adMISSION: HLS

The J.D. Admissions team is looking forward to meeting applicants virtually this year, but before we get too far into recruitment season, we wanted to look back at 2020–2021 by the numbers.

Sydney Montgomery, HLS '18, is the CEO of S. Montgomery Admissions Consulting, where she specializes in working with first-generation and minority college and law school applicants. 

The J.D. Admissions team recently came together to offer their thoughts on some underrated and overrated approaches that applicants might take towards their HLS application. We hope you’ll find some of these nuggets useful.

Xiaoli Jin and Alice Chen are members of the Junior Deferral Program (JDP) Class of 2024 and co-authors of the pilot Alumni Conversations series. In this post, Xiaoli and Alice chat about their own experiences applying to JDP, navigating the deferral period, and talking with HLS alumni.

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling ’22 – as in, Fall Term 2022. If you are also looking ahead to the upcoming admissions cycle, read on to learn more about our anticipated dates and deadlines for the year.

We thought we would take this chance to preview our upcoming recruitment activities, which will once again be entirely virtual. For those interested in having the J.D. Admissions office join your group, school, or organization for an open Q&A on the admissions process, we’d also like to share details on how to get in touch.

Deven Hurt is a rising 2L at Harvard Law School and CEO of PredictionStrike. 

Marty Linsky ’64 was a politician, journalist, co-founder of Cambridge Leadership Associates, and for 40 years taught at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, among many other roles spanning a wide range of fields. He reflected on his life stories in a Zoom chat with Xiaoli and Alice and was hopeful that the three would eventually catch up in person at the end of the pandemic.

Amanda Bello is a rising 3L who transferred to HLS after spending her 1L year at Cornell Law School. 

Junior Deferral Program admit John Casey reflects on his time at the University of Pennsylvania, as a member of the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), and shares why embracing setbacks has been vital to developing his vision for a legal career. 

As a General Partner at Founders Fund, Keith tags himself as an entrepreneur, investor, and contrarian on social media. In a Zoom call with Keith and his Chief of Staff Matt Lanter, Xiaoli and Alice sought to trace Keith’s entrepreneurial roots back to his time at HLS.

Many students are actively working on their Junior Deferral Program applications, so we asked five recent admits to share their advice on the application process. We hope you find their insights helpful as you complete your application.

A little over a year ago, I got a call around 11am from a number I didn’t fully recognize. The area code, however, was not unfamiliar; by now, I knew that 617 meant Massachusetts. Like many other admits might tell you, it was a moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

Amaka is the head of Eurasia Group’s Africa practice, where she helps clients understand the interaction of politics, policy, and markets across sub-Saharan Africa. Amaka had a joyful conversation with Xiaoli and Alice via Google Hangout on a Thursday afternoon. They talked about everything from HLS, to geopolitical consulting, to Amaka’s beloved homeland, Nigeria.

We recently sat down with current 3L Brice Ngameni to learn more about his work as president and co-founder of Pembe, a non-profit organization focused on supporting students of African descent trying to get into — and succeed at — American law schools. 

Back in September, we set out our expected timeline for the 2020–2021 application cycle on this blog. I’m writing today to share one update to the September blog post: we plan to interview and admit candidates in April this year.

The  Junior Deferral Program (JDP) application is now open, so we asked five recent admits to share their thoughts and reflections on why they chose to apply to HLS through the Junior Deferral Program. We hope you will find their insights helpful as you consider this option.

Dear Future Colleague (DFC)  is a national nonprofit that provides encouragement, mentorship, and guidance  to underrepresented students applying to law school. We spoke with Nancy Fairbank (2L, HLS) and Melody Zargari (1L, University of Florida Levin College of Law) about how DFC was founded, what issues it seeks to address, and what’s in store for the future.

Over the last two years, we have attempted to demystify the application process by releasing the dates for each application cycle early. With that in mind, we wanted to share the important dates and deadlines for the upcoming Junior Deferral Program (JDP) application timeline.

With the turn of the calendar to January, we often wish one another a happy new year. But it has been hard to do so in the past week. As we all reflect on the first days of 2021, I wanted to share a message from our student body co-presidents to the HLS community. I found Noelle and Billy’s words meaningful, and I hope you do too. - Dean Jobson