Law School Personal Statement - Developing Your Story

Law School Personal Statement - Developing Your Story

Setting yourself apart in your law school application is more important than ever.

Many top law schools are decreasing the % of students they accept each year.


So, how can you get that competitive edge in admissions? If you're applying soon, it's probably going to come down to writing an effective law school personal statement.

If you can successfully differentiate yourself from the rest of the applicants, you'll greatly increase your odds of being admitted.

I want to give you a loose template for how to write law school application essays. Of course, every essay has to be different and unique to the person applying.

However, it's not enough to give you a template just for how to write them. It's important to develop a consistent story that covers every part of your application.

It doesn't matter whether you're talking about:

- your challenges at school

- volunteer/work/internship experience

- defining characteristics

- future plans

Each example has to support a central theme, and you can use the entire application process as a tool to strengthen your argument.

When you start to structure your law school application essays, think about how they tie into the rest of your application.


I recommend you use each of your law school application essays to communicate something unique about yourself. If you can, get your recommenders to write letters that focus on something else about you. 

This is how you show admission officers a full picture of who you really are.


So, how do you develop your story?

James, a student I helped last year who's now a 1L at Yale Law, had this advice to share:


"I'd never felt like I was following a particular path. But when I started looking at my resume while trying to finish my law school applications, I realized I had learned skills each year in college that helped me to achieve my next step. Realizing this helped me to develop a cohesive law school admissions story."


When you look at the choices you've made up to this point, look at WHY you made certain decisions and changes. This matters more than the order in which they happened.


Then, connect those decisions to your future goals. And, if you want to stand out, remember to be creative in some way. I don't have to tell you that admission officers look at thousands of essays. If you want to make sure that they remember yours, put a new spin on it. Application essays are like commercials. People remember the really unique ones, good or bad. The key is to make it different, make it memorable.



But don't worry if you're having trouble settling on a single story, and don't feel that you need to plan the rest of your life as you write your law school application essays.


Here's some perspective from Nathan, one of my students who had trouble figuring out his story at first (he ended up getting into both Stanford and Cornell):


"While I believed strongly in my law school "story" at the time I was applying, it's very possible that your story may change after you get to school. Mine has changed a couple of times. Just be open to that because there will be opportunities in law school school that you had never even considered before."



In my law school admissions coaching, one of the things I focus on is helping you figure out your law school application essay topics. I help you develop an effective law school application "story" that will make you stand out. I personally advise you as to what you should do, especially if you have a unique situation.


You can get help with developing your law school application story by working with me 1-1 and getting personalized law school admissions coaching. Email me to find out more.



YOUR ACTION STEP

Write down a list of your unique characteristics. Think about your passions, character, and personality traits, not just your accomplishments. The admissions officers can already see your transcript, LSAT scores, and list of accomplishments.

Things to include are your persistence, creativity, relationship with your family, love of tuba-playing, football, juggling, or whatever you like to do!

Map out a plan for making your law school application essays as part of a bigger whole - they're just one piece of the application. Which characteristics do you want law school admission officers to learn about you from your essays, and what do you want to show them in your letters of recommendation?


Taking the time to plan your application's central story is the best way to show them a full picture of who you really are.



Seriously, take at least an hour or two to really think about this, and write down your plan.

Then, if you want, copy-paste it, and send it to me. That's how I'll know if you actually did it ;)

Although I can't respond to all the messages I get, I read every single one.

Excited to see what you come up with,

Steve



Recommended Resources:

1. Law School Admissions Coaching
Get personalized 1-1 help on every aspect of the law school admission process -- or just the law school personal statement.

2. Law School Admissions Guide
I've written a concise guide to the law school admission process with tips on completing every aspect of your applications from start to finish. It's a small price to pay for a whole lot of guidance, and it's short enough that you'll actually read the whole thing.

3. Law School Admissions Cheat Sheet
Quick-reference guide for the law school personal statement, the "Why X?" essay, and the law school résumé. (You can also get it with the LSAT Cheat Sheets.)







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