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If your numbers are that good I probably wouldnt worry that much about it. Also, it probably didn’t go as bad as you think. I feel like it would be unfair for him to give you a bad recommendation just because you guys differ in reasoning for “why law”.
I had my Vanderbilt interview last Monday and was accepted this Monday. My numbers are right below their LSAT Median and at the GPA 75th. My interviewer was very friendly and it flowed more like a casual conversation about law school than an interview. He also told me at one point that the interview was more to sway kids to consider Vanderbilt than to actually evaluate you. He said they were looking to make your sure you weren’t crazy or absolutely terrible. I would say that you are completely fine. Maybe your interviewer simply wasn’t very conversational. I can’t see anyone bombing the interview to the point where it would override a GPA and LSAT as strong as yours. Good luck!
Mine said the same thing.
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Even the fact this happened is a good sign. He wouldn’t pitch the school to you if he thought you were a dud. Also, In future interviews you could stress the intellectually challenging nature of big law and how that appeals to you. Just because you’re doing transactional M&A work doesn’t mean its not important. You may not be directly affecting someone’s life in some deep existential way, but corporate law is a necessary service to keep our economy running.
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Yeesh, that sounds rough, and not exactly a question I’d expect in a LS interview
I got that question at multiple interviews, and it should be expected.
There are lots of viable jobs for people who can get into law school. And if you can’t articulate a strong reason for going into the law instead of another field, then you likely won’t last very long as an attorney.
But OP, I doubt that you’re in trouble. The interview can only serve as a breaking point if your numbers were on the margins or if you legitimately came off as as psychopath.
Wait what? This describes like 90% of kids going to law school who have no idea what the day-to-day of being a lawyer is like. Which is impossible to know until you’re actually, ya know, a lawyer. I’m a paralegal and I still don’t know exactly what the attorneys I work for do all day. Practically no one has a strong reason for going into law instead of another field, besides the fact that they’re humanities majors and can’t find another job. You’ve either got kids who wanna be a lawyer “to make a difference”, kids who wanna be a lawyer to make money and kids who just don’t know what else to do with their 3.8 in Political Science. No one wants to be a lawyer cause they’re excited to do the stuff lawyers actually do on a day-to-day basis. “Articulating a strong reason for going into the law instead of another field” in a way that is both honest and informed is a virtually impossible standard for the vast majority of applicants. Yet many of these will indeed last as attorneys.
OP, when I get asked this question, I just talk about my various legal jobs/internships and what I enjoyed about them. Which, of course, doesn’t directly answer “Why Law” because I never practiced any actual law and mostly just talked on the phone a lot. Interviewers seem to like that answer though.
Fair, well I’m fucked then.
But yeah I agree with cavalier in that OP should be fine
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I know. It’s almost like I’m saying that a large portion of kids going to law school shouldn’t be going to law school.
I don’t know how to parse the OP’s story, since I wasn’t there. I can chime in with my own interview.
I was interviewed by a Vanderbilt in October. They’d sent an application fee waiver after my Sept LSAT (167) 3 days after the score came through, and we interviewed four days later - super quick & responsive on their part.
The interview was fantastic. It was at a cafe in downtown, went on for over an hour. Vandy made a real effort. They got an environmental federal lawyer, since that’s my main interest in going to law school. The interviewer had graduated in the ‘80s, had considerable seniority in the profession, and was immensely helpful and friendly. I’d sent him my resume and a draft of my personal statement. We went over both and he gave me incredibly helpful (i.e. honest) feedback on how to improve both. I was floored. Vandy didnt’ just want me to apply - they wanted me to be the best I could. In a sense, that sold me on the school like nothing else could have. (I’ll still be applying to T6 since my Dec LSAT was promising, but I’m taking Vandy a LOT more seriously as a result of the interview.)
Yes part of the meeting is for them to assure you’re not crazy. But I got the sense it’s a lot more than that. Vanderbilt has a very unique reputation for being a friendly school, and I felt the interview serves the function to not just sell candidates on the school but to determine whether the candidate would fit in with the school atmosphere - friendly and collegial, as opposed to cut throat. That’s a lot more than just screening potential sociopaths. It’s screening for positive qualities and a mature social personality.
Interviewers write back a detailed report to the school. This report makes a difference to your admission. My interviewer who’d interviewed for decades told me after the interview (per email) that he recommended me in the strongest possible terms. Not sure he’d have reached out to me if I hadn’t personally sent him an email first to thank him for his time. And that’s important. You reach out to them, you are professional and friendly in interacting with them, and they’ll treat you with equal respect and interest.
That’s my advice. Don’t blow the interview - be appreciative of the amount of time a full time lawyer is giving to you, personally. Express that appreciation during and after the interview. Make sure to establish rapport. I spent the first fifteen minutes trying to get a sense of the person who was interviewing me - where they’re from, geographically and culturally, and what they are doing now. Don’t try this unless you’re genuinely interested. But once you have rapport, the rest of the interview will be entirely painless. Understand it’s closer to a two way conversation than a job interview.
This sounds accurate.
Mine took out a Vanderbilt brochure and, with a pen as a pointer, was pointing out why Vandy is awesome. Kind of felt like I was shopping for some kind of life insurance plan 
I have a feeling one of us is going to be in for a rude awakening when we get to school…
During my Vanderbilt interview, the woman trashed my UG and at one point asked me if I “had taken the LSAT yet”.
A few weeks later I got my acceptance package.
Don’t sweat it.
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