about their thoughts, fears, or concerns. Don't give a soliloquy. Yes, this is your interview but in real life, these interactions would be conversations. Encourage an exchange. And don't be afraid to be quiet sometimes.

Think about how you'd handle these scenarios:

  • A patient is refusing a treatment that would prolong his life because of its side effects. The patient's family passionately wants him to submit to treatment. Speak to this family.

  • A physician’s assistant in your gynecology practice has repeatedly misgendered a trans patient. Your patient is upset. Talk to this PA.

  • Your patient is terminally ill. Tell them.

  • A hostile patient is demanding an opioid prescription for a supposed back injury—his X-ray does not show such an injury. Talk to this patient.

  • Your best friend has been struggling with depression and is self-medicating with alcohol. Talk to her.

  • You overhear a colleague using a racial stereotype when talking about a patient. Enter the room and talk to him.

  • Your patient wants to hold off on starting a cancer treatment plan until after a family vacation in three months. Her condition is advanced, and you don’t think she should do this. Talk to this patient.

“Teach Me How to Tie a Shoe.”

Another potential task you might do with an actor or interviewer is walk them through a process step-by-step. One example is telling someone how to tie a shoe. Now that you’ve thought about that for a sec, you see how this might be difficult, right? Be patient with the other person and

yourself. Choose your words carefully and if you make a mistake, backtrack without panic. The point of a task like this is to test your communication skills. Are you being clear? Are you being comprehensive? Are you asking your partner what they want to know more about? Are you keeping a calm tone the way we’d want a doctor to when they’re explaining a complex treatment plan?

Related:

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Moral & Ethical Situations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Healthcare Policy Questions

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Teamwork Activities

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Writing and Picture Stations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Final Thoughts


Application Tips: How to Approach Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s Optional Essays

The Northwestern Pritzker School of Law requires applicants to submit a personal statement and resume. They also invite applicants to consider four optional essays that you should respond to if you can. Compelling responses will only strengthen your candidacy. 

Here is our advice for making the most of each response: 

Describe your interest in attending the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. 

Demonstrate to the admissions committee that you are interested in Northwestern Pritzker, not just law school. This is a place to mention specific courses you're excited to take, potential mentors you'd seek out, clubs you'd join, what the school's experiential learning opportunities mean to you, etc. And you want to share how those offerings are relevant to your past experiences and/or passions. If you've spent the last two years volunteering at Legal Aid and the school has a public interest center serving a population you care about, you want to be working on it. If you aim to work at a startup and Professor So-And-So just presented her work on innovation, venture capital, and the law, you want her as a mentor and to become involved in her current research. 

You also might share how the school's location will set you up for the kind of career you want. If true, you could share that you want to work in the Chicago-area post-graduation. 

Describe any experiences in your life or unique qualities you think would benefit Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and/or your classmates. (Relevant information may include but is not limited to financial hardship, education adversity, special talents, work or community service experience, first generation or immigrant experience, and unusual rural or urban upbringing, foreign residence, military background, or unique family and/or personal circumstance.) 

Approach this optional essay as you would a diversity essay. Start by thinking about: What makes you unique? How has your personal journey likely differed from other applicants? And how has it shaped your world-view and goals? Have you encountered significant setbacks, yet through perseverance and grit, succeeded? How have these setbacks shaped how you approach challenges today? You will also want to reflect on past experiences when you learned and thrived alongside peers from different backgrounds and/or took on significant community or leadership roles. Show Northwestern Law’s admissions officers who you are and how you will be a valued member of their community.

What does public service mean to you and how do you see yourself engaging in public service or pro-bono work to meet the needs of the underserved? 

This essay is not just for those seeking a career in public interest law. Northwestern Pritzker values public service and notes on its website a “long history of fostering a commitment to public service in its students and graduates.” You’ll want to show that you share this value. Anchor this essay in an experience from your past that reinforced your interest in public service or pro-bono work. Why was it so meaningful for you? What did you learn? Then segue to your public service goals, both as a law student (Read about the school’s many offerings here.) and legal professional post law school. 

Did you face any particular challenges we should know about when considering your academic history or test scores?

This essay is for additional context around a weak spot in your application. Did you get a C in calculus? Or withdraw from your courses your sophomore year to help a family member? Do you feel that your lackluster LSAT score isn’t indicative of your abilities?

