How Do I Write a Personal Statement?
The personal statement is generally regarded as the third most
important aspect of your law school application (after your LSAT
score and GPA). In a sense, it serves as your personal interview
with the law school. Treat it as you would an interview: be
polished, sincere, straightforward, and sell your strengths. Given
its importance, you should devote considerable time to your personal
statement. But make sure your time is well spent, and make sure you
adhere to a few basic principles, as noted below:
Time Well Spent
The most common mistake a student makes is
sweating for days and days over a draft of a personal statement
instead of showing it to someone right away, at the idea stage. I
have reviewed many personal statements that students labored on for
hours that I considered unsalvageable. The problem is that, after
the expenditure of so much time and emotional energy, a student is
extremely disappointed to learn that his/her personal statement
missed the mark, and he/she is too tired or reluctant to change it.
The lesson is: do not hold on to your
personal statement as you labor over it. You need to share it, the
sooner the better, so that you can find out whether your approach is
interesting and convincing. Show it to someone who will give you a
frank and honest opinion. You also need to have a bit of emotional
distance from it; do not leave it until the last minute. You need to
put it on a shelf for a few days so that you can look at it in a
more detached manner when it's time to revise it.
Number of Drafts
Expect to do at least three drafts. You need
to craft this thing, and that requires at least three edits.
Length
Adhere to the length requirements stated on
each application. If none are stated, stick to 2 to 2 ½ pages,
double-spaced. Virtually all pre-law advisors agree on this limit.
If you exceed two pages, you had better have a good reason. Don't
try to "cheat" by reducing the size of your font. Remember, your
personal statement, in addition to being interesting, also has to be
"user friendly." Don't make it hard to read by making the font or
the margins too small.
Topics/Themes
The purpose of the personal statement is to
make the readers on the admissions committee want you to join their
next law school class. You have to find some way to show them that
you would be a good addition to the class. Sometimes a law school
will request that you write on a specific topic. If not, you will
have to come up with your own topic. There are many possibilities,
and I can't tell you the best one for you (that's why they call it a
personal statement). However, here are some ideas that
might make you attractive to the admissions committee and/or help
you to craft a compelling personal statement:
- Diversity: Not just racial/ethnic. A whole host of
things can count as "diverse." Are you a resident of
Michigan applying to a southern law school? Are you from a
small Michigan town without lawyers? Many law schools want a
class that represents as much of the state/nation as
possible. Do you have a special talent or skill (a sport, a
musical instrument, etc.)? What can you offer the school
that will be unusual or uncommon among those admitted to the
incoming class?
- Overcoming Adversity: If you have struggled and achieved
despite a tough situation, you have a story to tell.
Examples would include overcoming a personal illness; a
personal tragedy or setback, such as the death of a parent
or sibling; living on welfare; being arrested or fired, etc.
The key here is to explain how the adversity shaped your
development and made you a better person. If it also
prepared you for law school, that's even better. Warning:
you need to choose this option carefully. Don't lie, or
stretch the truth. Make sure your "adversity" really is an
adversity. If the adversity had no positive affect on you,
don't use it as the basis of your personal statement. Don't
whine or complain. Blaming others probably isn't wise,
either. You need to be even-handed and thoughtful as you
discuss your life struggles.
- Stories from Your Past. This is one of my favorite
approaches to personal statements. It is helpful for those
who are worried that they don't look distinctive or don't
offer much to distinguish themselves from others in the
applicant pool. The truth is, you ARE different and you DO
have much to offer. The trick is to identify what your
unique contribution is.
Exercise: Think of stories from your life
that were formative. Think of people in your life who
influenced you in a significant way. Think about things you
have seen and done that struck you as profound. List them.
Now look at your list. Can you see any connections among
these events? What are they? What do the connections tell
you about yourself? What trait do they reveal? Is this a
trait that makes you an attractive candidate for law school?
Use the trait you identify as the theme for your personal
statement, and use the events as examples.
Alternative Approach: Pick a trait that
defines you or, better yet, ask your friends to describe
you. You might be outgoing, ambitious, caring, reflective,
etc. Now prove it! What examples from your life would you
offer to prove that you possess this particular trait or
skill?
Consider this Example: I had a Berkeley
football player do the first version of the above exercise,
and this is the list of events he came up with, along with
his response to each event: (1) In grade school, he was not
selected for the advanced reading group. His elementary
school rival was, and she teased him about it. In response,
he resolved to join the reading group by the next semester,
studied hard, and did. (2) In high school, he didn't make
the varsity football squad as expected. In response, he
worked like a madman in the gym, lifted weights, etc. and
made the team the next year. (3) In college, he played for
Cal but blew out his knee his sophomore year. His football
career was over, and he had a transcript full of Cs, Ds, and
Fs. In response, he resolved to get an education and became
an A/B student by graduation. He did.
He wrote up these events in his personal statement. The
theme was "determination." He showed how, when faced with a
personal challenge, he could not only meet it, but excel.
His drive and work ethic enable him to accomplish the goals
he set for himself. The next goal he set for himself was law
school. After reading his essay, one had no doubt that he
would succeed in achieving that goal, too. He went to
Georgetown.
