Law school personal statement length

Law school personal statement length (or why law school admission officers want short essays) Throughout your high school and college education, your instructors have probably asked you to “be concise” with your writing. In other words, they’re looking for short, punchy language. Instead of using long phrases, they’ve encouraged you to state your point with fewer words. Sure, there’s a time and a place to be wordy. But let’s be clear: it’s not the law school personal statement.

In fact, it’s never been more important to be concise than right now. Your law school personal statement needs to get your message across as promptly as possible. Law school admissions officers want to read concise law school personal statement, for the following reasons: 1. They’re Pressed for Time Law school admission officers have deadlines, too. The reason most schools limit the word or page count for law school personal statements is so they have time to actually read each one! If your law school personal statement is too wordy, readers will become frustrated by it. A clearly-written statement should be able to be read fully within 5-10 minutes. So, the more concise you can make your language, the better. 2. They’ve Read a LOT of These In-demand schools receive tens of thousands of applications. While no single admission officer would be expected to read all of those, it’s safe to say they’re reading quite a few. They’ll appreciate yours even more if it’s easier to read! 3. Your Message Will Be Clearer When you ramble instead of choosing concise sentences, your words begin to lose their precise meaning. To make your message as clear as possible, try to say what you need to say in as few words as you can. 4. You’ll Show Your Value as a Candidate When you choose to write concisely, it says a few things about you as a student: a. You’ve done your research and know law schools look for short, concise essays b. You know how to follow directions c. You can communicate a message or idea clearly d. You respect the admission officers’ time and value the opportunity to have your essay read It’s not always easy to be concise with your writing, but with the law school personal statement, it’s definitely worth aiming for. And that’s one of the biggest things I help students with – transforming 1,000+ word law school personal statement drafts into concise and polished pieces of prose that pull no punches. Or, in other words, writing law school personal statements that admission officers can (and want to!) read. Please feel free to reach out if you need any help with your law school application essays. I’m here to help. Until next time, Steve P.S. Now that I’ve shared why it’s so important to be concise, keep an eye out for my next article. I’ll be going over how you can be more concise with your law school personal statement. In the meantime, if you’re struggling to get started, take a look at these law school admissions resources.

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 editing

9 out of 10 writers agree that editing’s hard work! (The other one’s probably lying.) You’ve already put time and effort into your law school personal statement, so spending even more time on it might feel like the last thing you want to do. But it turns out that editing is critically important. It’s the one thing that turns good law school personal statements into great ones. And, it could even be the thing that catches mistakes that would’ve led you to get a rejection letter. Sure, you know you have to edit your law school personal statement, but one thing I find many students are unsure about is when to stop editing. Something I get asked a lot is, “How do I know whether my law school personal statement needs more work?”   My answer’s typically: If you’re asking whether your law school personal statement needs more work, it probably does. At the same time, it’s easy to become obsessed with editing, and actually create more work for yourself.  Some students keep going back and forth over their law school personal statement, when it’s already perfect as is. To help solve this dilemma, I’m giving you this guide:  How to Tell Whether Your Law School Personal Statement Needs More Editing You Caught a Mistake The biggest sign your law school personal statement still needs editing is that others see it! If you’re still noticing spelling or grammatical mistakes, repeated or omitted words, or any other mechanical errors, keep editing until there’s absolutely nothing left to fix. Don’t read it through just once and submit it, either. Read it, take a break, then come back to it again until you’re 100% certain it’s your most error-free work to date. Your Readers Have Questions Whether it’s your mom, a teacher, or a friend, anyone who gets confused over a certain detail, paragraph, or sentence in your law school personal statement is doing you a favor. Things that might seem obvious to you aren’t necessarily as easy for the average reader to understand.  If one of your readers has said “I don’t get this,” or “This part confuses me,” thank them! They’ve just pointed out a place where you need to elaborate or clarify, and that’s far better than leaving your law school admission officer confused. You Haven’t Answered These Questions Every law school personal statement should answer:        • Why do you want to go to this law school?        • What do you have to offer that other students don’t?        • Do you have a passion for learning?        • What made you decide on a future in this specific field?        • How will a law school education support your future goals? You should aim to answer these questions with clear, concise answers. You Feel Like Something’s Missing If you’ve read and reread your law school personal statement, but it still seems to be lacking something, you may need to rework one or more areas. Ask yourself: where do I feel like the law school personal statement is falling flat? Does the conclusion need to be stronger? Does the opening make enough of an impact? Are there any areas that simply seem boring? If so, could you replace them with more interesting details, or leave them out altogether? You Haven’t Left It & Come Back Your entire writing, editing, and submission process should not happen over the course of one day. In fact, many students spend weeks on the planning, writing, and editing phases to write a law school personal statement they consider flawless. In order to tell whether an idea is truly working, I recommend walking away from your law school personal statement and then coming back to it 48 hours later, at the very earliest. Of course, this only works when you begin your law school application process on time! For a timeline on when you need to do everything by, visit my law school admissions resources here. Until next time, Steve P.S. Another way to tell whether your law school personal statement is at the exact point it should be (or, conversely, you could still make a few tweaks) is to have an expert weigh in. If you’d like some professional help on turning your law school personal statement into a masterpiece, you know where to find 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 closing

