What should I write about on my law school personal statement?

[Palheebra]

I'm a junior at james madison university in virginia. i'm just getting started on my law school applications and i'm starting to think about what i'm going to write for my personal statement. my only problem is, i really haven't done anything that extraordinary or law related. i've heard that it's not good just to talk about why you want to be a lawyer. does anyone have any advice?

[utimiBurl]

the obvious answer here is to write about yourself. this is your opportunity to tell admission committees what makes you special. you have several options:

1. write about an experience or activity (hopefully not law-related) that reveals your best qualities. for example, i wrote about the characteristics that i developed through musical studies--self-motivation, perseverance, leadership and teamwork (through chamber music). as long as the characteristics that you choose are broad enough, it will be easy for the law school to see how that could make you a good law student and, eventually, a good lawyer.

2. if you've been out of school for a while, or if you have a non-traditional route to law school, you may want to take a chronological route to explain why you want to go to law school now... what are (were) you doing? why don't you want to do it anymore? what made you consider law school? why do you think that you'll like practicing law more than what you were doing?

3. write about overcoming some type of obstacle--physical disability, family problems, anything--and how that difficulty changed your life. a good friend of mine wrote about food allergies. she was so allergic to wheat products (everything made with flour) that she would go into respiratory distress. her story is one from painful reality to triumph (as she identified her allergy, then learned to live with it). i don't think that she ever mentioned law anywhere in her essay, but her strengths (optimism, creativity, etc.) were highlighted without sounding stuffy or self-righteous.

4. write about the factors that have shaped you into the person you are today, a person wanting to pursue law as a career. you could merge themes of family, education, extra-curriculars, honors, and work experience into this type of general personal statement.

5. write whatever you want... there really aren't any rules for this, as long as it's not too long. most schools want a 2-page double-spaced document, so you'll probably have to do some serious editing. get something on paper first, though, and take your time.

[aliellOrgarse]

Here's a tip that an admissions officer gave me. Paraphrased, of course.

The person holding your essay isn't reading it with a big red pen going, "Why didn't she say this? Why didn't she say that? Where's the explanation for this? Why didn't she cure aids?" Instead, we're just reading it to get a sense of you as a person. Don't write "I want to go to law school because . . ." but tell us what led you to where you are.

Heh, this may not help at all, but I hope it does . . . a little? Cool Good Luck!

[Undotaplenepe]

i know of people who used EssayEdge, paid a fortune, and got nothing in return from essay edge. here's a tip friends, if you are such a poor writer that you need to pay hundreds for someone to write about you, or you don't feel like you are the most qualified to be your own personal statement author, don't go to law school. being an attorney means having one skill first: the ability to write. it is obvious when you submit a canned resume or essay, and people who are great authors can find better work. do it yourself, and get your school or freinds to look it over...

sorry if i offended anyone, but getting into a law school that meant to screen out non-writers when you can't write is an expensive exercise in mediocrity :mad:

[daymnakalaype]

I completely agree. There's nothing wrong with having someone proofread your essay, but you don't need a paid service for this. If you cannot write well enough to get into law school (given appropriate credentials), then it may well be worth considering other options. As far as "canned" essays go, you must also consider whether you feel ethically comfortable representing that product as your own work. I certainly wouldn't.

A guy actually had the nerve to post on Craigslist, looking for someone to write his law school personal statement. As he put it he was just too busy with work and lazy to write the paper. You've got to be foolish to solicit writers on the web for a personal statement. That person has probably written the same or similar paper for others!

[ReuroMoparraf]

Is it okay if I write about how losing a lot of weight (twenty-five pounds - 25lbs) changed my life for my personal statement?

[Annelovenfawl]

Is it okay if I write about how losing a lot of weight (twenty-five pounds - 25lbs) changed my life for my personal statement?

That depends. I would need to know much more about you before answering definitively. Perhaps you have had other experiences that demonstrate more leadership or communications skills or dedication to your community and those experiences would be more appropriate. Perhaps this is the most appropriate experience and then you should try to show how this transformational achievement has led to great things.

Good luck!

[EramBearriaph]

A guy actually had the nerve to post on Craigslist, looking for someone to write his law school personal statement. As he put it he was just too busy with work and lazy to write the paper. You've got to be foolish to solicit writers on the web for a personal statement. That person has probably written the same or similar paper for others!

I am outraged to hear that mature law school applicants
would actually stoop as low as to have someone do some of the work FOR them. I hope that they are caught and reprimanded (such as an over qualified person to a school, gets rejected because they see that two different people have the same essay or close to it). These people do not deserve to go to law school, they make me sick, don't you agree? And also being that they are soliciting on the web is just plain idiotic.

[unsupburf]

Hmmm... I think those essay services are for an act of desperation.

Overcoming adversity definitely is a good topic. That is what I wrote about, and I got accepted to schools I had no business being accepted to. =) I eventually picked one which gave me a very decent scholarship.

I wrote about overcoming being extremely introverted. So, you see, you don't have to be a poor, downtrodden child of an immigrant coal factory worker to write about overcoming adversity. Just make sure that you don't OVERSTATE the horrors of your adversity if it was not life threatening.

[triawibrory]

I am most likely going to be including how I overcame adversity, I had this in mind all along. I have been through alot and I will mention it if need be, it all depends on what they are looking for particularly in the Personal Statement. Last comment is: how could your personal statement have so much pull at a school that you believed "you had no business" being accepted to? I realize that many portions of one's application are considered for admission, including Personal Statements, and essays alike. However I strongly doubt that it was your personal statement that put you through the doors of admission into a school that (you believe) clearly would not have admitted you otherwise. I am simply curious about this matter.

[Hank Freid]

I know what you guys mean, diversity is everything for prospective law students I am half Sicilian and half German, although I am caucasion my heritage speaks for itself. I am sure that I can claim my heritage for my mother is 100% german and my father is 100% Sicilian, that makes me 50/50 and no in between went applying to law school I will be as I am a Sicialn-German applicant.

[Calderon Nomenson]

Most of the posters have provided excellent input. But to put my advice in a nutshell: Write about what's most important to you and distinctive about you.

[loosy]

Most of the posters have provided excellent input. But to put my advice in a nutshell: Write about what's most important to you and distinctive about you.

Yuppers!!! Follow your heart and the words will follow!

Anyone have any other personal statement tips?

[jff.law]

You should write about what you expect and hope to achieve as a lawyer.