PERSONAL STATEMENT TIPS
Personal statement Reviewing Your Personal Statement
Tell an interesting, informative story and • Have your draft reviewed by colleagues that personal story about yourself in 700-1400 will give you an honest and constructive words (double-spaced). Check the school’s opinion. We recommend choosing readers who requirements for the exact word count or page DO NOT know you well (not relatives, limit. Share aspects of your life that are not boy/girlfriends, close friends). That way your apparent from your transcript(s), resume, or readers are similar to admissions officers, who letters of recommendation. Here are some also do not know you. topics to consider. Brainstorm ideas and pick the ONE with the strongest story. • Coach your readers before they read your statement. Ask your readers: do they feel that • Describe a personal challenge you faced and/ they know you, your personality and/or your or a hardship you overcame. values better after reading it? Ask them if this essay makes them want to meet you? Ask them • Discuss your proudest personal achievement if the essay is boring? Is it engaging? Does it or a unique hobby that reveals who you are hold their attention? Is it memorable? Is it (climbing a mountain, inventing recipes, authentic? winning a contest, writing poems). • Remember, your essay is supposed to be • Tell about how becoming consciously aware PERSONAL. The law school personal statement of a personal value or characteristic has is not meant to be a statement of purpose or changed the way you view yourself. about what kind of research you would conduct. It is not meant to be the kind of essay • Describe your passions and involvement in a you would write for a Master’s or PhD program project or pursuit and the ways in which it has contributed to your personal growth and goals. SOURCE: Do not rehash what is already on your resume. http://www.washington.edu/uaa/advising/prelaw/downloads/ personal_statement_law.pdf Note: describing the event should only be about 1/3 of your essay. The rest should be a reflection on how it changed you and how it shaped the person you are today. When writing your law school personal 3. Credentials: Build ethos. statement, you should reflect on two fundamental questions: 4. Direction: Tell them your thesis and structure. 1. Why do I want to be a lawyer? 2. What are my qualifications? How to Write a Strong Conclusion 1. Discover something new for your audience TOP 10 LAW SCHOOL STATEMENT WRITING that you set up along the way. TIPS 2. The conclusion is the final chord of music resolved. It should pull together the different 1. Don't Write in Legalese. parts of the personal statement, rephrase main ideas, interpret the importance of the choice of 2. Don't Bore the Reader. Do Be topics, point towards the future, and give the Interesting. cue for ending with a rhetorical flourish. 3. Do Use Personal Detail. Show, Don't SOURCE: http://www.top-law-schools.com/statement.html Tell! Selecting a Personal Statement Topic
4. Do Be Concise. Don't Be Wordy. 1. Make a chronology of your life
5. Do Address Your Weaknesses. Don't 2. Canvass those closest to you Dwell on Them. 3. Develop personal statement topics 6. Do Vary Your Sentences and Use from your chronology Transitions. Popular Personal Statement Topics 7. Do Use Active Voice Verbs. 1. Answering a question an admissions 8. Do Seek Multiple Opinions. dean would logically ask
9. Don't Wander. Do Stay Focused. 2. A memorable academic experience
10. Do Revise, Revise, Revise. 3. Words of wisdom
SOURCE: http://www.classbrain.com/artteensm/publish/article_61. 5 Do’s of Personal Statement Writing shtml 1. Follow directions How to Write a Strong Introduction 2. Grammar, spelling, and details 1. Attention-grabbing material: Hook them with a remarkable or a life-changing experience, an 3. Distinguish yourself anecdote, or a question that will be answered 4. Be confident and positive by your law school personal statement. 5. Start strong and end strong 2. Benefits: Make your essay worth their time to read. 5 Don’ts of Personal Statement Writing 1. Don’t distill your resume into essay 4. Don’t focus on another person to the form exclusion of yourself
2. Don’t focus on your weaknesses 5. Don’t submit a lightly edited draft
3. Don’t write colloquially SOURCE: http://www.admissionsdean.com/applying_to_law_school/pers onal-statements