Personal Statement Woes
Submitted Question:
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To be honest, I never planned on going to law school. I studied art and literature, worked as a gopher for a publishing company, and have absolutely no connection to the law. Now as I write my personal statement, it feels like I have nothing to talk about. What should I do? - GPA: 4.0 LSAT: 168 |
Corey:
Admissions officers hate the generic “I studied political science and that’s why I want to go to law school” personal statement. Your diversity is an asset, use it as such. Emphasize why your background makes you an excellent law school candidate and, further, will make you an excellent lawyer, e.g., you appear to have an excellent writing background.
Beyond that, remember that your personal statement is as much about showing the reader that you can write well as it about convincing the reader that you would be a good addition to the law school class. If you run into a wall, try a tactic that has helped create a number of my clients’ personal statements. Write a random essay about yourself without factoring law school admissions into your work. Afterwards, try to make this essay your personal statement. The resulting essay is often better than the one you wrote when you were ‘trying’ to write your personal statement.
Tags: Personal Statement
