LSAT Blog: LSAT Unplugged YouTube / Podcast

Law School Personal Statement - Getting Personal (without going too far)

Students often ask me, “When it comes to including personal details, how personal is too personal?”

After all, you need to inject some personal details in your law school personal statement. They make the reader - in this case, the admission officer at your school of choice - feel as if he or she is coming along for a ride with you.

Personal details also help you follow the “show, don’t tell,” rule of writing.

For instance, let’s go back to Rachel from my last article. She shared a story about proudly identifying as Chinese-American, and she used some noteworthy personal details to tell that story.

In the beginning of her law school personal statement, she talks about people always assuming she was a math genius. Now, she could have just said she’s heard “a lot of stereotypes about Asians,” but by specifically describing one, she brings an experience to life.

Of course, this detail is very personal to Rachel. Hearing racial stereotypes was hurtful for her throughout childhood. So why does she choose to share them in her law school personal statement?

One reason is that it helps demonstrate growth. Stereotypes like that offended her, but now she’s learned to be proud of her Chinese-American heritage. By the end of the essay, she realizes why those stereotypes are being made: because the people that make them lack a deeper understanding of human individuality, which she now has.

This brings us to our “golden rule” for including personal details in your essay: Include your emotions and innermost thoughts, but only to support your main point.

In other words, don’t write a sob story.

Rachel didn’t just try to get sympathy from her reader by telling us that she felt like an outcast in school because of her peers' assumptions. Instead, she shows how she overcame those personal experiences to become a stronger individual.

What types of details could you include in your law school personal statement? You don’t have to include too many.

In fact, that’s one thing I see students struggle with: deciding just how much detail to include.

Here’s the thing: most law school personal statements are about two pages, double-spaced words. You won’t be able to tell a complete story in that amount of space if you’re including every little detail. This means it’s important to choose the ones that really matter.

These are the personal details that made you feel something.

Rachel, for example, felt something when she saw her father give a donation to a homeless man during their trip to China. She also saw the impact of the generosity on the man's face. These personal details changed the way Rachel viewed her identity as a Chinese-American woman, which is why she chose to share them with the reader.

So, how much personal detail do you really need? Not much. It’s all about quality – not quantity.

Another bit of advice: don’t be afraid to get too personal in your law school personal statement. The meaningful transformations students make throughout college and in their careers school do involve some personal details. There are very few “off-limits” topics.

If you’re nervous to share something about yourself, it’s probably because it made a life-changing impact on you. That’s the exact thing that law school admission officers want to read about.

Until next time,

Steve

P.S. Are you worried you won’t be able to fit everything into your essay in fewer than 1,00o words? Take a look at my list of 10 questions every law school personal statement should answer to make sure you’re saying everything you need to in the limited space you 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.)

Write your law school personal statement now

Are you feeling pressure to work on your law school applications, but still haven’t settled on a list of schools yet?

Maybe your parents and friends are asking you every day. Each time they ask, you get more worried about what you should’ve done by this point.

That’s okay. Instead of panicking about where you’re going to go, I encourage you to just sit down and write your law school personal statement.

You’re probably thinking, “Why should I even bother writing it if I don’t even know where I’m sending it?”

Let’s find out why.

1. You can use it for comparison.

To write a great law school personal statement about your experiences and your future plans (which is what most law school personal statements essentially consist of), you’ll need to do a little introspection. A self-analysis will help you better understand who you are now, why you’ve become the person you are today, and how you plan to impact society with your skills.

This deep thinking may lead you to uncover some interesting discoveries about yourself. You may make new realizations about your values, beliefs, and outlook on life. Comparing these traits to law schools that are known to share the same values may help you in the decision-making process.

2. It might help you determine a career path.

By this point in your education, you probably already know which legal practice areas interest you most. But in between LSAT studying, keeping your GPA up, and requesting letters of recommendation, have you really had time to just sit and think about what you’d like to do with your law degree?

The law school personal statement allows you to focus on your future. It gives you ample time to reflect on your past, too. By brainstorming topic ideas, you can think back on what you did well in school and work and compare that with what you actually enjoy. Your future legal practice area just might be right in the middle.

And, once you have a legal practice area in mind, it’s even easier to narrow down school choices.

3. You’ll have one less task on your list.

Once you do decide on a list of target schools, you’ll be glad to have one less thing to do to complete the application process!

Bottom line: You can use the same law school personal statement for most schools anyway!

But where do you start if you don’t have a particular law school in mind?

That’s completely fine. Most law schools have the same personal statement requirements, so you can get a jump start on writing your law school personal statement now without even knowing which schools you’ll wind up applying to. You can always go back and tweak it for length or tone once you have reached a decision.

In fact, that’s what many of the students I work with wind up doing. Rachel, for instance, was unsure about which law school she’d want to attend.

Yet, she knew it was getting late in the law school application cycle.

