Writing Your Law School Personal Statement
Mary Lou Taylor University Career Services m-taylor2@northwestern.edu
Why Personal Statements are Important? ď Ź Why do you think?
Answer: Your personal statement may be the only opportunity admissions officers will have to see your personality and other qualities that can’t be shown in others parts of your application. So, they must be: - Unique - Captivating - Informative
- Organized - Well written - Seamless
Know Yourself What is unique about you? What has shaped your goals? When/how did you become interested in law?
What are your career goals? Have you overcome unusual hardships? Why are you be a strong candidate?
Know Your Reader ď Ź Admissions committees usually consist of - Professional admissions officers - Professors - Students
ď Ź Each of them - Reads thousands of essays - Knows what makes a well-crafted essay - Recognizes sincere writing
Brainstorm Possible Topics Think of 15-20 possible topics From these, select those that show the most potential Write something about each Don’t worry about the quality of your writing, just get your ideas down
Some Potential Topics An event or issue of importance to you Something unique about you or what interests/excites you The experiences, courses, research related to your legal interest Why a specific school fit your goals
Difficulties you have overcome in your life A tragedy in your life and how you grew from it The most important event that happened to you Your passions, ideals, hobbies and how they relate to your choice
Write a First Draft Choose your topic and begin writing Just let your ideas flow - don’t worry about length yet Include a personal/specific story or experience Ask yourself: Could anyone but you have written it? Answer the essay question
Parts of Your Essay Introduction - Make it distinctive by telling a story - State your topic
Detailed supporting paragraphs - Focused, each with its own topic sentence - Relevant, each contributing to your main idea
Conclusion - Summarization of your points - Brings essay full circle to the beginning
Incubate! Put it away for a while – a week is ideal Your subconscious will continue to work on your ideas You will see your work with “new eyes” when you pick it back up
Redraft and Edit Can you use fewer and better words to express your ideas? Does it touch you personally each time you read it?
Tips for Better Writing Express yourself in positive language Write good transitions Vary your sentence structure Understand the words you use Vary with synonyms
Use synonyms Be succinct Make every word count Minimize qualifiers Use the active voice Read/review Elements of Style
Edit More You can not edit enough Every time you look at it you will find some way to make it better…tighter…smoother
Have Others Read It Ask others for constructive feedback What questions do you want them to address? Do they “hear” what you want them to hear? Thank them for their input
Questions for Your Readers to Consider: Does it have one central theme? Does the introduction grab reader interest? Does my ending provide closure? Are my experiences concrete enough? Have I used active voice?
Is my sentence structure varied? Have I used any clichés? Are my transitions smooth? Is every sentence crucial to the essay? Does it hold interest all the way through?
Write Your Final Draft ď Ź Incorporate the best suggestions into your final draft - Your readers may make conflicting suggestions - Only you can decide what ideas will work best for you - Trust your instincts
Proofread, Proofread Proofread – Spell-Check alone is NOT sufficient Have others proofread it too if this is not your skill You can not proofread too much
Biggest Mistakes Spelling and grammatical mistakes Sending statement B to school A Writing a narrative resume Staying too detached
Focusing on weaknesses Submitting a first draft Using too many big words Exceeding page/word limits
Your Statement is Ready to Submit!
Questions?