While an LSAT score is important, there are other aspects of your application that are fundamental for your admission to law school. Taking a moment to look a bit beyond LSAT prep, it's time to discuss your upcoming personal statement?without it, you'll struggle to get into your first choice no matter how well you do on the test.
Right now, most of your focus is probably on your admissions test, and your applications may seem miles away to you right now. Especially if you're in the studying process, your personal statement is probably the last thing on your mind. But your statement is part of a large matrix of what a school takes into account when admitting students, and your applications will creep up on you much sooner than you think.
Many of the top law schools have said that right after your LSAT score and your GPA, they look at your personal statement. Chances are there will be many students that apply to your target law schools with similar GPAs and LSAT scores. Because of this, one of the only ways you can make yourself stand out is through your personal statement.
The Importance of Personal Statements
So, your GPA is impressive and your LSAT scores make you eligible to apply for some of the top law schools in the country. Congratulations, the hardest part is over!
Now, it's time to pay attention to the only other thing you can use to truly differentiate yourself from all the other top academic applicants at these universities.
The truth is that no matter how smart you are and how high your test scores are, you're diving into a peer group that's just like you. If you're applying to top law schools, there's a good chance many of the other applicants have a similar level of academic excellence as you. They've done extracurriculars, they have great grades, and they've done well on their LSAT.
All you have to differentiate yourself is your personal statement. It's the one piece of your application that no one else can mimic or copy. When you're on even playing ground with others academically, it's time to stand out from the pack with a fantastic personal statement. That's why it's not just important to write a solid, convincing statement, but to use your statement to stand out from the crowd.
There's no checklist or instructions for a personal statement. You can't treat it like a regular academic assignment. No amount of knowledge will help you excel above the other applicants. Your impact will come from writing something that's compelling and persuasive.
Think of it like making a case for yourself. With your personal statement, you're answering the question:
Why should we choose you?
It's a deep and difficult question with no simple answer. But, it's also your best chance to dig deep and convince the admissions officers that you have what it takes to be successful at their law school.
How to Write an Impactful Personal
Writing the perfect personal statement is a delicate balance. You must show what makes you uniquely suited to the challenges of law school, as well as showing how you fit the specific school's culture and atmosphere. There are as many ways to succeed in this effort as there are to fail, so it's important to consider your approach thoughtfully.
Consider your Target
One student recently took a leap of faith, and wrote about his status as an extinct mammal because of his natural red hair. If you aren't aware, red hair is a recessive trait that is slowly being weeded out by natural selection. People with red hair are actually becoming less and less numerous with each passing generation. This student wrote about how he should be considered a minority (though he is a Caucasian male) because redheads will soon be obsolete.
Many of the law schools didn't seem to find his statement amusing. However, his top-pick school sent him his admissions packet along with a copy of his personal statement with a sticky note attached to it.
The sticky note stated how much they enjoyed his statement because it was well written and thoroughly showed them his personality and wit. It goes to show that your statement doesn't have to please everyone, just your top picks.
Be Creative
Another example of the importance of personal statements comes directly from the mouth of an admissions officer from Columbia University. When asked about personal statements, the admissions officer in question stated that each year the admissions counselors at Columbia compete with each other to find the best personal statement.
This year, the statement belonged to a man who wrote about his workplace. Apparently, every Friday at this applicant's office, there was an obstacle course race that each office worker participated in. It consisted of each participant sitting on an office chair and pulling themselves through the office.
This person was the all-time reigning champion of the obstacle course race, and when this fact was brought to his attention, he realized he had stagnated and needed to make a change in his life. Therefore, he decided to veer his life path towards law school.
The admissions counselors all loved the statement and chose it as the best of that year. Consequently, that person was admitted to Columbia, and all because of how well written his personal statement was. Can you imagine getting into your dream school based on a story about rolling your office chair around obstacles?
Focus on the Long Term
Anecdotes aside, you need to remember that there is still a path ahead of you after the LSAT. Even after you finish, there are really important things you need to focus on.
So, it's prudent that once in a while, in your LSAT prep off-time, you should begin to ruminate on topics that might work for your personal statement. Thinking about it early will allow your brain to start subconsciously reflecting on your topic.
Keep in mind that your LSAT isn't your final goal. The true goal of this painful process is to get into law school, then to graduate and find work in the field of law. As much as the LSATs are a vital part of that, you can't lose sight of the overall vision.
LSATs are a major part of your law school application. However, once you're into law school, your LSAT score won't make much of an impact on your future career. The same is true of your personal statement, although it can help to reveal more about you as a person. In the end, your personal characteristics and driving motivation will impact your future far more than LSAT scores.