I gave her a prompt, and together we came up with a law school personal statement that would wow any admissions officer.

In my next article, we’ll discover how Rachel was able to produce an impactful essay without even knowing which school she wanted to attend.

Until next time,

Steve

P.S. If you need help with your law school personal statement, just reach out and let me know. I’m a real person and read every message myself. I’ll do whatever I can to help you.

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.

What to do if law school + past experiences don’t match

In my last article, I showed you some ways to write a strong law school application essay for a particular school.

One technique I shared was using past experiences to show why you chose that particular school.

But what if your experiences don’t exactly line up with the idea of law school?

Let’s say you took science classes all throughout college, but you’ve recently decided you want to pursue a career in law?

It may seem difficult, but it’s still possible. You can make a connection between almost any college major and law school.

Instead of ignoring the fact that your college background in science doesn’t seem to support her decision to go into law, confront it head-on.

Although it’s commonly believed the two subjects aren’t closely related, you can show examples of ways in which they actually are (such as patent law). You can make an argument that seemingly opposing academic interests can actually assist a student in pursuing a single subject in the field of law.

It may seem like a challenging feat, but you can use the same method to draw connections between any two fields of study.

Still stumped? Get in touch with me, and we can chat more about it. If you’ve chosen a major that doesn’t have an obvious connection to your educational experiences, I’d love to help you do the same.

Until next time,

Steve

P.S. If your college major does match up more closely with law school, congratulations! It will make your application essays that much easier. But make sure you review my law school admissions resources to help you ace your essays.

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.

Perfect Law School Admissions Essays (Supplemental)

In my last article, I shared why the “Why X Law School?” supplemental essay is so important. Now, I’d like to show how you can master that essay, showing why you've chosen a particular law school.

Here are 3 of my best strategies for these law school admissions supplemental essays:

1. Include Details

Which programs or courses interest you, and why? It may require a little digging to come up with those answers, but it’s worth it. It will show admission officers you’ve done your research.

Likewise, are there any professors or organizations you’re drawn to? Don’t just state that you’re interested in them, say why.

When we worked together, I encouraged my student Sarah to answer these questions. (We’ve looked at Sarah’s story in my last few articles.) In her supplemental essay, she specifically talked about a professor she admires at the law school.

Which details about your past education, work experience, volunteer work, and extracurricular activities support your interest in a particular law school program (and law school in general?

2. Link Your Objectives to the School’s Programs

How are you going to make an impact on the world? It’s a big question, but this is the time to start thinking about it.

It’s also time to start thinking about how your school of choice will help you do that.

My student Sarah, for instance, wanted to incorporate more sustainable options into the fashion world. Her latest projects included finding ways to reuse old clothing. But she needed the resources at Cornell, like “Walter the sweating mannequin” to see whether her ideas will work.

Sarah had very specific objectives that Cornell’s programs can support. It may seem challenging to identify your own right now, but with a little discussion and one-on-one work together, we can get there.

For instance, maybe you’re a prospective chemistry major. As you know, some chemistry labs are better-equipped than others. Does your top-choice school have the best chemistry lab in the Northeast?

Or is there a professor at your dream school who’s well-known in your major for making major advancements?

At the simplest level, try to show what excites you about your future, and how your school of choice can help make your future goals a reality.

3. Link to the School’s Values

A great way to show why you and the school are a perfect fit for one another is by linking your own goals or experiences to the school’s values or mission statement.

In doing this, you link your own goals to what the law school is best-known for. See how that might make a great impact on a law school admission officer?

You can apply all of these same principles in your supplemental essay, too.

But again, you’ll only be able to make a strong argument if you’ve chosen the right school for you in the first place.

If you’re still in the early stages of that process, head on over to my law school admissions resources page to check out articles on every aspect of the admission process, including choosing a law school.

Until next time,

Steve

P.S. If you’re further along in the law school application process, you might be wondering about how to connect your college major to law school in your application essays. Keep your eyes peeled for my next article, where I’ll share some strategies for dealing with this.

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.

Supplemental law school admissions essays

In many of my previous articles, I’ve shared strategies for writing your main law school personal statement.

Many schools also require a supplemental essay that answers the following question: Why do you want to attend this law school?

On the surface, it seems like a simple question. You can probably answer it easily.

But it’s actually not quite as simple as most students think.

Here’s why: your main law school personal statement aims to show why you deserve to be accepted to the school. It should show what the school would gain by having you attend.

That’s only half of the equation.

Your “why this law school” essay addresses the other part. It shows why the school is a good fit for you.

Ultimately, law school admission officers need to be convinced of both.

Just how do you do that? As with your main law school personal statement, you must use the supplemental essay to make your case.

Remember Sarah, from my most recent articles? I showed you some examples from her law school personal statement, which revealed the powerful role feminism played in her education. Through her essay, we discovered how Sarah became passionate about using feminism to make a positive impact.

