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Law
School Essay--Personal Statement
What Law Schools Want
Law schools look at a range of screening criteria to select those canditates
who in their estimation will do well in law school and are most likely
to be worthy representatives of the law in the real world. Although there
are many performance indicators looked at, the two most significant are:
- Strong prior academic performance
- Strong performance on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT)
Question: Since many or all of the applicants to law
schools have equally high G.P.A's and strong LSAT scores, how is it that
some make the cut while the majority fail?
Answer: Because law schools consider other factors apart
from academic performance and LSAT scores to select their pool of applicants.
At the top of the other-factors list is the personal statement
or the personal essay. Law schools look for men and women who
are not only strong academically, but also strong in personal qualities
and life experiences. This is why the personal essay is so important and
why it can be the tie breaker in getting into law school.
The personal statement or the essay part of your application
is the place to talk about those personal qualities and life experiences
that make you unique. Try to figure out what it is about you that may
set you apart from others--a prior job experience, an exceptional challenge
that you had to face, a serious obstacle overcome--all of these are material
for a personal statement. A word of caution: Don't just state what the
experience was; explain why the experience was of value to you. Whether
it is a job, a family experience or something in your upbringing, be sure
to tell what you learned from it and how you think that knowlege may be
beneficial to you in law school. Be brief. Don't overdo it on the details.
 USC Law School
advice to prospective students on The Personal Statement:
"The admissions committee gives careful attention
to your personal statement. We are particularly interested in your motivation
for studying law, your academic background, and qualities you possess
that may enhance the diversity of our student body. If you are a college
senior or recent graduate, you may wish to mention your work history and
extracurricular activities. If you have spent a year or more in the work
force after college, tell us about your employment experience; enclose
a resume to illustrate your chronological work history.
There is no specific word or page requirement or
limit for your personal statement. However, the committee values carefully
crafted essays that are clear, concise, and compelling."
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Boston Law School advice onThe Personal Statement:
Defining the personal statement
A personal statement for law school is an essay
that should present in two pages a clear and vibrant image of you.
"It is an essay. There should be structure, an introductory
paragraph, topic sentences and a conclusion. This structure should be
a help and not a burden in developing a dominant theme. The ideas (and
the sentences) do not have to be complex. Write for clarity Elaborate
on the theme; present experiences that develop your ideas. Grades, tests
and
recommendations will be used to determine your intellectual ability. The
personal statement will establish how effectively you can communicate.
It should be clear and vibrant. Admissions officers offer
a range of ideas on writing personal statements but they universally agree
on one request, "Don't bore me." Style should be honest and
concise. Obscure references, pretentious phrases and ostentatious vocabulary
will not be mistaken for eloquence. The tone should be confident, a personal
statement should be positive. Explain grades and test scores elsewhere.
Citing the example of someone you admire is appropriate if the focus stays
on you.
The personal statement is an image of you. An essay that is a
pro-forma exercise is a missed opportunity. For yourself, as well as the
admissions committee, the personal statement is a chance to identify the
significance of past experience, current purpose and future goals. At
its best, it is a way to "gather your dreams together into words
"
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The University of Chicago and The Personal Statement:
Personal Statement
"Perhaps because
self-analysis is a demanding task and modesty a prized virtue, the personal
statement is often the cause of great anxiety for law school applicants
and engenders a marked appreciation and respect for "writer's block."
It need not be so. Unlike other parts of the application that, by the
time you decide to apply to law school, are beyond your control - such
as extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation, LSAT score,
and transcript - the personal statement gives you the chance to express
yourself candidly and set the tone for your application.
The personal statement is one of the first items that admissions
officers scrutinize because, in the absence of a personal interview, it
amounts to the closest thing to a dialogue with you,
the applicant. You should view the personal statement, therefore,
as a prose interview and embrace it as a welcome opportunity to let law
schools know something about you that is not reflected in your academic
and extracurricular record or in your letters of recommendation. Of course,
as Mies van der Rohe once said, "God is in the details," so
your challenge is to choose carefully what you wish to say, let your personality
shine through, and emphasize your distinctiveness for making an impact.
Before we discuss some approaches that you might consider as you prepare
to write your personal statement, you should note the following:
- The personal statement is not a statement
of purpose, such as you would write if you were applying to
graduate school. Law schools assume that you would like to attend law
school (otherwise you would not be applying) and often are not interested
in what you plan to do with your law school education. Admissions officers,
however, are experienced professionals who always seek to provide their
faculties and current students with a new crop of interesting and talented
law students, so you can be sure that they wish to learn about you and
what it is that would make you a significant addition to their law school.
- The personal statement is a crucial
part of your application, although it is certainly true that
your academic record (including your GPA) and LSAT score matter a great
deal, enough so that if you do not make it into the "zone of consideration,"
your personal statement may not be sufficient to pull you into contention.
Once you are in "the pool," however, your statement's importance
increases exponentially. By the same token, if your grades and LSAT
score are superb, a sloppy essay may give an admissions committee cause
for concern, and may delay or jeopardize your admission into law school.
- Never forget the dominant melody that
runs through the application process: make the readers' job
as easy and interesting as possible. Cosmetics are important: follow
instructions carefully, write clearly and succinctly (grammar and punctuation
do count), try to keep your essay to two or three pages (unless the
application instructs you differently), double-spaced, with regular
margins, and an easy-to-read font. Admissions officers are looking for
information to support your admission and they want to look good if
they have to argue on your behalf, so make their job as pleasant as
you possibly can.
- Stay away from ''gimmicky essays"
(the kind that make readers groan with despair), such as essays that
set up an imaginary "trial" of an application and conclude
with a "wise" jury deciding in your favor. Also, remember
that the personal statement is not a prose résumé (you
will include a résumé with your application), a synopsis
of your B.A. essay (they will ask you for it if they wish to see it),
or a forum for explaining a blemish on an otherwise sterling transcript
(the place for that is in a brief addendum to your application).
"
....
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EssayPlus Service: Our editors will do the following:
- Perform a full, comprehensive edit of your essay,
paying special attention to appropriate word choice, sentence fluency,
structural clarity, tone and presentation style.
- A full-essay diagnostic to determine the effectiveness
of the response to the question asked.
- Major rewrites and structural adjustments where
appropriate to present the writer in the most positive light while remaining
true to the writer's voice and original ideas.
- Sidebar commentary on the overall strengths
and weaknesses of the personal statement
providing rationale for changes made in the body of the essay.
- Phone contact with an EssayPlus editor for further
advice and consultation.
 We
provide a comprehensive range of services to
help you write a personal statement that showcases your talents and potential.
Check
out our writing tip sheet .
Criteria
that may be considered by law school admissions committees:
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