What law school admission officers look for

If you’ve been reading my articles so far, you may have noticed a common theme I share with students is using the law school personal statement to “stand out.” It’s critically important to the entire law school application process, but don’t just take my word for it. Instead, I’ll share some tips from my conversations with law school admissions officers (posted on the LSAT Unplugged YouTube channel):

Tip #1: Use Your Own Voice There’s no magic “formula” for the perfect law school personal statement. In other words, you can’t just Google “law school personal statement,” find a template, and fill in the blanks. If you follow that process, you’ll miss the opportunity to tell your own story in your own unique voice. And, that’s precisely what admission officers are looking for. On top of that, your reader will know exactly what you’ve done. Law school admission officers read more personal statements than they can count, but they can instantly spot an essay that’s been created from a template. It will sound forced and unnatural – exactly the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve. For every student I work with, I find out the story that makes them unique. Whether you’ve overcome an obstacle, developed a passion for a particular activity, or have known you’ve wanted to practice law since you were a young child, that’s what you’ll show in your statement. That honest and meaningful story is in you, and we can work together to pull it out. And, when you’re writing the most honest and meaningful version of your story, your unique voice will come out naturally. Tip #2: Show What You Have to Offer  Using an authentic voice to tell your story is only half the battle. Admission officers also want to know what you’ll bring to their school. This is where I see a lot of students struggle. What value can you bring to your law school of choice? Unfortunately, it’s not enough to say “great LSAT and GPA,” “a great work ethic,” or anything to that effect. Admission officers see that all the time. Plus, your transcripts speak for themselves. If you’re a hard working student, they’ll already see that based on your grades, test scores, and recommendation letters. So, your law school personal statement is the place to explain something different that makes you valuable to the school. The law school personal statement is an opportunity you have to seize. You have to show officers what you would bring to the campus. In other words, pretend the law school is asking you, “If we were to accept you, what would be in it for us?” Here’s how one student of mine, Emily, answered that question. You may remember Emily from one of my previous emails. She wrote her law school personal statement about her experience with Spanish and becoming a bilingual immigration paralegal Not only did her law school personal statement have an authentic voice, it also showed her school what they’d gain by accepting her: a bilingual student who could learn and take classes in both Spanish and English, and connect with clients as a future immigration attorney. (By the way, Emily got accepted to her top-choice law school!) So, what story can you tell in your authentic voice that describes the value you’d bring to your top-choice school? It’s a lot to think about, and I’d love to help. Maybe you’ve already done some brainstorming, or perhaps you have a blank slate and just don’t know where to start. No matter where you are with your law school personal statement, I can show you what to do next to make it happen. We can work together to find out how you can craft a story that will get you into your dream school. Reach out and let me know what you’re thinking at the moment. Looking forward to hearing from you, Steve P.S. If you’ve found my examples from other students helpful, I’d be glad to share more. While you don’t have to have the same or even similar circumstances, sometimes learning about others can be helpful to stir up some ideas about your own experiences. Emily's just one of 1,000+ success stories I can share.  P.P.S. For more, you can see me working with students during live law school admissions coaching sessions on the LSAT Unplugged YouTube channel and podcast.

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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Your law school personal statement - unlearning English

Many of the students I’ve helped get into their top-choice law schools are surprised to find just how much they have to “unlearn” after college. Because many colleges have lecture-style classes, professors can only give students so much room for creativity.

Nearly ALL of the college students and grads I encounter are familiar with two main types of writing: research papers and persuasive essays.

Here’s the problem: the law school personal statement is neither of those.

It’s certainly not a research paper.

It’s persuasive in a way, but it’s much more than that.

It’s also similar to a narrative essay, but it’s not strictly that, either.

Truly, the law school personal statement is its own breed. It won’t be quite like anything you’ve ever written before. And that’s why students struggle with it so much.

So, how can you conquer it? The trick is to unlearn what you know about essay-writing.

Start fresh.

You may have discovered by now that I take a unique approach to the law school personal statement. I show the students I work with how to get noticed in a good way, instead of sounding like everyone else.

Most importantly, I help my students discover how to write for an entirely different audience.

Unless you write creatively for fun, you’ve probably only written for one audience so far: your professors. The problem is, professors are not law school admissions officers.

You’re not writing the law school personal statement to receive a grade.

Instead, you’re writing to make a meaningful impact on a person who gets to decide on a major aspect of your future.

That’s why your law school personal statement has to be approached differently – because it IS so vastly different from your previous work.

How can you tackle it?

First, I’ll show you some of the things you need to unlearn. For example, unless you’ve taken creative writing classes, you’ve probably had it drilled into your head that you should never use “I” or “me” in an essay.

Well, that approach won’t really work for the personal statement, will it? After all, it’s supposed to be about how an experience has shaped you into the person you are now, and how that relates to your decision to attend your top-choice law school!

The law school personal statement is very much about you, so you can’t not say “I,” “we,” or “me!”

To get students thinking about themselves (instead of simply writing to get a good grade), one of the first things I show them is how to write well in the first person.

