WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. –October 17, 2002 -- Pace Law School applicants will now have the option of requesting a formal, in-person interview with a member of the admissions committee. The program has been developed to improve the Law School’s overall recruitment and retention of highly qualified students. Currently, only a handful of law schools utilize this tool to evaluate their candidates

"During a time when applications to law schools are on the rise nationally, we feel that the interview process will help distinguish Pace from other law schools, said Dean Cohen. "The addition of a personal interview will give us the opportunity to evaluate the "whole" person and not just the numbers."

The Pace admissions committee anticipates that the interview will provide multiple benefits:

· Stimulate interest of prospective students and therefore increase the number of qualified applicants.

· Enable the admissions committee to better identify outstanding students by obtaining, in addition to the GPA and LSAT data, qualitative information about the candidate’s interpersonal and communication skills, career direction/placement, and community service involvement, leadership skills and personal goals.

· Improve our allocation of scholarship dollars.

In support of the decision to create an interview program at Pace, Dean Cohen pointed to a  similar program at Northwestern University’s Law School, who introduced an interview process in 1997.  The University of California, has also recently indicated that they too are moving away from the practice of relying so heavily on standardized tests in making admissions decisions.

"Law Schools are the gatekeepers of the legal profession and the judiciary, noted Dean Cohen.

"We have an obligation to provide our profession with highly qualified attorneys whose value cannot always be accurately or completely assessed by GPA’s and LSAT scores."

Founded in 1976, Pace Law School is located in White Plains, N.Y., 20 miles north of New York City. The School offers the J.D. program for full-time, and part-time day, and evening students. Its post-graduate program includes the LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees in Environmental Law and an LL.M. in Comparative Legal Studies. Pace has one of the nation's top-rated environmental law programs and its Clinical Education Program also is nationally ranked, offering clinics in domestic violence prosecution, securities arbitration, criminal justice, and disability rights.