If you are going to address a low grade in a course or a low LSAT score, don’t make excuses. Spend the majority of your word count demonstrating your ability to excel in rigorous academic or work environments. Cite specific examples of professional pursuits that resulted in success or classes where you excelled. 

If you are speaking to a more sensitive situation, perhaps a big mistake or personal matter that impacted your GPA, spend approximately 20 percent of your essay addressing the situation. Then use the remaining 80 percent on the actions you took to improve and what happened as a result. Place the emphasis on what you learned. Remember, everyone makes mistakes. Taking accountability and moving forward demonstrates maturity.

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Healthcare Policy Questions

As you move through the MMI stations, a blunt quiz show question on healthcare today may be in the mix. Something like: "What is an HMO?" While interviewers will never ask you to diagnose anything, they will try to find out how much you know about the world of healthcare. How well read are you? How informed? The only way to answer a question like this is to be informed. So, know some basics.

And follow the news: Is there an antibiotic shortage? Is there a controversial new Alzheimer’s treatment? Did research scientists recently grow a human nose on a pig’s back? You don’t have to have read every behind-a-paywall study that has been written in the last two years, but certainly be up on the stuff that’s in the mainstream media. The New York Times is great for current events related to health care, as are MedPage Today, MedScape, and Stat News. We also recommend that you set up Google alerts for key phrases related to healthcare and/or your research interests and desired specialty to ensure you’re up to date.

An interviewer may ask for your opinion on hot-button issues in healthcare. Think: "What are your thoughts on stem cell research?" If you don’t have an opinion on a topic because you don’t know much about it, acknowledge that it is an important or controversial topic, then pivot to something relevant that you know about in-depth. Something like: "I have not done a ton of reading on stem cell research. But because of my clinical research position, I have worked with a novel treatment and believe that…" will have to do. 

Here are some other Healthcare Policy Questions to ponder: 

  • What would you say is the biggest challenge facing medicine today? Why? 

  • Do you think doctors are paid too much? 

  • What are your thoughts on predictive and presymptomatic genetic testing?

Related:

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Moral & Ethical Situations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Role Playing Scenarios

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Teamwork Activities

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Writing and Picture Stations

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Final Thoughts

LinkedIn Names Harvard as Top Business School in Inaugural Rankings

LinkedIn just unveiled its first ranking of full-time MBA programs, The 50 Best U.S. Business Schools to Grow Your Career, which uses data culled from the site itself. It includes only U.S.-based MBA programs, with at least 500 alumni, who graduated between 2018 to 2022. Its methodology is based on five pillars:

  1. Hiring and Demand: Uses LinkedIn hiring and recruiter InMail data to track job placement rates for graduates and labor market demand

  2. Ability to Advance: Uses standardized job titles to track promotions among recent cohorts, and the pace at which alumni reach director or VP-level leadership roles

  3. Network Strength: Uses member connection data to track the average connections alumni have with individuals in director-level positions or above (network quality) and the network growth rate of recent cohorts before and after graduation (cohort connectivity)

  4. Leadership Potential: Tracks percentage of alumni who take on entrepreneurial or C-suite roles post-graduation

  5. Gender Diversity: Tracks gender parity within recent graduate cohorts

LinkedIn also provides some unique insights alongside its rankings, which include the most common industries, job titles, locations, and skills for each program based upon aggregated data collected from the LinkedIn profiles of alumni. The platform also allows the reader to click into each school to see who in their own network attended the school. Find the full ratings here.

Rank Business School

1 Harvard Business School

2 Stanford GSB

3 Dartmouth (Tuck)

4 Penn (Wharton)

5 MIT (Sloan)

6 Northwestern (Kellogg)

7 UC Berkeley (Haas)

8 Yale SOM

9 Chicago (Booth)

10 Duke (Fuqua)

11 Columbia Business School

12 Virginia (Darden)

13 UCLA (Anderson)

14 Cornell (Johnson)

15 Emory (Goizueta)

16 New York University (Stern)

17 Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)

18 Michigan (Ross)

19 USC (Marshall)

20 Texas (McCombs)

Not all stakeholders are impressed with LinkedIn’s initial effort. Poets & Quants called it a “Shrewd concept, botched execution.” Noting a lack of transparency in the methodology, P&Q calls out LinkedIn’s failure to provide index scores so that readers can understand how schools compare to each other. Also missing: an explanation for how the analysis weights the five pillars, or how the methodology accommodates for different class sizes (e.g., HBS graduates double the number of students in one five-year period compared to Michigan Ross). P&Q is also critical of the fact that, for an outcomes-based ranking, LinkedIn neglects metrics on salary or salary growth in its analysis. Read the full critique here. 

