Crafting a Personal Statement
I think I’ve read ten of these in the past few weeks, so hopefully I’m not too late with this post! But the personal statement (AKA statement of intent, AKA letter of intent, AKA “tell us about yourself in two pages or less”) is the STAPLE of a law school application. Like, the vanilla ice cream part of a hot fudge sundae. Here’s what Harvard has to say about them:
“The personal statement is intended as an opportunity to give the Admissions Committee a better sense of who you are as a person and as a potential student and graduate of Harvard Law School. In many instances, applicants have used the personal statement to provide more context on how their experiences and strengths could make them valuable contributors to the Harvard and legal communities, to illuminate their intellectual background and interests, or to clarify or elaborate on other information in their application. Because applicants and their experiences differ, you are the best person to determine the content of your statement.”
Shall I extend the ice cream metaphor? Personal statements are hot fudge sundaes, and you have to choose the life-experience flavor, sprinkle in some why-I’m-a-great-applicant pecans, smother the whole thing in great grammar and sentence structure, and top it off with a clear, possibly attention-grabbing, cherry-on-top opener.
Too far? Too bad. Love me some hot fudge sundae. But a little disclaimer before diving in, I am NOT an Admissions officer. I am dumb 2L, and I don’t pretend to know how a perfect personal statement looks. This article is just my two cents and I highly recommend googling the specific school’s admissions office before drafting - some schools offer insight about what they’re looking for! Harvard even has a blog: https://hls.harvard.edu/real-talk-the-personal-statement/.
GETTING STARTED
This is often the hardest part, because many people don’t know where to start! Here are a few simple steps to ease into the process:
Step 1: Read the law school’s prompt. I’m serious!! In my experience, many schools ask for basically the same thing: an explanation of how your background informed your decision to earn a law degree. But IF they ask for something specific, that may change the trajectory of your statement.
Step 2: Check the practical requirements. Is it limited to two pages? Times New Roman, size 12 font? Probably - but not always! And if the school does set a length limit, DO NOT EXCEED IT.
Step 3: Get a little brainstorm session going. The personal statement is a chance to “introduce” yourself to the Admissions staff - so, what do you want them to know?
Good places to start:
Why do you want to go to law school? (Definitely start here. If you don’t have a half decent answer, maybe save your money).
What experiences/insights set you apart from other law students?
What kind of law/practice do you plan on pursuing? (Totally okay if you don’t know - I’d suggest targeting what you THINK you might want to do. Also okay if your goal isn’t necessarily to practice law! A JD can be used for many different reasons).
Why are you applying to THIS specific law school? (I’ll discuss this a little later).
BEGIN CRAFTING
A little background on my own personal statement: I discussed my experience in the Air Force, segued into why I’m transitioning into law and my goals as a Judge Advocate, then wrapped it up with what I’ll bring to a law school classroom/what I hope to learn there. That’s not a “magic formula,” but it hit all the parts I wanted to communicate! I think a great place to begin is writing about a life experience which challenged you and informed the way you view the world/law. Every future law student has a unique reason underlying their decision to earn a JD - it doesn’t have to be super dramatic, it just needs to be emotionally compelling.
The Harvard Admissions staff backs me up here. According to their blog, your personal statement “should tell us something about who you are, where you’ve been, and where you want to go.” It really is that simple - they just want to get to know you!
OTHER ADVICE
A few things to consider when drafting your statement:
Don’t reinvent the wheel!!!! There is zero (0) reason to write a completely different statement for each school unless a school’s prompt is extremely different. Get the core of the statement together, then consider dedicating a sentence or two to individual schools. My final paragraph in each statement of intent would change slightly to reflect why I was applying to the specific school at hand, whether that was for its location, mission, programs, or focus areas. The rest of the statement stayed the same, which kept me sane.
Don’t rehash your resume. The personal statement is just that - “personal!” Nothing wrong with picking an event from your resume and going into detail, but it’s not a time to recite all your experiences again.
Sell yourself as a law student and future lawyer. You don’t have to brag to present why you’re an asset to a law school classroom - just show it!
Try to dig deep. Admissions counselors read tons of these things, so they know when someone has put in the (emotional) work and created a deeply personal paper.
You don’t need to write like a lawyer or be overly formal (law school will literally teach you that). The personal statement can be fairly “real” so embrace your voice and writing style and don’t overthink it (but obviously, stick to correct grammar and spelling and the like).
You also don’t need to start your personal statement with a highly dramatic attention-grabber. Full disclosure, I did - but mostly because I thought I had to! In reality, if your statement clear and coherent, that’ll get enough attention by itself.
For any mil veterans reading this: if you’d like to lean into your military experience but aren’t sure how it’ll be received, go for it. From what I can tell law schools are vet-friendly; they value our life experience and leadership skills in both the classroom and legal world.
FINAL ACTIONS BEFORE SUBMITTING
Have someone else read it! Sometimes we’re blinded to things like logic gaps, weird sentence phrasing, or poor organization because we’re familiar with our own writing. For example, I had a friend look at mine (was it my mom? possibly) and she spotted an unfamiliar military term that I missed because it’s part of my everyday life. That’s why an outside eye is important!
Another one from Harvard Admissions, which I cannot emphasize enough - check your work. Format it correctly, follow the word and page limits, and fix simple spelling, grammar, and structure mistakes.
JUST HIT SEND! This was the hardest part for me. Should I read it just one more time? What if I’ve overlooked a spelling mistake, or extra period? Or I’ve somehow uploaded the wrong version? Eventually, you just have to take a deep breath and take the leap. One way to combat the “Oh Lord I don’t know” feeling is to submit your personal statement to schools where you feel your chances of getting in are slightly better than others. That way, you’ll have refined the statement once or twice before submitting to the quote-on-quote “harder” schools. Is this completely illogical? Probably. But did it make me feel better? 100%.
That’s all I’ve got re: personal statements! Keep it clear, keep it deep, keep it within the page limits - and as always, hit me up if you have questions.