Take time to do well on your LSATs. But, don't neglect the other parts of your applications, like the personal statement, that might have an equally meaningful impact on your admission.
Now, it's time to learn more about personal statements and how to write one for yourself.
Introduction to Personal Statements
No law school application is complete without a personal statement. The application is typically two pages in length, and your personal statement is likely the most important qualitative (non-number-based) element to your application.
It shouldn't be treated as a second thought by any means. Frequently, it's pointed out that the personal statement is an admissions counselors' entry point into your application, and you know what they say about first impressions!
Be Yourself or Sell Yourself
There are two schools of thought with the personal statement. One school believes that the personal statement is where the true you should shine; step away from the numbers you've acquired and your academic pedigree and really let the admissions officers know what makes you tick, what makes you, you.
The other school of thought believes that the personal statement is not a place for flowery stories about moments that have changed your life, and rather it is another opportunity for you to highlight your academic achievements.
What you should do, if you have the opportunity, is do some research on the admissions department of your target school. A great way to do that is to set up a meeting with them. That way, you can talk to them in person, and maybe even get a chance to tour the campus and the library (a place you will be spending most of your time if you go to that school).
When you are in the meeting you can get the info you want straight from the horse's mouth. Then, you can write your statement appropriately. Online research and forums can also help you get specific information on a particular law school.
What to Talk About in Your Statement
As for the subject matter, we've established that your personal statement should be about you, of course, but what about you exactly? The answer is to write about something personal, relevant, and as unique to you as possible. This could be a quality you possess, an experience that helped define you, or motivation that drives you.
Whatever you choose, the key is–you guessed it–to make it personal. It doesn't have to be an event that has likely never happened to anyone else, a feeling no other person has ever felt, or a trait no other person has possessed; but keeping authenticity and honesty in your essay will drive home the personal element.
Consider your personal statement to be the creative part of your application. This is the element that goes beyond quantitative credentials and lets you win over the admissions officials on a personal level.
Brainstorming Your Personal Statement
There's no perfect answer to the subject matter you should write about. If you need some help coming up with a topic, follow a process like this:
- Write as many topic ideas as you can think of, ignoring whether they're good or bad. Make sure this initial list is extensive and thorough. It should include ideas in a broad range of topics, from a personal experience that influenced your life to how you've overcome challenges or circumstances that contributed to your character. Don't be shy in this phase, and start it early: taking your time will help your brain come up with more ideas.
- Read through your list of ideas and cross out any that don't fit in well with the initial criteria. Focus on getting rid of ideas that aren't about you directly, aren't very impactful, don't reveal part of your character, or are circumstances you're not very comfortable talking about in-depth.
- Once you've narrowed down your list, look at any remaining options and create pros and cons lists for the remaining options. If the first cut didn't narrow it down enough, do another cut before making and pros and cons. Make your decision based on the pros and cons of each idea, choosing the one that makes the strongest case for your admission.
If you don't feel confident in your topic choice, pick another topic. It's okay if it feels a little out of your comfort zone, but you don't want to pick a topic that makes you feel so uncomfortable that you can't write about it well. You need to be able to write a thorough, clear, and compelling statement about whatever topic you choose, so choose something you'll be able to expand on.
The Elements of a Great Personal Statement
No matter what style you're going for or what you're writing about, each law school personal statement has a few common elements. These are fairly consistent throughout all statements. Getting the structure correct and submitting the right elements will improve your chances of gaining entrance into a top law school.
Here are some things to consider when creating the perfect personal statement for your law school application:
Introduce Yourself
It's essential to begin your statement with a great opening. The University of Chicago Law School recommends against beginning with a quote, as many choose to do. Starting with a quote, mantra, or vague idea doesn't immediately present you.
This is, after all, a personal statement: lead with yourself. Come back to fundamentals; your personal statement is about you.
The admissions officials are examining your personal application, not a general application to judge for adequacy (that's the job of the LSAT). Begin honestly, and remember that the audience you're writing for has read innumerable personal statements (even just this year) and they'll smell lies from a mile away. Don't waste your own time or their time trying too hard to be clever.
Try to start on your best foot. Our advice is to write the introduction last. Write the meat of your personal statement first, then loop back and write your introduction. That way, you'll be able to come up with a better opening statement that ties in well with what you're talking about in general.
Tell Your Story
The bulk of your focus should be on the real substance of your personal statement. Make sure that you're following a logical narrative structure. Personal statements should be more of a story than a persuasive essay. If you're sharing an interesting personal experience or life event, you'll be best served if you think about:
- Time
- Place
- Character
- Action
- Surprise
If any of these elements aren't clear in your personal statement, you'll have a bit of difficulty formulating a compelling narrative to convince an admissions officer of your merit. Review your statement and make sure you're touching on everything, and how each part relates to you.