Application Tips: How to Approach NYU Law’s Supplemental Information Section

The NYU Law School application requires applicants to submit a personal statement and a resume. In addition, NYU allows applicants to provide supplementary information in support of their candidacy. Their optional supplemental request is detailed below:

New York University School of Law seeks to enroll a student body from a broad spectrum of society. The Committee on Admissions encourages you to provide any information that may be helpful to us in reaching a thoughtful decision on your application. While the choice as to whether and what information to submit to the committee is entirely yours, any information you provide will be used to give the Committee a more complete understanding of your background: to help the committee reach an informed decision on your application, and to aid the Committee in selecting a student body with a range of experiences.

This is an opportunity to share with the Committee information about how your background will enable you to contribute to the NYU Law community. Information that has been helpful in the past includes, but is not limited to, meaningful leadership experience; significant community involvement; personal/family history or educational or socioeconomic disadvantage or unusual circumstance which may have affected academic performance and how you excelled despite those circumstance; and the skills you have developed to overcome adversity. This list is not all-inclusive, but we offer it for you to think about as you consider whether such information might be relevant in your case, and to assure you that it is quite appropriate.

Approach this optional essay as you would a diversity essay. Start by thinking about: What makes you unique? How has your personal journey likely differed from other applicants? And how has it shaped your world-view and goals? Have you encountered significant setbacks, yet through perseverance and grit, succeeded? How have these setbacks shaped how you approach challenges today? You will also want to reflect on past experiences when you learned and thrived alongside peers from different backgrounds and/or took on significant community or leadership roles. Are you a passionate environmentalist who has spent a great deal of time volunteering for environmental causes and hopes to spearhead a sustainability initiative within the law school? Were you a leader in the student government at your undergraduate institution and hope to take on a similar role at NYU?

Use this essay to show NYU’s admissions officers who you are and how you will be a valued member of their community.

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Moral & Ethical Situations

In an MMI interview, the Moral & Ethical Situation prompts are the ones that terrify applicants. They feel so high stakes. For example: Decide which of these two patients gets an organ transplant. Geez Louise.

Many MMI questions—especially the ones about morals and ethics—may omit details you might've considered when contemplating your answer. Fill in those blanks and consider them still because your answer could be conditional from an ethical or legal standpoint. "Conditional" does not mean wishy-washy but rather "If X factor is present, then my answer is Y."

Think about how you would answer this ethical question: A minor teenage patient asks you for a prescription for birth control pills—and doesn't want their parents to know about it. How would you handle this request?

You might reflexively have an answer to this—but pause and consider potential conditional factors, even if you ultimately dismiss them. Beyond answering your patient's request, what else might you discuss with your patient? You might ponder these questions:

  • Are there legal matters to consider?

  • Are there health risks to consider?

  • Is your patient sexually active already or considering becoming sexually active?

  • Is your patient 13 or 17?

  • Will your patient be using a second form of protection to prevent STIs?

  • Are they being pressured into a sexual relationship?

  • Is there anything you should know about their partner/partners—like how old they are?

  • If those things were not factors in your decision-making, why not?

Here's an example of a response to this question:

"If there are neither state laws limiting my ability nor significant health risks present, I would give my teenage patient a prescription for birth control without their parents’ knowledge. I would not tell their parents because the teen is my patient and deserves doctor-patient confidentiality. But there are things I would want to discuss before providing this prescription.

I would first provide my patient with information on all their birth control options. I'd advise my patient to use condoms as a secondary form of contraception to prevent STIs and ask them what they know about STIs.

Next, I'd want to establish that they want to have sex and that this isn't a case of a partner pressuring them to have sex. If the latter is true, it wouldn't determine whether I'd prescribe birth control, but it would influence our conversation, as I'd want to take care of my patient's mental health as well as their physical health. I'd also ask about their partner's (or partners’) age. Many age of consent laws have a close-in-age exemption, but some do not. I’d inform my patient if that was the case in our state, just so they’re aware of certain risks. If my patient revealed that they were already sexually active with a partner who was older than 18, I'd refer to my state's age of consent. I am required by law to report any suspected child abuse. I would also direct my patient to information on predatory behaviors.

