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Written by S. Colin Mabrito
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Wednesday, 31 October 2007 00:16 |
The personal statement portion of a law school application is a crucial component in how an admissions committee sees an applicant as a whole. It is also the one area where an applicant can control how he or she is viewed by the school. It represents an opportunity to show the admissions committee the less tangible, positive attributes of the applicant, going far beyond mere GPA and LSAT score. Along these lines there are certain universal requirements for a successful personal statement, as well as mistakes that must be carefully avoided. There are also many different ways to create and structure a personal statement.
I. Approaches:
There are a myriad of interesting angles from which to compose a personal statement. One popular approach is to begin the statement at retirement, or the pinnacle of one’s projected career, and work backwards to the day of acceptance. Another is to use a story which has played an integral part in an applicant’s development or life. However, these techniques only work where that procedure fits the substance of the statement.
The first step should be to think extensively about what the substance of the personal statement is intended to convey. In deciding on the primary ideas to get across, an applicant should remember not to use the personal statement to address what he or she may view as weaknesses in other areas of the application. Highlighting weaknesses (even when done to mention something positive) is always a bad idea. Not only does this draw attention to the weakness itself, it also may be viewed as an attempt to make excuses.
After there is a loose sketch of the main substantive points to be conveyed, the drafter should try to find the procedural vehicle that is most effective at conveying those aspects of that applicant. Creativity in this element of the personal statement can make one stand out from the crowd. Remember, the law school’s ultimate goal is to accept those applicants who will become the most distinguished alumni.
II. Do:
The most important questions a personal statement should address are who the applicant is, why the applicant is special, and why the applicant should be admitted to this law school. A large part of this is making sure the personal statement is free from errors (typographical, grammatical, or spelling). When composing the personal statement, there should be several draft phases. If this means reading the entire paper backwards or having friends and family make corrections, then do it. Despite what the LSAT people might claim, their writing section is largely disregarded in selecting from a pool of candidates. An applicant’s personal statement is his or her real writing sample, and should be treated as such.
Effective personal statements begin and end strongly. This is where the reader is paying the most attention, and where the writer is most prone to rambling or abruptness. A strong introduction and conclusion usually put forth a unifying theme that recurs in both (and also within the body of the work). This helps to establish a backbone to the piece, and to drive home the point that is most important in summing up the applicant’s personality.
When proofreading a personal statement, the drafter must be critical. It must be proofread with attention to what questions the people reviewing the application will logically be asking themselves and others. The statement should anticipate these questions or holes and try to answer or fill them in as much as possible, while not losing the rhythm of the work as a whole.
III. Don’t:
A successful personal statement cannot be disorganized. Lawyers, law students and professors all crave and respect organization and logic. These are the people who are judging this writing sample, so a personal statement should play up its strengths in this area. This should not be a free-flowing string of random ideas. It must convey that it was well thought out, and written with a deliberate and calculated hand.
Creativity can set a personal statement apart in a negative way if it is over the top or distracting from the message. For instance, a personal statement should never be packaged in glitter, sprayed with any scent, or folded into origami shapes. These things distract the reader’s attention away from the intellectual aspects of the submission in favor of trivial ones. Overall, the point of this work is to convey those attributes of an applicant which cannot be conveyed by test scores. If their personal statement does not effectively do that, the applicant misses a valuable opportunity to show their true selves to the admission committee.
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