The Law Review seeks each year to recruit a committed, accomplished, and diverse staff of editors. In selecting our membership, we consider writing competition entries, grades, and statements of interest. We recognize that each one of these criteria provides important information about an individual’s qualifications and abilities to contribute to the journal. Our selection process, therefore, attempts to strike a balance among them. As a result, each member of the first year class has a genuine opportunity to qualify for Law Review membership.
Writing Competition
Applicants are asked to write a commentary on a thought-provoking legal topic and complete a bluebooking exercise. Immediately following the completion of their last final exam, applicants must pick up the background materials and detailed rules governing the writing competition. Applicants may not research beyond the materials provided to them. Entries are judged on numerous factors relating to analytical and writing skills, including the ability to synthesize the background materials, the strength of argument, and the attention paid to proofreading and bluebooking.
Grades
When the Registrar’s Office receives grades from first-year professors, the grade point averages of all applicants are automatically forwarded to the Law Review so that they may be taken into account in the selection process. All interested students are strongly encouraged to apply regardless of GPA; there are no cutoffs, and grades are the least important factor in evaluating applicants.
Statements of Interest
Applicants are asked to submit a statement of interest, responding to prompts that will be provided. All applicants should know that the statement will be judged as an independent piece of expository writing. Statements will be read for thoughtful engagement with prompts and attention to proofreading detail. The statement is an opportunity for applicants to provide the Selection Committee a more comprehensive view of who you are as an individual.
Résumés
Students have the option of submitting a résumé as part of their application. This document can be used to share personal and professional information that cannot be easily communicated through a personal statement. The résumés will be used by the Law Review to realize its commitment to staff diversity. Names and addresses should be removed from all résumés before submitting them in the application.
Selection Methods
The Law Review will extend invitations to at least 55 students from the first-year class based on a consideration of all the above materials.
Transfer Student Selection
At the very beginning of the academic year, the law journals conduct a smaller version of the standard writing competition for newly enrolled second-year transfer students. From this competition, the Law Review will select at least two and potentially more members, depending on the size of the rest of the rising second-year Law Review class. Prospective transfer students do not participate in the standard writing competition.