If their partner was their same age, I likely would not weigh in on a 16- or 17-year-old’s choices beyond asking the aforementioned questions and providing helpful resources. But I might respectfully discourage a younger patient from having sex in the same way that I'd encourage a young patient to take care of their still maturing body and mind in other ways. (I know I'd advise my 14-year-old cousin or niece to consider waiting to have sex.) But again, I would still give a prescription to any patient that I legally can prescribe to, whether I was a family doctor or practicing at a sexual health center."

This is not a gut reaction—it's thoughtful, it's careful. This response considers legality—that's important. It involves a thorough conversation between doctor and patient. Wanting to connect shows empathy and asking the patient questions and providing answers to questions that they have or haven’t asked shows strong communication skills. The answer also expresses the respondent's personal beliefs; they would advise a 14-year-old relative to think more before having sex at such a young age. You might think this info has no place in the answer, but the interviewer wants to hear your internal monologue, not only what you'd say aloud to the patient. What matters most is that your resulting action is based on facts and that you showed your patient respect, not harsh judgment. You may not agree with this sample answer—but you should understand why it's a strong one.

Related:

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Healthcare Policy Questions

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Role Playing Scenarios

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Teamwork Activities

The Med School’s MMI Interview: Writing and Picture Stations

Top Five Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your MBA Application Essays

Writing your MBA application essays is a massive undertaking. You must show the admissions committee who you are and what you value, while simultaneously building a case for why you will succeed in business school and beyond. It’s a lot. But we can help.

Below are the top five most common mistakes we see applicants make as they approach their essays. Try your best to avoid them.

1. Trying to include everything: You cannot fit every relevant experience you've ever had into your essays—and hey, that's why you submit a resume. Stick to one or two key experiences will show your abilities in leadership and critical thinking, prompted growth, and reinforced your interest in obtaining an MBA. The essays are about showing depth.

2. Telling instead of showing: The admissions committee is looking for more than a list of your strengths and traits. Not only is that boring, it is unreliable. A good rule of writing is: “Show, don't tell." Listing off your qualities is meaningless if you're not backing them up with real-life examples. Instead of telling the reader, “I am good at solving complex problems,” provide an anecdote that will show them your critical and/or creative thinking in action.

Similarly, don’t tell the school what you will do in the future without showing them why you are capable of achieving such things. We've said it before: Sharing goals works when what comes before it exemplifies your strengths and abilities. More than what you want to do, what you have done tells us who you are.

3. Staying linear: Imagine your intro paragraph as the opening sequence of a movie—the most thrilling ones start mid-scene. You want to see an action star in action, not waking up to a buzzing alarm clock. Don't save the excitement for many scenes later. Show yourself there, then explain how you got there.

4. Being uptight: A personal essay is more like journalism than an academic paper. You're telling a story, and this one is about you. You want to sound intelligent and respectful but being a bit colloquial makes you appear confident and relaxed. As if to say, "This is who I am. This is who I plan to become." Boom.

5. Overusing passive voice: Keep most of your sentences active. Passive voice can minimize your contributions and slow down your essay's momentum. Active sentences move the statement forward.

There is flexibility, of course. Some passive sentences aren't slow-going or unnatural, and there are also times when you'll use passive voice for effect, accuracy, clarity, or flow. Just be mindful of how often you're doing it.

Finally, beware of having too many readers review your writing. If you're an Apply Point client, consider asking two people besides your two Apply Point advisors (who work as a team) to read your essays. If you're not working with a consultant, you could ask up to four people to read your work but make that the maximum just so you won't be overwhelmed by input.

This is not us saying that you shouldn't have any readers at all. You want eyes or ears on this, especially if they're attached to someone you respect who knows you well. In fact, the top question you should ask them is: "Does this sound like me?" Friends, family members, or a mentor can confirm if your essay gets your personality and best qualities across. That said, send them the edited, polished draft rather than your raw first draft. This way their suggestions and questions won't psych you out because you already have a good idea of what you want to present in your response.

Next Gen Bar Exam: Latest Updates

Last week the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) announced Next Gen Bar Exam updates. Here’s what you need to know. 

