Evaluate Yourself – Developing a theme for your Law School Personal Statement.
Brainstorming is an essential first step to developing a theme for your Law School admissions personal statement. That exercise will help you evaluate yourself. . . helping you see more clearly your attributes and value. But, there are other considerations to make when developing the theme for your personal statement. This post will point you to other actions you can take to develop a theme that will get the attention of the Law School admissions committee.
Solicit information from others – Developing a theme for your Law School Personal Statement.
Other people view us differently than we see ourselves. You might overlook an angle or possible theme that might be obvious to others who know you well, so consult with various people who know you and who’s judgment you value. To assist them towards giving you the feedback you need, give them a couple of relevant questions to answer:
- What would be the most important thing about me that you think the admissions committee should know?
- Based on our association, what is unusual, distinctive, unique, and/or impressive about me?
Desirable qualities that Law School admissions committees seek:
As you’re developing your theme, consider your personal attributes. Here are some that admissions committees look for:
- Demonstrated seriousness of your purpose to pursue law school
- Intellectual ability to be a successful law student
- Demonstrated intellectual curiosity
- Open-minded to ideas, people and circumstances different from your own
- Flexibility — Ability to compromise when negotiating with others
- Demonstrated maturity . . . dependable, responsible, trustworthy
- Concern for others, demonstrated by devoting time to service activities
- Initiative — The ability to start a project, or take up a responsibility on your own
- Organized — ability to handle multiple tasks
- Leadership — you can inspire others to work towards a mutual goal
- Demonstrated ability to stick to a task until completed.
- Enthusiasm, eagerness to engage in activities or projects
- Sense of Humor — You can find humor in difficult situations
- Optimism – Your ability to find the positive in negative situations
- Risk Taking — Your ability to handle uncertainty while working towards goals
- Confidence in your ability to handle tough situations and challenges
- Resourcefulness when dealing with adversity. . . serious life challenges
- Creativity — the way your mind addresses issues
Answer Two Questions in your Law School Personal Statement
While the attributes listed above are desirable characteristics of a great law school applicant, you should not take one of those attributes and develop it into a “theme.” Really, there are only two basic themes:
- “Why you want to be a lawyer/attend this school.”
- “Why you are qualified to attend this school.”
If your personal statement doesn’t express your motivation for attending law school and present your argument for why you should be accepted, the statement is not working for you.
Putting it all Together
We have developed quite an impressive list of things to accomplish in this one short essay! “Putting it all together” might be easier said than done. But, as you look through your gathered ideas, every prospective law school student should be able to write a personal statement that will portray their excellent qualities and attributes and catch the attention of the admissions committees.
Write a rough draft. Then put it aside for a few days so that you can return to it with a more detached mindset. Now, make whatever changes you feel are helpful but the next step is not to polish it and make it the “perfect statement!” Show the draft to someone who’s input you value!
After writing a draft, have it reviewed by a person who will give you an honest and pointed opinion. Please do not expend vast amounts of time and emotional energy without taking this step. You should not hold on to it so tightly, that you are too tired or too attached to change it. You will need to share your work sooner or later, and sooner is the better choice. This step will tell you whether or not your approach is convincing and interesting.
Tailor your personal statement to individual schools
Do not send the same statement to every school. After you have developed your story, adapt it to the different schools that you want to apply to. A little research activity will help your statement show that you are familiar with their school and enable you to tell each admissions officer that you are a good fit for their program. Find out the orientation and philosophy of their program. What is special about it? Then, refine your statement to fit their school. This will make you stand out from other applicants who tend to recycle the same personal statement with every application. (Be subtle though. You do not want to come off insincere.)
Tags: applications, Law School Admissions, personal statement
