I had never felt this much pressure in my life. I know that this was just an interview that I was doing for my English 21002 Writing for the Social Science Class but this was Columbia Law school where I was doing the interview. I have no idea if I was being crazy for being so nervous. Just the fact that I was able to get to talk to someone from admission at Columbia law seemed crazy. I kinda just expected them to just scoff and turn me away since I’m not even a senior yet. Surprisingly they didn’t. I had sent them an email a few weeks earlier to see who and where I could talk to someone about the admission process if they would even let me. I was surprised when they emailed me back saying that Columbia had an open door policy and anyone can talk to the admission officers. I honestly thought they were going to send me an email telling me to email at another time or something like that. Reading the email it felt like an advertisement trying to encourage to apply for their school.
It was crazy that a place that I never thought I would ever get to enter was possible. To be honest the main pressure came from just the fact that I was going to this famous, fancy, ivy league school and that in three years I would be applying to this school. I got lost several times since the admissions office is in a different building than the actual law school. Entering both buildings felt weird. Like I thought it was going to be harder to get into the school but it was really easy. You just walk in and no one says anything. I was waiting for someone to ask me what I was doing and then escort me off the premise. I felt like a fraud like I didn’t belong there.
Even talking to the people there I felt like I didn’t belong. They were such insiders. To be fair they were admissions officers of the university. I don’t know how much more of an insider you have to be unless you’re the dean or somebody like that. When I went to the 5th floor I talked to this receptionist and he was very nice to me. Had a warm smile and tone when he talked. He was on the phone several times but we managed to talk for a bit. He asked me what I came to the admissions floor for. I explained to him that I was came to do an interview to learn more about the law school admissions process for a project I was doing for English class. Then he asked me what I wanted to know and if I wanted to tour Columbia law school. Offered me some brochures, pamphlets and a book talking all about the school. He had me sign my name on the guest list. I had noticed that everyone on that list but me had applied to Columbia law this year. One thing I do remember when he was asking what I was coming here was if I was a student at Columbia University. I wished now that I had lied and said yes but I said no I was a student at CCNY. The look on the guy face or maybe it was just me felt this sense of an ok disappointment kind of vibe. Made me kinda feel like I didn’t belong and shouldn’t have come.
After talking with me for a bit he had he talk to this admissions officer. It was a woman named Cathy. She was a bit taller than me, young like in her thirties she seemed, dressed very professionally in a suit that you can expect an office worker to wear. I asked if I could record the interview and she politely told me no. “ I would prefer not” was exactly what she said. She spoke in a very professional diplomatic manner. When I asked questions about the admissions process it reminded me of things that I read on the website. Like when I asked her what made an applicant stand out. She said “it’s a holistic process.” A phrase that I have commonly heard when researching about the college admission process. I feel like that’s what a lot of schools like to say to avoid talking about the admission process. It’s a phase that admissions like to use to defend their process and keep it in mystery which has upset people especially due to the college admission scandal. People are fed up with not understanding the admission process. I was thinking about that after the interview was over. Just how similar the conversation about applying to grad school and undergrad is. I thought it would be different because the graduate school is more concentrated in doing the field that you want to do while undergrad is usually a liberal arts education. I guess I was wrong. Apply to graduate school just the tone just felt similar to applying to another college. It did kind of annoy me but it wasn’t her fault.
I tried my hardest not to show how I felt which I felt like I did well. Maybe if I had been more open minded this interview could have been better. She was quite stiff. Like she sat upright and was very serious. I felt like she might have been a bit off put by me taking notes. She kinda spoke a bit fast so I just stopped trying to write notes and tried to have a conversation instead. It was a good experience learning more about the law school admission process. I’m glad that I went outside my comfort zone and got more active. At least I’ll be prepared on how to fill out my application for CCNY Skadden Arps program. It’s a program which helps students prepare for law school and assist in the application process.
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