Considering Applying to a Caribbean Medical School? Meet the “Big Four.”

Students with lower MCAT scores and GPAs are more likely to be accepted to allopathic schools abroad than in the U.S. Due to Israel’s 2022 announcement that foreign students may no longer matriculate to Israeli medical programs, you'll be looking at the islands. Schools in the Caribbean are especially interested in students from the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada.

While attending a school outside of the U.S. may not be your first choice, it's likely that way more doctors than you think graduated from international schools. From 2010 to 2020, the number of licensed physicians who graduated from international medical schools increased by 24%. "About one-quarter (24.7%) of active physicians in 2020 were international medical graduates (IMGs)," according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. "This includes U.S. citizens who studied abroad."

When to Apply

Off-shore schools have rolling admissions (and have multiple start dates). We think you should start submitting applications to these programs with your U.S.-based allopathic applications in June.

Where to Apply

Of the 80 Caribbean medical schools, we recommend "The Big Four" to clients. All have key international accreditations; they are recognized by the World Federation for Medical Education/Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (WFME/ FAIMER). They are also recognized by stricter state medical boards (like California's). These top Caribbean schools also have competitive residency placement rates and other boast-worthy qualities.

Let's take a closer look at each of The Big Four:

St. George's University / Grenada, West Indies: As of December 2020, the average MCAT score of matriculants was 498. Their average undergraduate GPA was 3.3. St. George's has a strong reputation for students passing the USMLE Step 1 (95%), USMLE Step 2 (91%), and for residency placement. SGU secured more than 990 U.S. residencies in 2022. The Grenada-based program has been the largest provider of doctors into first-year U.S. residencies for the last eight years.

Get ready for a Data Fest! SGU reported that 93% of its eligible 2017 U.S. graduates obtained a PGY-1 (a.k.a. first postgraduate year or internship year) position. (In 2022, the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) reported that 92.9% of U.S. allopathic graduates matched into a PGY-1 position.) For even more perspective here, collectively, the 80 Caribbean medical schools had a PGY-1 match rate of 59% in 2019. (We're using different years here because the NRMP doesn't break down data by school, so our data sources are varied.) According to the FSMB, St. George's is the number one source of new primary care doctors in the U.S.

Saba University School of Medicine / Saba: Saba told us that as of April 2022, the average GPA of matriculants was 3.19 and the average MCAT was 497. Saba is smaller than SGU, so it has fewer graduates becoming residents—but their stats are strong. Between 2019 and 2021, 94% of graduates obtained residencies. The average first-time pass rate for the USMLE between 2015 and 2020 was 99%. Another thing the school highlights: The Saba Scholars Grant will pay the full tuition for the first semester of an academically qualified matriculant and can be combined with other scholarships. They also seem to weigh work history and recommendations heavily when offering U.S. students scholarships. Even an American student with a 480 MCAT or an overall GPA of 2.5 can qualify for a Faculty Scholarship of up to $25,000. A student with a 510 or above or a GPA of 3.7 can qualify for a Future Physician Scholarship of up to $110,000.

American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine / St. Maarten: In January 2022, the average GPA for matriculants was 3.27; the average MCAT score was 496. AUC has a 93.2% pass rate for the USMLE Step 1, a 92.8% pass rate for the USMLE Step 2 CK, and 96% of 2021-2022 graduates attained residencies. AUC's clinical rotations take place at Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-approved hospitals. It has clinical teaching affiliates in the U.S. and the U.K., and students can take global health electives in the Dominican Republic, Russia, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

Ross University School of Medicine / Bridgetown, Barbados: RUSM emphasizes remedying systemic bias in healthcare in their curriculum—and on campus. Diversity in the student body and faculty is highly valued. They have rolling admissions; prospective students can apply anytime. Matriculants can start school in January, May, or September. The majority of clinical training takes place in the United States. 2022 graduates had a residency match rate of 96% and the school has consistently had a 91% first-time pass rate for the USMLE Step 1 and Step 2. The school gave $50 million in scholarships and grants in 2020. 

Women’s Enrollment in MBA Programs Continues to Climb

MBA matriculation is inching closer to gender parity. According to new data released by the Forte Foundation and reported by the Wall Street Journal, women make up 42 percent of 2023 MBA enrollees. This is up slightly from last year’s 41 percent and up significantly from 34 percent in 2013.

