Law School - Personal Statement

This statement is a critical sample of your ability to write clearly and cogently, as well as an important opportunity for you to tell the admissions committee about yourself. Since most schools do not conduct interviews, the statement represents an opportunity for you to present yourself as more than just a GPA and an LSAT score. On that note, many applicants will use GPA and LSAT scores to choose prospective law schools. With so many applicants possessing identical qualifications, the statement can be the critical factor that distinguishes you from the applicant pool. What you say in your statement can also help you offset weaknesses in your application. So, take writing the statement very seriously.

Many law schools have their own guidelines and topics for the personal statement, but most require you to draw upon information from your academic and personal background, work experience, and extracurricular activities. The subject of the essay is you, after all. By keeping a record of experiences and accomplishments, you can easily access all the necessary information to write a personal statement.

To get started, gather a pool of information about yourself including:

• Work, school and community experiences, such as positions you have held, volunteer opportunities, and projects you have participated in
• Extracurricular activities, such as clubs, sports teams, leadership positions
• Personal challenges and experiences, including travel, disabilities, goals you have accomplished
• Unique talents or interests

For each activity, make a list of your duties, accomplishments, and other specifics, such length of commitment, name and contact information of related people, and so forth--anything that will remind you of your experiences. Also, review your school transcripts and resume because you may want to address particular group projects you have participated in and courses you have completed in your personal statement.

Above all, follow the instructions given by each school. In general, you need to express why you want to study law and why you have a special interest in each particular school. But, each school will have their own particular instructions for the statement, so avoid writing a generic statement for all schools. Some schools will ask about your academic and personal background, work experience, activities, etc. Schools often seek information on matters that relate to their desire to have diverse student bodies. The development of an applicant's interest in law is a matter of concern to some schools but not to others. In contrast, some schools request a writing sample on any subject of the writer's choice. As appropriate, tailor your statement for the school to which you are applying, but avoid emphasizing this over your experiences, attributes and goals.

Weaknesses, such as a string of low grades or a low LSAT score should be addressed somewhere in your application. If clarifying weaknesses flows with your statement, you may use your statement to address them. On the other hand, you may wish to use an addendum. In either case, be brief and honest while offering a sympathetic explanation and assure the admissions committee that a similar weakness is unlikely to occur again.

Absolutely! Beyond the personal knowledge they may be able to obtain about you, law schools use the personal statement to learn about your ability to write concisely, precisely, and well. The personal statement gives you an opportunity to showcase your abilities. So, the best statements not only follow the schools' instructions, but are tied together by a theme and a logical progression of ideas, making good use of transitions. They also employ perfect grammar and are written in a direct, simple style that avoids pretentious language. The best statements are not laundry lists of accomplishments and activities, but essays that describe a unique episode or two from your experience that demonstrate both your motivation for pursuing legal education along with positive, interesting aspects of your personality.

Some schools will explicitly state their word or page limit. Adhere to their wishes. You will not impress admissions committees with an overly long statement and your inability to follow directions. If no word count or page limit is stated, aim to write a statement that's about two pages long, double-spaced.

The Career Center offers "Writing the Statement for Law School" workshops, which can help you get started with the personal statement. The Career Center also provides an Online Statement Review service that allows you to submit your final draft of your statement and receive a review via email in five working days. We also recommend that once you have a draft of your personal statement, you share it with your letter of recommendation writers for feedback. Reading your statement will also give them more ideas and details for your letters.