Bonus: I am sharing mine
Personal statement (PS) is usually one of the requirements for law school in addition to LSAT Score, GPA, resume, reference letter(s), and minority statement.
Each school places different weight on each requirement. I don’t have too much knowledge on the weight, but I do believe law schools use your personal statement to evaluate how suitable you are for law school.
In many cases, it could be the deciding factor for your admission if you have the same stats as others.
All in all, it’s a vital ingredient if your law school application is a meal.
Fortunately, you have total control over it and it is not time-limited (unlike the LSAT!). So, please take the most advantage of it. Work on it early and have someone look over/review it for you.
Here were a few important criteria I took into consideration when I wrote mine:
1. TELLING A STRONG AND COHERENT STORY
Storytelling is powerful. It can create a vivid image and strong emotions from the readers, which you desperately need. You want them to read your personal statement and have to put it in the consideration for admission pile.
You can choose to tell how:
- you overcame life obstacles to achieve something you desire to do
- you worked hard and built something impactful/valuable
When you are telling the story, focus on highlighting your personal traits that are a good fit for law school, including:
- your professional and personal experience
- your values and virtues
- your motivation for becoming a lawyer
- your maturity/growth
- your basic understanding of what you are expecting at and after law school
2. STRONG WRITING CAPABILITY
Writing is a key skill for law school success. Law schools will want to see if your writing is coherent, convincing, and logical.
Therefore, make sure your personal statement is:
- free of spelling, grammar, and word choice errors
- composed with strong vocabulary, but without jargons
- composed of proper-length sentences and paragraphs
3. CUSTOMIZED FOR THE LAW SCHOOL YOU APPLY TO
A PS is like a cover letter. You need to customize it to the school you apply for.
Especially if you are applying to many law schools at the same time, take the time to look into the law schools and include traits about the law schools that attract you.
Possible reasons could be:
- Location: Your tie to the city/town that the law school is located
- Specialized programs: Each school is likely to have its specialization in certain areas of law
- Faculty (i.e. a professor that inspires you)
- Hands-on practice (e.g. student legal assistance, internships/articling placements, legal clinics)
- Student life including student organizations, extracurricular activities, facilities
Well, that’s a lot. And here is a big BONUS. I am sharing my PS!
Read it here: https://thaonguyenbettle.com/2023/05/04/my-ps-my-story/
Please let me know how I did!
Good luck,
Thao TN