Five MBA programs did achieve gender parity: George Washington University’s School of Business, Oxford Said, Johns Hopkins Carey, U Penn Wharton, and Penn State Smeal. An additional 15 programs came close with women making up at least 44 percent of total enrollees. Among this group are some of the world’s most prestigious MBA programs. They include Northwestern Kellogg (48 percent), Stanford GSB (46 percent), MIT Sloan (46 percent), and Harvard Business School (45 percent).

Notably, two of the five programs that achieved gender parity, Oxford Said and Penn State Smeal, are one-year programs. Administrators from both schools told the WSJ that this shorter time commitment appeals to women, particularly those who carry family responsibilities.

Programs with the Highest Percentage of Female Matriculants (Fall 2023):

  • George Washington University (65 percent)

  • Oxford University-Saïd (51 percent)

  • Johns Hopkins University-Carey (51 percent)

  • University of Pennsylvania-Wharton (50 percent)

  • Penn State University-Smeal (50 percent)

  • University of Rochester-Simon (49 percent)

  • University of Toronto-Rotman (49 percent)

  • Northwestern University-Kellogg (48 percent)

  • University of Washington-Foster (47 percent)

  • Stanford Graduate School of Business (46 percent)

  • Queen's University-Smith (46 percent)

  • MIT-Sloan (46 percent)

  • Duke University-Fuqua (45 percent)

  • Harvard Business School (45 percent)

  • Alliance Manchester School of Business (45 percent)

  • Arizona State University-W. P. Carey (44 percent)

  • Columbia Business School (44 percent)

  • Dartmouth-Tuck (44 percent)

  • ESADE (44 percent)

  • Michigan State University-Broad (44 percent)

Your Law School Application: Create a Brainstorm Document

Before you can begin work on your personal statement, resume, and school-specific essays, you’ll want to create a brainstorm document where you will explore your formative experiences—what you thought, felt, said, and did. While your brainstorm text does not need to be polished, your unfinished thoughts should be organized for greater ease when writing. Putting meaningful experiences into different "buckets" helps a lot. You might have some crossover with experiences technically fitting into two buckets or more—don't worry about that; put them in one bucket, for now, to keep things grouped. Maybe write: "This is also a leadership experience" or "Integrity/Critical Thinking" in your notes.

Bucket 1: A-ha Moments: What meaningful experiences changed your mind about or expanded your perspective on something? Some could be spectacular successes, others, catastrophic failures. Have you learned from a mistake? What skills of yours did you discover in a challenging time? What did you think about these things at the time? How did you feel? (Prepare yourself, we're going to ask those last two repeatedly.)

Bucket 2: Intellectual Curiosity: What experiences have prompted you to seek out additional learning or research? What ideas or issues are you most passionate about? Why? Do you have related academic or professional experience?

Bucket 3: Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: In what meaningful experiences did you utilize critical thinking and problem-solving skills? How did you determine the best course of action? Did you approach something one way at first and then correct yourself? What did you think about these things at the time? How did you feel?

Bucket 4: Leadership Abilities: In what meaningful experiences did you show your leadership abilities? Did leadership come naturally to you, or did you work to get to this place? (Both things are great!) How did you support your team? Did you encourage collaboration or independence? Did you feel supported by your team? Did you experience any pushback, and how did you handle that if you did? What did you think about these things at the time? How did you feel?

Bucket 5: Teamwork and Collaboration: During what meaningful experiences did you work with a team or collaborate with others? Were you working with people unlike yourself? Was there a struggle for balance in the beginning? Any confusion? What did you appreciate about your team members? How did they influence and impact you and your actions? Did one or two team members step up in a way you admired? What did you think about these things at the time? How did you feel?

Bucket 6: Ethical Behavior: Fill this bucket. In what meaningful experiences did you showcase your ability to stand strong and make the right decision? How have you demonstrated your personal ethical code? What did you think about these things at the time? How did you feel?

Bucket 7: Experiences that Reinforced Your Commitment to the Study of Law: What meaningful experiences reinforced your commitment to studying law? Have you known that you wanted to go to law school for some time? What situations let you know that you were on the right track? Was it meeting a judge or lawyer you admired? Was it accomplishing something academically? While volunteering? What did you think of these things at the time? How did you feel?

