All law schools advertise for students they want. You see this in the publication of the average, median, and 25th/75th percentile GPA and LSAT data. Students whose GPA and LSAT statistics are at the high end of or exceed the profile a school is advertising for are very likely to be admitted and even a poor personal statement is unlikely to pull those students out of the admit pool. Students whose GPA and LSAT scores are significantly below the profile a school is advertising for are very unlikely to be admitted and even a stellar personal statement is unlikely to pull those students into the admit pool.

Most students who apply to a school, however, are within the range of the advertised profile and quite simply, law schools receive many more applications from perfectly qualified applicants than they can seat.
They must pick and choose among students with similar, and decent, statistics and the primary tool law schools use in selecting students is the personal statement.

The personal statement has two functions. The first, and least important, is that it shows the admissions committee what kind of a writer you are. The second, and most important, is that it gives the admissions committee a window through which to see you as a human being and not as a statistic. Given that law schools don't interview, it is their only opportunity to see you this way and it is your only opportunity to show them what's unique about you.

Format:

Law schools will ask either a specific or open-ended question for your personal statement.

• When confronted with a specific question, answer it.
• However, most law schools ask open-ended questions, designed to encourage a full, meaningful answer using your own knowledge and/or feelings. For this sort of question, the sky's the limit. You can write about just about anything, just as long as that 'anything' is you.

What if I still don't know what to write?

Write about something that's meaningful to you. Admissions committees want to see how you make meaning of your life's experiences.

• Make it personal. It's about you; don't forget that.
• Think of it as a narrative. Your traditional five-paragraph essay will work (introduction, three paragraphs of development, each centered around a thesis statement which supports the main thesis, and conclusion); it always does.
  • If you tell it like a story, though, it will work even better. Readers like stories. They want to identify with a character (in this case, you).
  • Hook the reader in the beginning. Your first few sentences must be compelling.
  • Build to something of a climax, probably about 3/4 of the way through, and use the end for denouement.
  • Be clear about the moral of the story. What did you learn? Where's the meaning? Subtle will be better if you can do it.

• Show, don't tell. Instead of announcing that you are a hard worker, write a story that illustrates how hard you work.
  • Instead of telling the committee that you are an ethical person, tell them a story about a time in which you were faced with an ethical dilemma and how you handled it.
  • Instead of claiming that you understand the value of an education, describe what it was like to leave your university after a day of classes to go to the truck terminal and sign in for your 3 to 11 delivery shift.

• Always give credit where credit is due. Is there anyone out there who has helped you? Was that important? Why?

• DON'T:
  • Disparage anyone or anything for any reason.
  • Name-drop. Committees won't be impressed.
  • Lecture the lawyers on the law, or professors on academia.
  • Apologize, justify, or explain any flaws in your record. This is not the place to explain why your LSAT score is low or why your grades aren't what they should be or why you failed microeconomics twice. Save that for an addendum, if it's even worthy of that. Your personal statement must be pure and strong.

• Ignore the myth that a personal statement isn't acceptable if it doesn't show how you've overcome hardship.
  • Law schools are filled with people from privileged backgrounds. Don't worry about it, and don't pretend you've had it hard if you haven't; just find something else to write about.
  • If you have overcome hardship, law schools want to know about it.
  • You can make it the focus of your personal statement and that's fine.
  • However, most law schools give you an opportunity to write a separate "hardship essay" or invite you to add an addendum discussing anything else the committee should know. Take advantage of it. They're inviting you to submit two essays instead of one, giving you two bites at the apple. Go for it.

• Make sure your writing is flawless - no errors of spelling, punctuation, usage, grammar, etc.
• Use traditional essay format.
• Target two pages of double-spaced type with reasonable margins. Indent the first sentence of each paragraph and do not space extra between paragraphs.
• Be sophisticated in the writing itself.
  • Vary your sentence structure.
  • Vary your sentence length.
  • Use a few big words and a lot of little words.
  • Use descriptive, but not flowery, detail.
  • Read your essay aloud and listen to its cadence. Make it music.
• Don't be too clever. Occasionally, a brilliant student scores with a personal statement written as a radio talk-show, an epic poem, a music lyric, or a recipe. For that to work, it must be spectacular. Otherwise, it'll be a terrific flop. Do yourself a favor and stick with the essay.
• *Do not list your activities. Do not feel compelled to explain how busy you were. This is not a resume.
• If you are going to tailor the personal statement to a particular school, do it.
  • Do your homework. Look at the website; read through the catalogue; go to the library and see what the faculty are writing about; look at what the commercial law school guides have to say about the school; look at the mission statement and the demographics.
  • In short, research. Read between the lines and figure out what kind of a student would be a good fit for the school. Then write - subtly -- a personal statement that shows you to be that kind of student.
  • Do not, under any circumstances, write a single personal statement and change the last paragraph of it for each school to read, "And the reason I want to go to XYZ law school is _____________." They'll see through that in a second and you run the risk of mismatching the essays and the applications, making you look foolish (and unworthy of admission).
• Hit up everyone you know to comment on your drafts - family, friends, professors, advisors.
• Get lots of feedback, but write it yourself.
• Under no circumstances should you hire a professional to write it for you. It won't be personal enough, law schools are likely to see right through it (don't forget - they have a writing sample), and it's unethical, a very poor way to start a legal career.

Where can I get feedback on my personal statement? The pre-law staff at the Office of College Advising is happy to offer content-only personal statement editing.  You may submit your statement for review by emailing it to prelaw@usc.edu.