(Sure, you already know how to write using “me” and “I,” but there’s a major difference between just writing in the first person and writing well in the first person.)

Because it’s something you didn’t do often English classes, it may take a little getting used to. Don’t worry – I have lots of tricks to help you get comfortable with it quickly before you get started on your personal statement.

There are lots of other things you’ve been taught in college that you’ll probably have to unlearn to write your best law school personal statement possible. I’d love to share them with you – just reach out to me if you’re curious!

Steve



P.S. Even though I talked a lot here about “unlearning” certain things from your English classes, there are still many things you’ve learned already that WILL be very important when writing your law school personal statement. Everything from proper grammar to correct punctuation will matter, but we’ll get into details like that later on. Just keep an eye out for my upcoming articles for more tips, or reach out to me now to find out what you need to know most before getting started. 

P.P.S. Check out my law school admissions coaching sessions on YouTube to see what it's like to work with me.

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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Law school personal statement outlines (even if you don't like writing)

If you read my most recent article, you already know why you need an outline before you can write a great law school personal statement. Now that we’ve answered the “why,” let’s dive more into the “how” and get your outline started. The first step is to narrow down to the topic that means the most to you. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the hobby or activity you enjoy most. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be a traditional “activity” at all. A lot of times, students get wrapped up in the idea that they need to write about a sport, volunteering, or a favorite subject. That’s simply not true. And, in reality, writing about something other than one of those activities could actually make your law school personal statement stand out even more. Take my student, Emily, as an example. For her law school personal statement, she discussed how learning to speak both Spanish and English fluently helped to shape who she is today. She described how she took classes in both languages, and how having two languages helped her connect with clients as an immigration paralegal. She plans to practice immigration law after getting her JD.  Do you have a story like Emily's? Maybe it’s not bilingualism, but perhaps you have a quality or experience that’s been meaningful throughout your life. It may seem difficult to connect that experience to a law school personal statement. Many students feel that way, which is why I offer to help. You should already have some ideas on what to write about from your past brainstorming sessions, but if you’re still struggling on where to begin, please contact me so I can help. From there, we’ll get going on your outline, which will help you keep your law school personal statement focused and on course. To start, you’ll answer the question in as few words as possible. For example, if your prompt is about a talent that played a meaningful role in your education, your answer might be “music.” Okay. At this point, you might have a sentence or two, or perhaps just one word. Now what? The next step is to write out some bullet points supporting your simple answer. Once you have your supporting idea, now think of 3-5 points to support that idea. Before you know it, you’ll find your bullet points will have sub-bullet points, and ultimately, those experiences are the points you’ll use to form sentences and actually bring your law school personal statement to life. Ultimately, outline-writing is just a fancy way of saying “planning.” An outline is simply a plan for your personal statement – think of using it the same way a builder might use blueprints as a guide for building a house. And again, planning is critically important in the law school admission process.  “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” - Benjamin Franklin That's why I use this type of planning in all my counseling, and it’s what has helped students like Brittany get into their top-choice schools. You might remember Brittany from one of my earlier articles. She wrote about how playing violin for 11 years helped her become the student she is today.

Brittany got into the University of Michigan - her first-choice school! Even if you're not a classic "overachiever" - even if your GPA or LSAT scores aren’t above-average, you can still write a winning law school personal statement to gain admission to your dream school. So, no matter where you're at, reach out and let me know what’s holding you back. I’m always happy to help however I can, and I'll do my best to answer your questions in future articles. Steve P.S. Students like Sarah, Emily, and Brittany you've heard about in these last few articles are just a select few of the success stories I can share with you. Check out my law school admissions coaching sessions on YouTube for more examples. What do these students all have in common? By the time they chose to work with me, their LSAT scores, grades, and recommendation letters were all beyond their control. What they could control was writing a great law school personal statement to get the attention of their dream school’s admissions officers. So if you think your test scores, grades, or extracurriculars are holding you back from getting into your dream school, think again. All it takes is the right law school personal statement.

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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Planning your law school personal statement