In my last article, I shared the reasons why your law school personal statement's introduction matters more than anything. That’s not a lie, but your conclusion is a very close second. Even if you’ve gotten the law school admission officer to pay attention, your work’s only half-done. Now, you need to “seal the deal” by making a powerful impression. By the time they reach the end of your law school personal statement, the reader should be convinced you deserve a place at their school.  Here are my 5 biggest strategies for writing the perfect closing: 1. Make a Lasting Impact One way to ensure your reader will be moved by your law school personal  statement is to leave them with a lasting image. 2. Tie It All Together... Sum up the points made in your law school personal statement to clarify your main message. You should remind the reader what your experiences involved, what you hope to achieve, and how your law school education will a role in that process. 3. …But Keep It Brief At the same time, you don’t need to give a lengthy summary of all the points you made. Since most law school personal statement are on the short side, readers don’t need to be reminded of everything you wrote - just the main points. The conclusion shouldn’t be more than a paragraph or two. 4. Keep It Future-Focused Although your law school personal statement will likely describe one or more events that took place in the past and describe your education up until this point, the conclusion should end on a future-focused note. After all, you want to give a reason why you want to spend the next four years at that university, and that going to their school is important to your future career.  5. Make It About You Even if your law school personal statement discusses a role model, an event, or some other topic, the conclusion must absolutely be all about the most important person: you!  A good way to make sure you’ve achieved all of the steps listed here is to review your conclusion and make sure it contains one of these phrases (or similar): “I hope,” “I plan,” or “I will.” This is a great way to make sure you’ve discussed your plans for the future and have returned the focus to yourself. Talk soon, Steve P.S. We’ve discovered ways to make the beginning and end of your law school personal statement really stand out, but don’t forget that what’s in between matters, too! For additional ways to make the whole package as best as it can be, take a look at my advice on writing the law school personal statement, and reach out if you have questions or need any help.

