HATE is easy…love takes COURAGE

….is one of the most important aspects of your law school application.

It is also one of the most dreaded, fear-inspiring, and tedious parts.  Oh sure, you thought that would be the LSAT.  Let’s review: the LSAT is a learnable, doable exam with techniques that can be taught and drilled.  With diligent study, it is virtually impossible not to raise your score by a couple points.   The personal statement is a subjective essay that is your only chance to tell anyone at admissions who you are, where you come from, and where you’re going.  Law schools rarely do interviews because of the thousands of applicants they get; the personal statement is your interview.  There is no formula, there is no prompt, and there is no direction, only you and two blank sheets of paper [double spaced].  I looked at over 20 applications last year and none of them gave a prompt.  They’re all very generic: “Please tell us about yourself and what you think the admissions committee should know about you.  What you write about is up to you, but remember this is your chance to persuade the admissions committee that you should be admitted to ____ law school.  It may be helpful to include information about your extracurricular activities, academics, and ____ goals.  Please limit your answer to 2 or 3 double spaced pages.”  What follow are a few things I gathered.

The personal statement should:

1. Be about you.  Many times, people get lost in trying to explain their entire life stories.  This often results in stories about ones family (“My mom grew up ___, my dad likes to do this”) in an attempt to explain where one came from.  Familial anecdotes or descriptions are okay if they are relevant to your essay and do not draw away from its focus, you. In my essay I wrote about both sides of my family because it shed light on what I chose to study in undergrad, which was a very important part of my overall application.  However, I made sure the focus remained on what I chose to do and my actions.
2. Be personal. Write about yourself.  If there’s a cause you spent the past ___ years fighting for, mention it, praise it, but keep yourself involved.  Don’t make your personal statement a PSA for an organization or company.  Where you a software developer at Awesomefirm.com? Awesome.  But why did you get involved? How did it affect you? What did you learn?
3. Be succinct.  You only have 2 double spaced pages to work with.  Some law schools have no limit and others allow you to go to three.  To be safe, keep it to 2 or 2.5.  The majority of schools set their limit at 2 – 3 pages and you’ll save yourself time later if you stick to that as well, especially if you try to tailor each essay to each school you apply to.  What this really means is that you have one, I repeat, ONE, single-spaced page to work with.  I’ll give you a moment to freak out…..  Okay, now breathe.  This is very doable, but it means you will have to be focused and get to the point quickly.  Look at it as a challenge: this is your chance to show off your writing skills as much as it is a chance for the admissions committee to get to know you.  Don’t be verbose, don’t ramble, and feel free to cross out “fluff.”  Show them you can write well, follow guidelines, and write clearly.
4. Mention the school you are applying to. This isn’t necessary, but if done well, it can’t hurt either.  Applying to law schools is like applying to a job, but to a job you really want at a company you really like. Do your research.  Does the school have clinics you’re interested in? Do they offer an opportunity for a dual degree, maybe in your undergrad field? I looked at a few schools that offered JD/MA International Affairs programs.  Are there a couple courses you’d love to take? Tell them that.  Let them know how their school is a good match for you.  Remember, this is your chance to persuade this school that they should let you in. You are not automatically granted admission anywhere and your tests scores and GPA do not mean you are entitled to admission.  Let this school know that they are a perfect fit for your goals and academic interests.  The school is making an investment in you – by having you as an alumnus, they are staking their reputation, and therefore perceived value, on you and what you choose to do.  Let them know their investment will pay back.
5. Mention the school you are applying to.  This one is the same thing as PROOFREADING.  In a lot of books I looked at, admissions people from many schools said that a killer is seeing, “Yale Law School will be a perfect fit and I’ve wanted to go there since birth” when the application is actually FOR, say, Harvard.  One admissions person said something to the effect of, “When I see that, I think, ‘Well, I hope you’ll be happy there, because you’re not getting in here.’”  It is important to proofread your essay multiple times.  As I said before, it is also a chance for you to demonstrate your writing ability.  You’re pursuing a profession that requires attention to detail, so – pay attention.
6. NOT USE CONTRACTIONS.  For one thing, contractions are informal and therefore not appropriate for a law school admissions essay.  For another, they lend themselves too much to confusion for you to risk it.  Need I remind you about they’re, their, you’re and your? Make things easy on yourself and spell things out.  ”But that’ll make my essay longer and I’ll run out of room!!”  Okay, if you’re using so many contractions that the addition of a few characters pushes your essay over the edge, you have a problem, and it’s not with contractions.  I’d hate to see someone write, “You’re law school would be amazing to attend.”  Writing things out saves you from making that mistake: “You are law school would be amazing to attend.”  Doesn’t make sense does it?

Alright, those are a few bits of advice regarding the personal statement.  Remember, this is my .02 and my opinion only.  I’m just trying to pass on a few things I learned in the process I would have liked to know when I started.  Any current law students or other soon-to-be 1L’s feel free to add your own advice as well.  Cheers.