The 5 biggest law school personal statement mistakes - and how to avoid them

In my experience helping more than 1,000 law school applicants prepare their personal statement, I’ve seen my fair share of mistakes. In fact, I tell each new student I work with NOT to worry about making errors at first, because I’m 99% certain I’ve seen it before – and we can always fix it. One of the earliest mistakes students make is overthinking their law school personal statement. When we first start working together, I find many students have too many ideas and struggle to pinpoint just one. How can you narrow down the best one? Sometimes, it helps to get an outside point of view. Even if we haven’t met before, I’ve helped many students focus on the subject that matters most to them. Here’s why that matters: the topic that means the most to you will also work best to get the attention of admission officers. Take my former student Brittany, for example -- Brittany chose to identify a background, identity, interest, or talent that was so meaningful to her, that her application would seem incomplete without it. Brittany knew she wanted to write about her experience with the violin. The problem was, she had 11 years’ worth of experiences to choose from on her résumé! It was difficult to focus on one meaningful instance in particular. After working together, we were able to identify one key turning point that helped her become the person she is today. The end result was a well-written and moving law school personal statement. Does this sound like you? Do you have a general idea for a topic, but still don’t know where to start? If so, send me a message and let’s bounce some ideas around. I’d love to help. Because the #1 BIGGEST mistake I see students make is trying to squeeze too many ideas into one law school personal statement. Here are some other “don’ts” to avoid: 2. Talking about how you want to go to a school because it has a great reputation. Many students want to go to a top school, be successful in their careers, and make lots of money. I’m sorry to tell you this, but no one cares. Well, that’s not 100% true. Law school admissions officers do indeed care that their school is great, but they already know this. Set yourself apart by expressing your desire to take classes in subjects that interest you. If you’re not sure what you want to study, make it clear that you want to expose yourself to a wide range of ideas. And by all means, DON’T do this: “X Law School is well-renowned, and many famous people like _____, ____, and ____ graduated from there. With a law degree from X Law School, I’ll be sure to be a success in life and make my friends and family proud.” 3. Using “cute” techniques to stand out. Don’t be gimmicky! Sometimes, you’ll hear stories of super-creative approaches that worked. When they do, people take it as proof that the creative approach is a great idea. Here’s the risk: Some law school admission officers are old-school, and some are open to new approaches. You don’t know which type will be reading your application. So, it’s better to be safe and avoid gimmicky approaches. 4. Starting your law school personal statement with a famous quote Law school admissions officers want to hear from you, not from famous people. The first voice that the admissions officer reads should be yours! If you really do feel a strong connection to a quote, try pulling only a single phrase. Then write something about why it’s important to you right away. (Several of the law school admissions coaching sessions I've done have featured students that initially made this mistake.) 5. Including careless grammatical errors, overly wordy phrases, and clichés. You know the stakes are high. Show them you care enough about this to write an amazing law school personal statement by proofreading. Also, you should avoid clichés like the plague. (See what I did there?) Seriously, though, clichés could separate your personal statement from the rest, but not in a good way. One law school admission officer I interviewed talked about how just 10% of the statements he read could be considered “excellent,” while a mere 1% were “outstanding.”  The commonality among those personal statements? They never featured clichés. Here are some common clichéd phrases and expressions to avoid: • One day at a time • Dream come true • To make a long story short • Outside my comfort zone • Live and learn • Shed some light on • One in a million I’ll be sharing more lists and tips like this in future articles. Stay tuned, Steve P.S. Now that you know what not to do in your law school personal statement, you’re probably wondering what you should do. If so, be on the lookout for my next article, which will share some of things a killer law school personal statement MUST have.

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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