Skeptical? Now you may feel that
"determined" folks are a dime a dozen. And maybe they are,
at least among law school applicants. But although you share
the gifts of intelligence and drive and ambition with other
folks, each one of you came about them in unique ways.
Moreover, you will use your law school education to apply
your gifts in unique ways. So don't think of yourselves as
typical, because you aren't. Your personal statements will
reflect your differences.
Things to Avoid
One topic to avoid in writing a personal
statement is: "I have always wanted to go to law school, as proven
by the fact of my efforts on student government and my political
science degree." Keep in mind that there are lots of people like
this applying to law school. That's not a problem—law school is
self-selecting for these types of folks. The trick is to find
something else to say about yourself, too. Use these traits as
examples, not as the theme of your essay. Also, you probably would
be wise to avoid citing legal television shows as the reason you
became interested in law school.
Another topic to avoid is the "Too Clever by
Half Essays": Some people get overly creative. They write their
essay from the perspective of their cat, or as a poem, or something
along those lines. These essays can be very good, but you have to be
very good to write an essay like this. Such an approach can easily
backfire. If you think you can pull it off, go ahead, but I wouldn't
recommend it. Also, do not submit it until you have run it by me or
some other seasoned person who will give you an honest opinion about
it.
In 2003, Janet Hein, Assistant Dean of
Admissions at the University of Dayton School of Law, surveyed her
admissions colleagues to find out, among other things, some of their
pet peeves regarding personal statements. These included:
- Do not base your personal statement on a quote from
Emerson, Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson, or anyone else for
that matter. It's an over-used device.
- Be sure to respond to the specific questions asked by
the school. Generic personal statements are less effective
and less competitive.
- Be sure the personal statement is well thought-out and
executed. It should be an example of the applicant's best
work.
- Applicants who apply on-line should take the time to
send in a hard copy of their personal statements. Many
on-line statements arrive with garbled text and formatting
problems that make them very difficult to read.
Writing Style
Whatever topic you pick, you should avoid
telling the reader about yourself in a direct, conclusory manner.
("I am ambitious," "I am interested in helping the poor," "I have
prepared all my life for law school," "I worked very hard at my
internship," etc.) The problem with this approach is not so much
that you are tooting your own horn—that's what personal statements
are about, after all. Instead, the problem is that such essays are
BORING. Moreover, lots of students write this way, so you won't
distinguish yourself very much if you do, too.
A much better approach is to tell your story
and let your reader draw his/her own conclusions. In the example
above, my Berkeley football player never once said that he was
"driven" or "determined." But if you read his essay, it screamed it
in his examples. The reader was left with the clear impression that
he was driven and determined, and that he would succeed. In short,
you are better off letting your reader come to the conclusion—and
the conclusion should be obvious by the time he/she reaches the end
of your personal statement.
Hint: It is hard to avoid saying "I
am" or "I plan" or "I did X, Y, Z," particularly when you get to the
end of your essay and have to explain in conclusion why you want to
go to law school. You can use constructions like these, but don't
overuse them.
Since your essay is only about two pages
long, you would be wise to limit it to one overriding theme. Do not
try to say too much, or to cover too many aspects of your life. One
theme, or two perhaps, is plenty. Do not try to overwhelm your
reader by mentioning all of the significant things you've done in
your life. Often, less is more. Remember, it is the quality, not the
quantity, that counts.
Do not rehash your resume in your personal
statement. The personal statement is a reflection of your
personality and accomplishments, not a list of your qualities and
activities. You can and should include a resume in your application
listing the details of your honors, employment history, and the
like.
Structure, Grammar, Other Issues
Your essay should adhere to all standard
rules regarding good essays: it should have an introduction and
conclusion; it should be easy to follow; it should not contain
grammatical or spelling errors, etc. You would be wise to avoid
complex sentence constructions and highly stylized writing unless
you can do these things well. Proofread your statement several
times, and then give it to someone else to proofread, too.
Do not use your personal statement to explain
problems with your application. If you have things that you feel you
need to explain (a low GPA at your first college, an arrest, a bad
LSAT score because you had the flu, etc.), do this by typing up a
separate statement. (Usually a short paragraph will do.) The
exception would be if you chose this particular problem as the
subject of your personal statement. (This is rare, but sometimes
necessary. For example, I had another Berkeley student who was
arrested for possessing a handgun on campus. He agreed to a plea
bargain. Obviously he had some explaining to do, and he did so in
his personal statement. He was admitted to a fine law school and now
practices admiralty law.)
Final Thoughts on Personal Statements
At many schools, the representatives on the
admissions committee read every single personal statement. Sometimes
the pile of applications is split up among committee members;
sometimes a single person reads every file. Regardless of how it is
done, you can bet that the admissions committee members are staying
up late at night, for many, many nights, reading hundreds of
personal statements. Knowing this, you should be kind to your
reader: like I said above, use standard fonts and margins, keep it
clean and short, and above all make it interesting! You want to be
the file in the big pile that wakes up a committee member at 2:00
a.m. because your personal statement is so touching, fascinating,
well-written, convincing, or whatever other positive adjective you
can use to describe it.
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