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 introduction

The introduction (or opening) is arguably the most important aspect of your whole law school personal statement. It’s the first thing your admission officers will read, and as you know, you only get one shot to make a first impression. Knowing that puts a lot of pressure on students, but I’m here to reduce that pressure. Yes, your law school personal statement introduction is important. But it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Here are a few dos and don’ts to help you master the opening paragraph: 1. DO Keep It Brief Most law school personal statement are between 500-700 words. That might sound like a lot now, but trust me, once you get going, you’ll actually find it difficult to stay within that word count! For this reason, it’s incredibly important to keep your opening short. You’ll need to provide some relevant background info – but limit it to the things that the reader truly needs to know about you. 2. DON’T Start With a Quote Enough said. 3. DO Jump Right Into the Action To grab your reader’s attention, bring them right into the “action” of your law school personal statement. Your law school personal statement should make your reader feel like they're on a train that’s about to leave, and they don’t want to miss it. 4. DON’T Write Your Opening First If you spend too much time worrying about the opening of your law school personal statement, you might find yourself never getting ANY of it done! One thing I encourage my students to do is sit down and just start writing. The text you come up with might wind up in the beginning, middle, or even at the end of your law school personal statement. It might get scrapped altogether. But, at least you’ll have something to work with. A good approach is to sit down and start writing a scene, like the one above. Chances are, it might wind up being an opening to your law school personal statement – even if you didn’t start off planning to write it like that! 5. DO Clarify Your Point Eventually, you’ll have to take the reader out of the “action” and explain why the story you’ve shared is important.  A lot of times, students struggle with the opening of the law school personal statement because they feel like they need to say everything all at once. But that’s what the rest of it is for! The primary function of the opening is to get your reader to keep reading. Focus on that, first and foremost, and everything else will follow. Until next time, Steve P.S. Now that I’ve shared how to craft a compelling opening, I’ll cover how to write the perfect closing in my next article. In the meantime, to discover more tips on starting your law school personal statement, check out these articles I wrote with more details about that.

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 application essay stereotypes

Writing about stereotypes can be tricky. It’s a sensitive topic, and approaching it incorrectly could create the wrong tone in your law school personal statement or diversity statement. However, if you’ve been affected by a stereotype in a way that had a significant impact on your life, you should at least consider writing about it in your law school application essays statement – as long as you keep some important tips in mind.  Here’s how you can confront stereotypes in your law school application essays successfully: 1. Show how you’ve tackled them Your law school application essays shouldn’t only show how you’ve struggled with stereotypes. Law school admission officers want to know how you’ve confronted a challenge and come out stronger. 2. Don’t make it your only focus While dealing with a stereotype may be part of your backstory, there’s likely a larger message you’ll need to deliver in your law school personal statement. My former student Jasmine (who I mentioned in my most recent articles) touched briefly upon stereotypes in her law school diversity statement. She wrote: “Medicine and mathematics have been the traditionally promoted fields for many Chinese people. For this reason, there is a stereotype that Chinese people lack the creativity that Western culture has traditionally fostered. However, because China is a country with 1.3 billion people, there is the potential for China to provide the world with an entirely new kind of fashion that will revolutionize the world with a style influenced by Chinese culture.” As you can see, Jasmine confronts the stereotype of Chinese students focusing on math and medicine head-on. Yet, instead of making the stereotype her primary focus, she instead discusses how in spite of those outdated ideas, China actually has a huge potential to become a global leader in the fashion world. 3. Make sure it ties in with your overall message. As with any issue or topic you discuss in your law school personal statement, you shouldn’t talk about stereotypes just to make a certain impression on your readers. Don’t include anything that doesn’t tie in with your larger message about your experiences, passions, and how they tie into your plans for the future. You can see how Jasmine accomplished this in the excerpt above. The overall message of her law school personal statement was how she plans to pursue fashion law to help China become more recognized as a worldwide leader in fashion. While it’s obvious to the reader that she may have witnessed stereotyping against Chinese people first-hand, she only mentions this because it supports the overarching ideas in her law school personal statement. Writing about stereotypes and other sensitive subjects isn’t always easy, but it can be done. And, if you do it correctly, it could make an outstanding impression on admission officers. Just remember to follow the 3 tips above, and reach out to me if you have any questions or want help using these strategies in your law school personal statement. Talk soon, Steve P.S. For more advice on how to tackle personal subjects in your law school personal statement, be sure to check out these law school admissions articles.

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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Seven Strategies for 1L Year