Law School Personal Statement Topics to Avoid

Below is an excerpt from The Art of the Law School Personal Statement by Michelle Fabio.

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Before narrowing down that final topic for your personal statement, look at these below that you’re better off avoiding entirely or at least being extremely careful when writing about.

1. Low LSAT Score

Your LSAT score is in your file; if it’s low, never draw more attention to it in a personal statement. A low LSAT score because of a unique extenuating circumstance may be an appropriate topic for an addendum (more on that in Chapter Ten), but it’s difficult to imagine a situation in which it would be a good personal statement topic.

Remember, your personal statement is your chance to sell yourself, so write an outstanding essay highlighting why you’d be such a wonderful addition to the entering class. Leave the LSAT score out of it.


2. Low College Grades

Along the same lines as the low LSAT score discussion, your grades are listed on your transcript, which adcomms will receive, so don’t put a neon flashing light on your C- in Thermodynamics.

Again, if you feel there is a strong reason to attempt to explain low grades, think about doing so in an addendum (again, more fully discussed in Chapter Ten).


3. Politics

One of the questions in the brainstorming exercises asks you to consider your special interests, and for many of you, one of those is likely politics. Your experience in politics is a potentially good personal statement topic, but be careful on how you frame it.

Even if you think you’re pretty sure about an adcomm’s political leanings, it’s best to stay away from overly partisan personal statements. Your essay shouldn’t become a position paper on controversial issues such as the death penalty, abortion, war, etc. Aside from not talking about you enough (remember we want the personal statement to be personal), such an essay could risk offending an adcomm with your fiery writing on a topic close to your heart.

On the other hand, if you have worked for a politician or in depth on a particular issue and that experience has shaped your desire to attend law school, that could very well make for a great personal statement topic. Overall, though, remember to keep the focus on you and not on the politician or issue.


4. Philosophy

Along the same lines as avoiding politics, don’t use your personal statement to talk about your thoughts on jurisprudence, the role of society in the justice system, etc.

Adcomms don't want philosophical discussions, they want personal statements. Even if you think a philosophical essay represents you well, it is unlikely that you’ve expressed much about yourself personally, which should always be your goal.

A special note on this one: I’ve read many statements over the years that, although not fully philosophical, start out with a generalized proclamation about how the applicant feels about a certain aspect of society or another bland, general philosophical opening sentence.

Bor-ing.


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See Law School Admission Essay Topics to Avoid for even more advice.

Choosing the Right Law School Location

The below excerpt on choosing the right law school location is from Jenny L. Maxey's Barrister on a Budget: Investing in Law School…without Breaking the Bank Second Edition.

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Law School Application Process FAQ

The LSAT Blog post contains links to many lists answering several law school application process FAQ.

Elisabeth Steele Hutchison, Director of Admissions at the William S. Richardson School of Law, compiled a TON of useful information to help you this admission cycle. Bookmark this page so you'll be able to easily access everything in the future.

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Law School Admission Trends Interview

Ann Levine is a law school admission consultant who opened Law School Expert in 2004, and has been blogging about law school application issues since 2006. She is the author of two law school guidebooks: The Law School Admission Game: Play Like an Expert, and The Law School Decision Game.

I recently interviewed her about recent trends and changes in law school admissions. Our discussion follows.

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Law School App Diversity Statements

The below excerpt on law school application diversity statements is from A Guide to Optional Essays and Addenda.

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Law Schools Might Stop Requiring LSAT Scores for 10% of Students

It's looking likely that the American Bar Association will soon allow law schools to admit students who haven't taken the LSAT.

The American Bar Association's governing council recently approved several changes to its standards. Among them was a change that would allow law schools to admit up to 10% of their entering classes even if these students have never taken the LSAT.

While the council's changes will go before the ABA's House of Delegates for review in August, the governing council still has the final say. Since the changes have made it this far, I'm guessing they'll become a reality.

Of course, Harvard Law and other top law schools are unlikely to stop requiring the LSAT for admission anytime soon. However, fourth-tier law schools may take full advantage of the change in order to woo applicants who'd be likely to do poorly on it anyway.