Taking a closer look at the earlier example from the chair-racing gentleman, we see all 5 of these elements come into play: The time is given, the location of the office is mentioned, the chair racer identifies himself in the story, the action of the chair races and being declared the all-time champion is discussed, and the outcome of the decision to pursue law school is revealed.
This is just a guideline for structuring the body of your personal statement. Because it's generally a story about you, it's in your best interest to make sure you're doing your story justice.
Make Your Point
The conclusion of your statement should be where you reiterate the message of your personal statement and answer the question of what you're a good candidate for admission. It's all about wrapping up the whole statement into a neat and tidy ending that creates a sense of closure and calls the reader into action.
In this case, the action you want is acceptance into the school. Don't be too outright?after all, you're applying to law school, but look to touch on points of empathy and connection. Make it hard for the admissions counselor to reject you, make it easy for them to say yes.
Often, your conclusion will look a bit like your introduction, because you'll likely talk about similar themes in both. However, the goal of the conclusion is to leave the reader with a satisfying sense of closure and to lead them to appreciate the qualities you've emphasized in the statement.
General Do's and Don'ts
If you have to narrow it down to one solid list of things you definitely should be doing and things you definitely shouldn't be doing, here's what you would end up with:
Do:
- Be concise, organized, and candid
- Proofread, proofread, and then proofread again
- Be yourself
- Keep your personal statement about you
- Be honest and authentic
- Connect your story to the profession of law
- Outline before you write
Don't:
- Regurgitate your resume and qualifications
- Overlook typos or submit anything but the final version
- Name drop (it's okay to touch on an important figure in your life, though)
- Attempt to use legal terms or phrases you may be using incorrectly
- Cover your entire life story
If you need something more in-depth, Nova.edu put together a guide to creating personal statements, and BU Law has some great examples of statements that cut through the noise.
Personal Statement Tips
Besides the structure and tone of the statement, what else can you keep in mind to make yours better? There are as many opinions as there are law school admissions officers, unfortunately. But, you can still glean some useful tips from the chaos of opinions:
No Gimmicks
Skip the gimmicks. Gimmicky personal statements scream ?I don't have anything original to say' more than they amuse. If you can think of it in under a minute, they've likely read it.
What they haven't read is a concise, creative, and thorough presentation of why you're unique, interesting, and valuable for their law school.
Take Feedback and Proofread the Statement
Don't rely only on your own judgment for your personal statement, have a trusted friend, colleague, or individual read your essay and give constructive, blunt feedback.
Your judgment is the ultimate decider, as it's your application and your statement was written about you, but you should always seek feedback from people you trust. Look for trusted academic advisors, mentors, or even friends and family who could offer a fresh perspective. Ask how compelling it is, how well written it is, and ask if they would make changes. Accept and apply the feedback that you think makes sense with your vision.
Beyond simple feedback, have a fresh set of eyes proofread your essay. It can't be said enough: proofread, proofread, proofread! Your personal statement is your introductory argument as to why you should be admitted to your chosen law school. If your essay contains errors, it's less likely an admissions officer will be inclined to believe you have the skills and attention to detail required for your legal studies.
Avoid Templates
Personal statements should be just that: personal. If you look up a template and essentially fill in the blanks, you're not giving the admissions officer a true look into your personality, your best qualities, and the unique contributions you can make.
Templates bring up a lot of problems. A little food for thought:
- Did that example statement help the writer gain entry to law school?
- Will a school admissions officer recognize the template format and stiff writing style?
- Why would you trust your chance of admission to someone or some organization with no skin in the game?
- Is using a template considered plagiarism?
- How do you know if a template is even any good?
Just like writing your resume or CV, templates can only get you so far. You can look at the basic structure of a template for reference, but that's about all you should use them for. In fact, we recommend looking at successful personal statements, but be original!
Take the time to do this right, even if it means going around to different academic influences and people you trust to help you write, re-write, edit, proofread and polish your final personal statement. It will be worth it once you get that acceptance letter!
Wrapping Up
The perfect personal statement is the one that perfectly and truly states you. If you bring your personality, your voice, and your story with honesty and authenticity, you'll have the start of a winning essay.
There's the reason they call it a personal statement: it should be personal. Since admissions counselors can't get to know all of their applicants, they must use this to evaluate you. While it's difficult, if you can show off your personality and uniqueness, you've got a great chance for success.