Writing Your Law School Personal Statement

Mary Lou Taylor University Career Services

m-taylor2@northwestern.edu

Why Personal Statements are Important?

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 - Organized- Captivating - Well written - Informative - 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

Admissions committees usually consist of- Professional admissions officers- Professors- Students

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 topicsFrom these, select those that show the most

potentialWrite 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 youSomething 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 writingJust let your ideas flow - don’t worry about

length yet Include a personal/specific story or

experienceAsk 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 idealYour subconscious will continue to work on

your ideasYou 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 transitionsVary your sentence

structureUnderstand the words

you use Vary with synonyms

Use synonymsBe succinctMake every word

countMinimize qualifiersUse the active voiceRead/review Elements

of Style

Edit More

You can not edit enoughEvery time you look at it you will find some

way to make it better…tighter…smoother

Have Others Read It

Ask others for constructive feedbackWhat 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

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 draftUsing too many big

words Exceeding page/word

limits

Your Statement is Ready to Submit!

Questions?