With the recent decline in the number of law school applications, these overpriced law schools need all the help they can get to fill their seats. Being permitted to stop requiring the LSAT will probably do a lot to help them keep that tuition money coming in.


Hat Tip: The ABA Journal

Previously: ABA Considers Allowing Students to Apply to Law School without LSAT Scores

Does the LSAT Discriminate Against Minorities?

Many have argued that the LSAT unfairly prevents racial and ethnic minorities from getting into law school.

However, one law school professor recently defended the LSAT from those who argue it's a form of racial discrimination. While he admits that the LSAT may not be a perfect predictor of ability in law school, he argues that it serves a valuable purpose, and in the absence of anything better, we'd might as well keep it.

Here's a key excerpt:

While we do need supplemental measures for prediction to get students who can make it through law school into the profession, we also need to know about those who cannot. Hard as it is to take in, there are apparently 150,000 law school graduates who have never passed the bar exam, and they deserved the law schools’ best judgment regarding their likely success as much as do those more likely to succeed. Ethical issues are not the only ones in play. Who is going to defend the law schools when these students sue, claiming that they were taken advantage of much like the borrowers in the housing debacle who succumbed to the blandishments of the mortgage brokers? The larger point is that law schools need to think harder about these students. Test critics, only somewhat understandably, completely ignore their existence.

See pages 378-388 of the PDF for the entire section about the LSAT. He also discusses some potential alternatives to the LSAT.

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What do you think? Does the LSAT racially discriminate? What real alternatives, if any, do we have?

Photo by enviied

Sample Law School Recommendation Letter

The below sample law school recommendation letter and analysis is from A Guide to Law School Recommendations.

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Which College Majors Get The Best LSAT Scores?

Professor Derek Muller at Pepperdine University School of Law recently contacted LSAC to find out which college majors get the best (and worst) LSAT scores.

His findings:

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ABA Considers Allowing Students to Apply to Law School without LSAT Scores

The ABA regularly holds meetings to consider changes to its requirements for law schools. After all, law schools must meet certain requirements in order to be ABA-approved.

The ABA recently proposed allowing law schools to admit 10% of their students without taking the LSAT. That's right - if this proposal passes, you'd be able to get into an ABA-approved law school without having to take the LSAT at all.

Why would the ABA do this?

Maybe it has something to do with the low number of LSAT takers these days, even though that number increased slightly in February.

For those of you who can't stand the LSAT, this probably sounds too good to be true.

Well, it may be. First of all, keep in mind that this change may not become reality. If it does, though, you'd have to fall into one of two groups in order to get out of the LSAT requirement. You'd have to:

1. Be an undergrad at the same university as the law school you're applying to, or

2. Get another degree while you're in law school

So, these changes would only apply to an incredibly small number of people. Or they could have the effect of changing applicants' behavior. Maybe they'd incentivize you to go to law school at the same university where you do your undergrad. Or to go for multiple degrees simultaneously (and it's not easy to do anything else while you're in law school).

Neither is necessarily a good idea, but I'm guessing that some people really do want to avoid taking the LSAT that much.

There are a few other requirements, too. All are included below, in the actual text from the ABA document.

It's from the American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, Interpretation 503-3, Explanation of Changes (PDF, page 4):

The proposed Interpretation provides that a law school may admit no more than 10% of an
entering class without requiring the LSAT from students in an undergraduate program of the same institution as the J.D. program; and/or students seeking the J.D. degree in combination with a degree in a different discipline. Applicants admitted must have scored at the 85th percentile nationally, or above, on a standardized college or graduate admissions test, specifically the ACT, SAT, GRE, or GMAT; and must have ranked in the top 10% of their undergraduate class through six semesters of academic work, or achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above through six semesters of academic work. 

(Hat tip: The Faculty Lounge)

Number of LSAT Takers Increased in February

Shockingly, the number of LSAT takers increased in February, according to LSAC's website. By how much? Not exactly a staggering amount:

The number who took in February 2014 (19,499) was 1.1% higher than in February 2013 (19,286). 

This is the first year-over-year increase since June 2010. What, if anything, does this news mean?