Sarah’s personal statement was thought-provoking, powerful, and ultimately did everything the PS should do. But it only shows why Sarah would be a great student to have.

In fact, it shows that Sarah would be a great student to have at any law school. But why Cornell in particular?

That’s what the supplemental essay explains.

Sarah could say that Cornell Law a top school. She could say she’s heard they have a great program in her area of interest. She also could have written that having a law degree from Cornell will increase her employment prospects.

But she didn’t write any of that.

Just as with your law school personal statement, you’ll want to use your supplemental essay to tell admission officers something they don’t already know.

Here are some things Sarah included, for example:

• She already visited the campus.

• She sat in on two classes and was excited by what she learned in them.

• She’s not only interested in Cornell Law’s academics, but also their legal clinics (which she names specifically).

As you can see, Sarah gave very specific examples about what makes Cornell Law the right fit for her. It’s far different from her personal statement, which, again, shows why she’s a good candidate for Cornell.

What about you? Which law school have you selected, and why do you think it’s the right fit? If you can’t answer that question or you haven’t yet decided on your top-choice schools, take a look at this video where I discuss law school selection.

Once you do find the right fit, it’ll make writing your supplemental essays much simpler. In fact, in my next article, I’m going to share some important advice for writing the perfect supplemental essay. Keep an eye out for it!

Until next time,

Steve

P.S. If you don’t have previous experience with a particular school like Sarah did, don’t worry. While it’s certainly a bonus, it’s by no means a must. So even if you’ve never set foot on your dream school's campus, there are still ways to link your experiences to the school’s programs and values. You’ll discover how in my upcoming 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.

Does your law school personal statement have too much detail?

Great writing is all in the details. Well, that’s not all that great law school personal statements need, but it’s still very important.

The problem is, many students wonder: exactly how much detail do I need in my law school personal statement?

There’s no perfect answer. What makes it even more difficult is that some admission officers like lots of it, while others prefer less.

You have to include just enough to make everyone happy.

Maybe you’ve had similar experiences with professors. Some are always writing “Add more detail!” or “Cite some examples” in the margins of your papers. Others might tell you to tone down the details.

When it comes to adding detail, how can you walk that fine line between too much and not enough?

A lot of the times, less is better.

Let’s revisit Sarah’s law school personal statement, from my previous article.

Remember how she included details about the speaker’s voice in the auditorium? It created a powerful image. But the rest of the personal statement wasn’t loaded with detailed imagery.

You don’t need much of it. Just a few “sprinkles.”

Think about it this way. If Sarah used that level of description to write about every meaningful moment she had with feminism, her personal statement would become boring and overly detailed.

Instead, we decided it would be best for her to describe – using a few key details – the most important defining moment she could recall.

That’s not to say the rest of her law school personal statement is lacking detail. She includes some other details, such as the specific activities she was involved with during her time in the feminist society.

But they aren’t describing one specific instance in great detail.

So, how do you choose which instance to describe with lots of detail?

It should be the one defining moment that means the most to you.

Yet, the details you choose to incorporate are just as important as the moment itself.

For instance, if Sarah had described that the speaker’s shirt was red, that wouldn’t really matter, would it?

Instead, she talked about how the speech was so powerful that it drowned out everything else in the room.

The details have to matter.

If you’re struggling with including details in your law school personal statement, go easy on yourself. This is something that almost everyone has trouble with.

It takes a few tries, but I’m confident that I can help you get it just right.

Here’s a little secret I share with my students: details can always be added in later. In fact, the right amount of detail is what takes a good law school personal statement and makes it a great one.

Luckily, I know just how much detail you’ll need to add, and where it should go. After all, I’ve been doing this for years – I’ve chatted with dozens of admission officers and become friends with many more. Through our conversations, I’ve come to learn exactly what they’re looking for.

I’d love to share what I’ve learned with you, so you can write a law school personal statement with the perfect amount of detail to get into your dream school.

Want to make it happen? Just reach out so we can talk more about it.

-Steve

P.S. Where are you with the rest of your law school application tasks? I know there’s a lot to think about. From getting letters of recommendation to narrowing down your law school choices, you might feel overwhelmed with everything you have to do. My articles have focused a lot on the law school personal statement because it’s something students tend to struggle with most, but don’t forget to check out my other law school admissions resources to help you with all the rest!

P.P.S. Check out my law school admissions coaching sessions on YouTube to see what it's like to work with me 1-1.

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.

Want to increase your LSAT score? Get my free Easy LSAT Cheat Sheet today.

LSAT Blog: LSAT Unplugged YouTube / Podcast

Pages

Law School Personal Statement - Getting Personal (without going too far)

Write your law school personal statement now

What to do if law school + past experiences don’t match

Perfect Law School Admissions Essays (Supplemental)

Supplemental law school admissions essays

Does your law school personal statement have too much detail?

About Steve Schwartz