To get into law school, prospective students must write an essay detailing their reasons for wanting to become a lawyer. Unlike a college application, personal statements for law school are essays that are in an open-ended format. Successful lawyers have great accomplishments long before they enter law school. They exude confidence and achieve their goals.
When you write your law school statement, you should write in a way that shows your skills, competence, and accomplishments. Think about the person reading your essay as you write. He or she will want to know what she has to offer to society as a lawyer. That person also has an interest in her motivations for wanting to be a lawyer and what makes her a better prospect than other law school applicants.
Remember that admissions officers review hundreds of applications. Tell them the true story of the things in your life that made you decide to become a lawyer. Do not embellish or say anything false because they will notice. Don’t use clichés you’ve heard from someone else or tell them what you think they want to hear. For example, if you really enjoy helping the homeless, write it in such a way that it shows your reasons instead of telling them.
What qualifies you to be a lawyer? What character traits, skills, and talents do you have that would make you a good lawyer? Describe everything you know about yourself that you feel qualifies you above other people. Don’t be fake by exaggerating your skills and achievements.
If you have a weakness that you think could disqualify you from law school, how do you avoid it in your personal statement? That is a difficult question. If you have a period of time where you had below average grades, using excuses is not the solution to your dilemma. Try to find something positive that you have learned that will help you overcome the failure. In the case of notes, you could say how you improved them.
A writer’s technique that works effectively in essays and personal statements is the active voice. Use active verbs in your senses. The passive voice sounds weak and that is not the way you want to present yourself to the admissions board. However, that doesn’t mean you should try to impress anyone with your knowledge of legal terminology.
A personal statement does not mean writing the complete memoirs of your personal life. In other words, don’t write a book. Instead, write a 1-2 page statement using the tips here. When you are done, ask people you know to read your statement. Take your suggestions seriously.
This is perhaps the most important step of all when writing your personal statement. Check once. Write it down for a day. Double check. Leave it for another day. Read it again and proofread and edit it one more time. Let someone read it again and get their opinion on your statement.
Writing our personal statement for law school is not rocket science. When you put in the time and effort to write it down, you’ll likely end up with a personal statement that will actually get the notice from the Admissions Board.