Let's not jump to any enormous conclusions here. We're dealing with an extremely small number of test-takers. The difference between these two test administrations is only slightly more than 200 test-takers. The real news is that it didn't continue to drop as it has for the last several test administrations (context):

Why did this happen? Maybe because the barrage of bad news about job prospects in the legal profession has softened a bit (see this recent story in the WSJ). 

Perhaps as career prospects improve, the good news will trickle down to potential law school applicants. To be sure, it'll take a while for the number of LSAT takers (and law school applicants) to increase by any significant amount. However, this recent update from LSAC suggests that the trend over the last few years may reverse itself with time.

Law School Recommendation Letter Logistics

The below post is an excerpt from A Guide to Law School Recommendations.

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Waitlisted by Law Schools? Here’s 5 Tips to Maximize Your Chances of Getting In

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Law School Application Optional Essays

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Law School Scholarship Money

The below excerpt on law school scholarship money (merit aid and need-based financial aid) is from Jenny L. Maxey's Barrister on a Budget:  Investing in Law School…without Breaking the Bank.

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10 Real Law School Personal Statements

If you’re reading this, you’re probably applying to law school. I know this process isn’t easy, and it can be incredibly frustrating at times. However, each year, many people overcome the hurdles and get into the law schools of their dreams. You ask yourself, how’d they do it?

When I first started LSAT Blog, there wasn’t any organized place where law school applicants could benefit from the experience of previous applicants. It seemed to me that future applicants should be able to benefit from the lessons others learned along the way. My first attempt to solve the problem was by collecting their LSAT Diaries.

The project was almost too successful. There are now over 100 LSAT Diaries - more than most people will read. Once I organized them, I started thinking about how to make them more accessible. I published short compilations of tips, but you wanted more. So, I published a compilation of the best tips from LSAT Diaries.

This book is the next phase of that project. In it, I’ve compiled 10 actual law school personal statements written by LSAT Blog readers. They generously agreed to share their work to help you get your creative juices flowing.

To that end, I've put together a new book, "10 Real Law School Personal Statements."

Get your copy on Google Drive for free.

Step 1. Click this link. 

Step 2. Click File --> Download As PDF

I hope this book inspires you to write a successful law school personal statement.

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Note: Some of these are longer than I'd recommend. Your law school personal statement should be about 2 pages, double-spaced, unless stated otherwise.

For more free advice on the law school personal statement, check out these articles.

Online Law School Personal Statement Video Course

The Law School Personal Statement video course is now part of the full LSAT Unplugged courses. They include exclusive access to attend my Live Online LSAT Master Classes + Q&As, and on-demand video lessons you can watch anytime. Plus, LSAT study plans to keep you on track. You can save hundreds of dollars with an LSAT course package.

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I've been hard at work over the past several months, putting together the curriculum for a new course.

I've already released the first two installments: comprehensive online LSAT Logic Games and Logical Reasoning video courses.

Since many of you are working on your law school applications, I've just released the next installment: a comprehensive online law school personal statement video course.

As with my other courses:

-You'll be able to go at your own pace. Freed from having to meet with others when you're tired after work or school, you'll be able to watch (and re-watch) all the course videos at any hour, day or night.

-You'll save a ton of money. By putting the course online, I can eliminate overhead expenses like rent. To keep costs low, I'm not wasting any money on advertising, and I've recorded all the videos myself, without hiring graphic designers to create special effects. I'm passing the savings on to you.


What does the course include?

I'm glad you asked. Through several high-definition videos, I provide you with the fundamentals you need in order to put together a compelling law school personal statement, from generating ideas for personal statement topics to creating a polished final draft that you can proudly submit.

Upon completing this course, you will be ready to take on the law school personal statement.



Join now to improve your law school personal statement today.

Still not convinced? Keep in mind that I'm offering all LSAT courses with a 100% money-back guarantee.

Try the LSAT course package of your choice without risking a thing. If you don't love it, just email me within 30 days, and show me you're doing the exercises and not getting results. I'll give you a full and complete refund, and you can even keep all the books — at my expense.

I've made these literally risk-free to try.