Bucket 8: Miscellaneous: What experiences have you had that you can't quite categorize? What else should we know about you? What do you think we don't necessarily have to know? Don’t be afraid to expose some vulnerability and use everything you’ve got. You should even include things about yourself and what you care about that you don't imagine will be a factor in an essay. You might be able to weave aspects of your personality or some fun facts into your Personal Statement or school-specific essays to add some color—or something even better.

Your Medical School Interview: Ways to Wing It

If you're doing interviews with multiple schools, you'll inevitably encounter an interviewer who has gone rogue. They might ask something completely bizarre because they're new at this or (and this is rare) in a terrible mood that you must ignore and overcome. Try not to visibly react to either. Instead, try this:

"Can you repeat that?"

If you're unclear on what they are talking about, ask for a repetition. Often, they won't just repeat what they've said but explain it differently, more clearly. If they repeat it verbatim, at least you'll have had 20 seconds to absorb it. If you did understand the question, you can ask for a repeat to give yourself that 20 seconds. Travel back to that childhood spelling bee. Sometimes you asked for the judges to use the word in a sentence because you were looking for contextual clues. Other times, you were buying yourself some think-time. Revisit that strategy.

You could also respond with: “That's an interesting question. I want to think about that for a moment.": Slight flattery, followed by a second to gather yourself. We had a client who was asked what she would do if she did not become a doctor. She took a beat and confidently answered a question she had not seen coming.

Keep Calm and Carry On

Interviewing is a nerve-wracking process. Ninety-nine percent of interviewers will encourage you to relax. They want to know you, not grill you. Then there is that one percent…

An interrogative interviewer might be testing your ability to maintain your composure. Or they might be a jerk who loves being a jerk. It doesn't matter. What matters is your focus on why you'd be an excellent addition to their school and a top-notch physician.

Once, an interviewer interjected as a client shared a college experience to say: "I've never even heard of where you went to college." Without displaying any negative emotion or slamming another school to praise her own, she explained that it was the college that offered her the most academic scholarship money and that she'd had so many hands-on experiences there. She was even credited on a professor's academic paper. Her response was calm and detailed because she'd utilized her brainstorm notes about her formative experiences so often when preparing her application. She nailed it: She was able to naturally remind this guy of her academic scholarship, prove her practicality, and mention a noteworthy accomplishment. Even her interview adversary had nothing negative to say about this response.

Related:

What to Expect in Your Traditional Medical School Interview: Wildcard Questions

The Medical School Interview: Don’t Forget, You’re Interviewing Them Too.

Your Medical School Group Interview: A Team Sport

Harvard Business School: Writing Your Post-Interview Reflections

Were you invited to interview at Harvard Business School? If so, congratulations! Once you feel confident in your interview preparation, you will need to start thinking about your post-interview reflection, which should be submitted within 24 hours of your interview. The submission is not a formal essay. Harvard’s Admissions Blog describes the exercise as a chance to both get students’ opinions regarding their interviews, as well as provide them with a real-world practicum. Professionals routinely need to send emails summarizing meetings and offering assessments, and their ability to do this well is critical for workplace success.

Here is our advice for creating your memo:

  • Immediately after your interview, take down some notes about the topics you covered, including some specific details and points of connection. You’ll want to ensure that your content reflects back details from the day.

  • Take time to reflect before you begin drafting. Think critically about the interview. This submission is an opportunity for you to demonstrate real-world strategic thinking and writing skills, as well as offer any information that you feel you did not adequately explain. Some points to consider:

    • What were the highlights?

    • What could have gone better?

    • Did anything about the interview, or your time on campus, surprise or excite you?

    • Were there any remaining “gaps” after your interview, and if so, how would you have addressed these?

    • Did you make it clear to your interviewer(s) what unique experiences, skills, or perspectives you would offer to your MBA class?

  • Strike a tone similar to that of a post-meeting summary you would write to a colleague or supervisor at work.

  • After you’ve drafted the piece, walk away. Come back later to review content, style, grammar, and flow with fresh eyes. Keep in mind that Harvard is looking for both a well-written and thoughtful assessment of your interview.

  • This piece should not be crafted prior to the interview, adapted from another essay, or used as additional resume space. You’ll want to make the most of this final opportunity to show the admissions committee who you are and how you think.

Your story set apart.