Author: Peony Wong, 2025-2026 Diversity Liaison
 
If you’ve made it to the interview level of the graduate application process, congratulations! It is a huge accomplishment, and you should be proud of getting here. Programs extend interviews to those who are qualified, so the interview is more for the program and your future mentor to get a better understanding of who you are as a person. Don’t forget that just as much as they are interviewing you, you are interviewing them!
 
Here are some tips to get you started with the interview process!
 
1. If you’re doing a virtual interview, be prepared to sit in front of the computer for most of the day. Have snacks, water, a fan, or whatever you might need to be comfortable for a long period of time.

2. Take the time to research the program’s goals and your potential mentor’s research. When you speak with your potential mentor, it’s a good idea to run your research ideas by them to see if they align with their future research directions. It is not frequent, but sometimes research interests shift, and mentors may be moving in a different direction than their previous interests.

3. Be prepared to answer common interview questions. Here are some examples-
    a. Tell me about yourself.
    b. Why do you want to pursue a graduate degree?
    c. What do you see yourself doing after graduating from this program?
    d. Why are you interested in this program?
    e. Why are you interested in this faculty mentor?
    f. What are some ideas you have for a research project/thesis/dissertation?
    g. Talk about a time when you have overcome a challenge in your research or work.
    h. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

4. Ask questions about the mentorship style, student-faculty relationships, funding/tuition, or living in or near the campus amongst different students, staff, and faculty. Ask about practicum sites, internship outcomes, or post-graduate opportunities. Current students provide a lot of insight into the culture of the program, funding/tuition, and cost of living. Here are some common questions you may ask-
    a. How is work-life balance?
    b. Would you describe the students to be more collaborative or competitive?
    c. What does funding look like?
    d. What is it like living in this area? Do you feel that funding is sufficient for the cost of living?
    e. How do you feel about the learning and training you received with preparedness for internships and            graduation?
    f. Are there opportunities to work with other faculty mentors?
    g. What is the “worst” part of this program?

5. If you are in a group interview, it is important to stand out, AND it is also important to remain professional and conscientious of others. Many people are likely going to want to share their thoughts or ask questions. Try your best to manage standing out and letting others speak.

6. Practice short 30-minute interviews with peers, colleagues, and even friends! Practice helps work out some of the kinks of responding and helps get out of those interview jitters.

7. If programs give you enough notice, investigate your interviewers’ most recent research and connect their interests with yours, if it applies. Always have relevant questions prepared for any staff or faculty.

8. Although programs have likely read your CV and personal statement, think about the experiences you would like to highlight. Be able to summarize your research experience of each lab group or location and point out some of the ways you have uniquely contributed.

9. After interviewing, send a short thank you email to the faculty, staff, and students you interviewed with. It is also a great time to follow up with any questions you might have that you did not have time to get to or wanted more clarification on.
 
Now that you have finished the interview process... how do you choose which program is for you?
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1. First, let the program that you received the notification. You don’t have to decide until mid-April.
2. Fit is everything! Really think about what’s important for you for the next 2-5 years and decide your non-negotiables. Everyone has different non-negotiables so decide which are yours and stick to them.
3. Only accept an offer from a program you can see yourself. Don’t settle if you cannot see yourself being there.
4. Consider which program best aligns with your long-term goals and career trajectory.
5. Take a deep dive into your budget and financial situation to decide whether a school would be financially reasonable. If you are considering loans, start looking at how that may impact any future financial goals.
 
Whatever you decide in your graduate application, you should be proud of yourself for applying! Make a decision that feels most right for you :)

​Students interested in psychology and law are often deeply familiar with the research side of the field. Many can readily discuss jury decision-making, eyewitness memory, interrogation practices, sentencing disparities, or procedural justice, yet still feel uncertain about how that knowledge functions once it enters real legal systems. Moving from research familiarity to practice-adjacent work requires a shift in orientation—one that centers less on theory itself and more on how psychological findings are translated into forms that legal actors can actually use.

In practice, working with the law does not follow a single pathway, even for those trained in psychology–law. Some individuals pursue legal practice through law school and draw on psychological insight in areas such as criminal defense, family law, civil rights litigation, or policy work. Others remain within psychology but operate in applied legal contexts, conducting research that informs court procedures, evaluating programs, advising agencies, or working in mediation, diversion, or advocacy settings. Still others occupy hybrid roles, collaborating directly with attorneys, judges, or policymakers without holding a law degree. Across these roles, the central task is not simply producing knowledge, but translating psychological evidence into legally meaningful guidance.
This translation process is often where students encounter the greatest disconnect. Legal decision-makers are rarely asking whether a finding is theoretically elegant or statistically novel. They want to know what it means for the case, the policy, the client, or the institution in front of them. Lawyers, judges, and policymakers operate under tight deadlines, procedural constraints, and adversarial incentives, and they care primarily about practical implications: what should change, what risks matter, what outcomes are likely, and how a particular insight affects a concrete decision. Psychological research has tremendous potential in these spaces, but its influence depends on whether it is framed in ways that answer those questions.

This does not mean that legal actors are indifferent to scientific rigor; rather, rigor is assumed and usefulness is decisive. Research that remains abstract or disconnected from legal realities is unlikely to shape practice, regardless of its quality. For psychology–law students, learning how to articulate the implications of findings—how they affect behavior, decision-making, fairness, or outcomes within legal systems—is just as important as the findings themselves.

There are also practical misconceptions that can limit students’ thinking. Holding a JD is not required to contribute meaningfully to legal systems, even at advanced levels. Many psychology–law professionals influence practice through program evaluation, policy advising, expert consultation, and applied research rather than litigation. Conversely, students who do pursue law school often underestimate how valuable their psychological training already is. Skills such as analyzing human behavior, evaluating evidence, identifying bias, and communicating complex information clearly are foundational to legal work, even if they are not explicitly labeled as psychology once inside legal institutions.
For those considering law school, it is worth noting that law schools prioritize demonstrated skills and clarity of purpose over disciplinary labels. Strong writing, coherent reasoning, research experience, and a well-articulated interest in legal systems matter far more than following a traditional pre-law path. Psychology–law students are often particularly well prepared, especially when they can explain how their background informs their interest in legal practice or reform.

Preparation for practice-adjacent work also differs from preparation for purely academic careers. Exposure to real legal environments—courts, mediation centers, advocacy organizations, or policy institutions—helps students understand how legal systems prioritize efficiency, finality, and procedure, sometimes at the expense of psychological nuance. These experiences clarify where psychological insight can realistically shape outcomes and where it must be adapted to institutional constraints. Learning to communicate research findings in concise, actionable terms is a critical skill for bridging this gap.
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Many psychology–law students may feel pressure to commit early to a single trajectory or worry that uncertainty reflects a lack of direction. In reality, careers at the intersection of psychology and law are often incremental and adaptive. Professional identities develop through experience, collaboration, and exposure to legal systems in action, and the ability to move between research and applied contexts is often a strength rather than a limitation.
Psychology–law students are uniquely positioned to improve legal systems, not simply by producing strong research, but by translating psychological science into insights that legal actors can use. Bridging the gap between empirical knowledge and legal decision-making is challenging, but it is also where the field’s most meaningful impact occurs.