When you’re lost somewhere, what do you turn to? Chances are, you use your phone’s GPS to get you where you need to be. Just like your GPS, your outline can keep your law school personal statement on track (and get you where you want to go – your top-choice school!). As you may have noticed, I’ve shared a lot about preparing to write your law school personal statement. The outline is the final preparation step. It takes place after brainstorming, and there may even be a few versions of it. I usually work with students to come up with an outline together, and it’s a great way to keep their law school personal statement focused and on course. But a lot of students want to skip this step and just get to the writing. Here’s why that’s not a good idea: A lot of writers may not tell you this, but they usually don’t just sit at the computer and let the words “flow.” In reality, writing a great law school personal statement requires planning. Even the best novelists, journalists, and essay writers have at least some sort of framework before they just start typing away. I understand that writing an outline might feel like extra work. So, let me take a few moments to share with you why the outline isn’t actually an “extra” step; it will actually save you time and effort in the long run. 3 Reasons You NEED an Outline for Your Law School Personal Statement: 1. It Gives You a Starting Point One of the most common challenges the students I’ve worked with have faced is simply not knowing where to begin. (If this sounds like you, don’t feel bad; this is something that professionals who write for a living struggle with all the time – it’s called writer’s block!) Outlines take the guesswork out of writing so you won’t just be staring at a blank computer screen. Outlines also remove the pressure of having to “sound good,” since they’re just a list of ideas. Once you have them on the screen (or paper – whichever you prefer!), you can then begin to organize them. You can add, remove, or reorder them as you see fit. What matters most is that writing your first draft will seem much less intimidating, because your outline will be there to guide you. 2. It Helps You Focus After the creative juices start flowing, it’s easy to get caught up in a story or idea. Before you know it, you might find that your law school personal statement has veered off in a direction too far from the original point to reel it back in. Again, your outline is your “map:” it’s the list you can look at when your ideas start to run wild. One thing I tell students to do is to look at their outline at the end of each paragraph. If your points are still relevant to your original supporting ideas, you’re on the right track. Which brings me to my next point… 3. It Means Fewer Revisions  Yes, outlines require you to put more work in upfront. But in the long run, they’ll save you time. By planning out your law school personal statement, you’ll stay on track with your writing so your first draft will be better than it would have been without following an outline. This means you’ll spend less time on revisions – and more time thinking about how you’re going to decorate your dorm after getting accepted to your dream school. Outlines remove the stress students feel leading up to the essay-writing process. The process is already stressful enough, but by getting your thoughts down ahead of time, you’ll feel less pressure when it comes time for writing. The problem is, some students don’t even know where to start with an outline, even after doing some brainstorming. They get stuck, and even though they have great ideas and experiences, it’s difficult to organize them. That’s where I come in: the law school application process is what I do best, and I’ve been helping students get into their top choice schools for years. Check out my law school admissions coaching sessions on YouTube for examples.

Are you feeling stressed about your law school personal statement? I can help. Let’s work together to get you into your top-choice school – just shoot me a message to find out more. And let me know if you have any questions about outlines. I can’t reply to every message, but I do read them all myself. Steve P.S. My next article will have some more outline-writing tips, so if you want to learn more about getting your ideas out, keep an eye out for it in the next few days.

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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What every 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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If you’ve been reading my articles, you've probably noticed by now that there’s a PRECISE formula for writing the perfect law school personal statement. The problem is, all students have different experiences. So, while the must-have components of writing a fantastic law school personal statement are the same for everyone, not all students can approach it the same way. Believe it or not, that’s a good thing. After all, you don’t want to sound like everyone else. Until we begin working together, I won’t know the right approach for you. Your law school personal statement should show why the experiences you’ve had set you on this path, but in order to make that connection, we need to first determine what those standout experiences are. In other words, it will require some reflection. This is the first must-have item for every law school personal statement: reflection. You can use the law school personal statement as an opportunity to answer these questions: “Who have I been?” and “Who am I now?” Those are broad questions, and they’re not easy to answer. Sometimes, it takes a little bit of a back-and-forth exchange with someone else to answer these questions. The good news is, I know exactly how to do that. You know who you are… but your identity isn’t easy to put into words. That’s where I can come in. Here’s an example of how the process works: A student I worked with recently (I'll call her "Sarah"), was a confident and ambitious college graduate, but she wasn’t always that way. When she began college, she was shy and afraid to speak up. It wasn’t until she joined a feminist society that she found her voice. Not only did she become more comfortable sharing her views, but Sarah also became more driven to make a positive change in society. When we worked together, I encouraged Sarah to reflect on key moments in her feminist society that had the greatest impact on boosting her confidence and helping her become more of an activist. After we identified these moments, Sarah was able to write a moving law school personal statement about how feminism developed her into the person she is, and how it will continue to play an important role in her education and future. Do you see how Sarah's statement was both reflective and personal?  It worked. Her mother emailed me to share the good news: she had been accepted to Cornell Law!

Dawn may have thought her family's dreams of her daughter attending an Ivy League Law School were a long shot, but that was before we started working on her law school personal statement together. What about you? Are you shooting for a top school, but you’re not sure if you have what it takes? I’d love to hear all about it. Reach out and let me know where you’re at. I’ll do whatever I can to help. Because we can do the same thing with your law school personal statement. If you want to get started, just get in touch and let me know. If not, that’s ok, too. I’ll be sharing more resources in the coming weeks to able you identify these potential topics, whether we work together or not. All I ask is that you reach out and let me know: “What’s your #1 struggle with the law school admissions process?” I’ll use your responses to help me decide what to share more about in future articles. And check out my law school admissions coaching sessions on YouTube for more. Talk soon, Steve P.S. Usually, the students with the best law school personal statements don’t just sit down and begin writing. Unfortunately, it’s not some magical process that just “happens” on its own. It requires a lot of planning, including writing an outline. If you’re wondering how you can use an outline as a tool to get you started on your law school personal statement, be sure to watch for my next article.

 

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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