Why would I offer a guarantee when I don't have to? I can offer this because I've rigorously tested my materials with thousands of students. I know they work, and I want this to be a no-brainer for you.

(By the way, I ask you to show me you've done the exercises because I know how effective they can be. I don't plan to keep your money if you're dissatisfied, but the only way to get results is to take action. I know you’re busy, but if you can’t commit to at least trying the exercises, then you shouldn’t join.)

Here's just some of the feedback I've gotten about my online courses:

"I did end up just going ahead and buying your online Logic Games course. I figured that it would be good value and clear instruction - everything I've seen on your blog has been. I went through the first 12 videos last night and it is very good. In the end it came down to yours and [another course], and your explanations just make more sense to me. Thanks!" - Joanne M.


"Just wanted to say thank you. I've made breakthrough after breakthrough thanks to your Logic Games course, and all the material you have available. It was all worth its weight in gold, and I truly admire you and appreciate what you are doing! I could not afford a Kaplan course, but even if I could have, I would have been crazy to choose it over your study plans/guides/posts etc.  I will be recommending you to anyone and everyone I know that is taking the LSAT. Thank you again!!!" - Miranda C.


"The Logic Games course is going great! Logic Games so far was my biggest weakness but I recently took a PrepTest and received only -6 on Logic Games after going through only a very tiny bit of your course. I want to hit a 165 and I feel your course is the last bit necessary…The course is a great review and also an extreme bargain." - C. T.


"I love the day-by-day study plan, your blog, and your online course. I've dabbled with Kaplan before and this works so much better for me." - Cheryl H.


"I've been working through your Logic Games course, and I really really like it. It's helped me improve so much on my games." - Sammy Z.


"I've taken your entire Logic Games course. First of all, thanks for a great learning experience. I feel much better prepared than I did before I started." - Nathan Y.


"I'm in the Logic Games course and I love it!" - John D.


"I'm a fan of your blog. Your online Logic Games course helped bring a clarity no other resources could provide...Thanks for your help Steve! Keep all the great work you do." - Jon H.


"The course has been extremely beneficial thus far!" - Kadeem R.


"I just wanted to thank-you for your great LSAT logical reasoning course. I got a 166 in October, up from a 159 in June and the difference was the logical reasoning sections, as  I went from 16 wrong to 6 wrong in the 2 sections combined." - Alex W.

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Questions? Shoot me an email at lsatunplugged@gmail.com

Remember, the course is 100% risk-free. That means you can try it, then decide if it's right for you. If you don't love it, just show me you did the work, and I'll refund 100% of your money. But I'm confident this will help you improve your LSAT score and get into the law school of your dreams.

Get started now.

Online Law School Personal Statement Video Course Syllabus

Because I want you to see exactly what you'll be getting in my online law school personal statement video course, I'm including the entire syllabus below.

These are the contents of the course.

The Role of the Personal Statement in the Law School Admission Process

5 Steps to Starting Your Personal Statement

Writing Prompts to Help You Start Your Personal Statement

Overcoming Writer’s Block When You Don't Have a Topic

Choosing Your Personal Statement Topic by Thinking About Your Goals: Brainstorming

How to Review Your Personal Statement Topic Idea

Developing Your Story

Developing Your Story with Mind-Maps

Writing Your Personal Statement Rough Draft

Overcoming Writer’s Block When You Already Have a Topic

Getting Personal in Your Personal Statement

How NOT to Write Your Personal Statement: Mistakes to Avoid

Editing Your Personal Statement: Rules of Good Writing

7 Questions to Answer in Your Personal Statement

Examples of Real Law School Personal Statements

Bonus: How to Answer the “Why Do You Want To Go To This Law School?” Essay

Law School Application Explanation Statements

The below excerpt on writing optional targeted explanation statements on your law school application is from A Guide to Optional Essays and Addenda.

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Choosing a Law School, Financial Aid, and Scholarships | Interview

I recently interviewed Jenny L. Maxey, author of the new book, Barrister on a Budget:  Investing in Law School…without Breaking the Bank.

We discussed a variety of topics related to choosing a law school, financial aid, and scholarships. Our discussion follows.

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