Law school personal statement phrases

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been discovering ways to write a more concise law school personal statement. My last article shared some things you should do. In this one, we’re going to focus on things not to do. Specifically, phrases you should avoid. These phrases aren’t necessarily “bad” to use, but they make your law school personal statement less concise. Since short, clear phrases are what we’re aiming for, it’s best to replace these phrases with better ones if you spot them in your law school personal statement. Make every word count.

So, when you’re editing your law school personal statement, look to see if you’ve included any of these phrases, and instead replace them with more concise choices: 1. First and foremost Did you know “first” and “foremost” actually mean the same thing? Choose one to make your transition shorter! 2. At the end of the day This is actually a figure of speech, so you might want to avoid it in your law school personal statement anyway. Use a single word like “ultimately” instead. 3. In order to Does the sentence still work if you take out “in order?” Usually, students say this when they could simply use the word “to” instead. 4. With that being said Instead of saying “with that being said,” a more concise option would be “nonetheless” or “however.” 5. Needless to say You might want to scrap this phrase from your vocabulary entirely – at least while writing your law school personal statement. If something doesn’t need to be said, you probably shouldn’t be saying it! These aren’t the only phrases you could swap out for shorter ones, but this list is a good starting point. You might even find some more on your own when you look closely! And, if you need additional help, you can always read through my additional advice for reviewing your law school personal statement. Or, reach out to me. I’d love to take a look at what you’ve written so far! Until next time, Steve P.S. Here’s another hint to help you make your writing more concise: wordy phrases are often used as transitions. So, you can usually find them at the beginning of paragraphs. The simplest way to make your law school personal statement more direct is by scanning your opening sentences in each paragraph, and replacing multi-word phrases with single-word transitions.

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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