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How to write a law school personal statement + examples.

Reviewed by:

David Merson

Former Head of Pre-Law Office, Northeastern University, & Admissions Officer, Brown University

Reviewed: 3/18/24

Law school personal statements help show admissions committees why you’re an excellent candidate. Read on to learn how to write a personal statement for law school!

Writing a law school personal statement requires time, effort, and a lot of revision. Law school statement prompts and purposes can vary slightly depending on the school. 

Their purpose could be to show your personality, describe your motivation for attending law school, explain why you want to go to a particular law school, or a mix of all three and more. This guide will help you perfect your writing with tips and examples.

The Best Law School Personal Statement Format

Unfortunately, there’s no universal format for a law school personal statement. Every law school has a preference (or lack thereof) on how your personal statement should be structured. We recommend always checking for personal statement directions for every school you want to apply to. 

However, many law schools ask for similar elements when it comes to personal statement formats. These are some standard formatting elements to keep in mind if your school doesn’t provide specific instructions: 

• Typically two pages or less in length 
• Double-spaced 
• Use a basic, readable font style and size (11-point is the smallest you should do, although some schools may request 12-point) 
• Margins shouldn’t be less than 1 inch unless otherwise specified 
• Left-aligned 
• Indent new paragraphs 
• Don’t return twice to begin a new paragraph 
• Law schools typically ask for a header, typically including your full name, page number, LSAC number, and the words “Personal Statement” (although there can be variations to this) 

How you format your header may be up to you; sometimes, law schools won't specify whether the header should be one line across the top or three lines. 

This is how your header may look if you decide to keep it as one line. If you want a three-line header, it should look like this on the top-right of the page: 

 Remember, the best law school personal statement format is the one in the application instructions. Ensure you follow all formatting requirements!

How to Title a Personal Statement (Law) 

You may be tempted to give your law school statement a punchy title, just like you would for an academic essay. However, the general rule is that you shouldn’t give your law school personal statement a title. 

The University of Washington states, “DON’T use quotes or give a title to your statement.” Many other schools echo this advice. The bottom line is that although you're writing your story, your law school statement doesn't require a title. Don't add one unless the school requests it.

How to Start a Personal Statement for Law School 

Acing the beginning of your personal statement is essential for your narrative’s success. The introduction is your chance to captivate the admissions committee and immerse them in your story. As such, you want your writing to be interesting enough to grab their attention without purposefully going for shock value.

So, how do you write a personal statement introduction that will garner the attention it deserves? The simplest way to get the reader involved in your story is to start with a relevant anecdote that ties in with your narrative. 

Consider the opening paragraph from Harvard Law graduate Cameron Clark’s law school personal statement : 

“At the intersection of 21st and Speedway, I lay on the open road. My leg grazed the shoulder of a young woman lying on the ground next to me. Next to her, a man on his stomach slowed his breathing to appear as still as possible. A wide circle of onlookers formed around the dozens of us on the street. We were silent and motionless, but the black-and-white signs affirmed our existence through their decree: BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

The beginning lines of this personal statement immediately draw the reader in. Why was the writer lying on the road? Why were other people there with him, and why was a man trying to slow his breathing? We're automatically inspired to keep reading to find out more information. 

That desire to keep reading is the hallmark of a masterful personal statement introduction. However, you don’t want to leave your reader hanging for too long. By the end of this introduction, we’re left with a partial understanding of what’s happening. 

There are other ways to start a personal statement that doesn't drop the reader in the middle of the action. Some writers may begin their law personal statement in other ways: 

• Referencing a distant memory, thought, feeling, or perspective
• Setting the scene for the opening anecdote before jumping in 
• Providing more context on the time, place, or background 

Many openings can blend some of these with detailed, vivid imagery. Here's a law school personal statement opening that worked at the UChicago Law : 

“I fell in love for the first time when I was four. That was the year my mother signed me up for piano lessons. I can still remember touching those bright, ivory keys with reverence, feeling happy and excited that soon I would be playing those tinkling, familiar melodies (which my mother played every day on our boombox) myself.”

This opening references a distant memory and feeling, mixed with vivid imagery that paints a picture in the reader's head. Keep in mind that different openers can work better than others, depending on the law school prompt. 

To recap, consider these elements as you write your law school personal statement’s introduction: 

• Aim for an attention-grabbing hook 
• Don’t purposefully aim for shock value: it can sometimes seem unauthentic 
• Use adjectives and imagery to paint a scene for your reader 
• Identify which opening method works best for the law school prompt and your story
• Don’t leave the reader hanging for too long to find out what your narrative is about
• Be concise 

Writing a law school personal statement introduction can be difficult, but these examples and tips can help you get the attention your writing deserves.

How to Write a Law School Personal Statement

Now that you’re equipped with great advice and tips to start your law school statement, it’s time to tackle the body of your essay. These tips will show you how to write a personal statement for law school to captivate the admissions committee. 

Understand the Prompt

While many law schools have similar personal statement prompts, you should carefully examine what's being asked of you before diving in. Consider these top law school personal statement prompts to see what we mean: 

• Yale Law School : “The personal statement should help us learn about the personal, professional, and/or academic qualities an applicant would bring to the Law School community. Applicants often submit the personal statement they have prepared for other law school applications.”
• University of Chicago Law : “Our application does not provide a specific topic or question for the personal statement because you are the best judge of what you should write. Write about something personal, relevant, and completely individual to you.”
• NYU Law : “Because people and their interests vary, we leave the content and length of your statement to your discretion. You may wish to complete or clarify your responses to items on the application form, bring to our attention additional information you feel should be considered, describe important or unusual aspects of yourself not otherwise apparent in your application, or tell us what led you to apply to NYU School of Law.”

Like all law personal statements, these three prompts are pretty open-ended. However, your Yale personal statement should focus on how you’d contribute to a law school community through professional and academic experience and qualities. 

For UChicago Law, you don’t even need to write about a law-related topic if you don’t want to. However, when it comes to a school like NYU Law , you probably want to mix your qualities, experiences, and what led you to apply. 

Differing prompts are the reason you’ll need to create multiple copies of your personal statement! 

Follow Formatting Directions 

Pay extra attention to each school's formatting directions. While we've discussed basic guidelines for law school personal statement formats, it's essential to check if there is anything different you need to do. 

While working on your rough drafts, copy and paste the prompt and directions at the top of the page so you don't forget. 

Brainstorm Narratives/Anecdotes Based on the Prompt

You may have more wiggle room with some prompts than others regarding content. However, asking yourself these questions can generally help you direct your personal statement for any law school:

• What major personal challenges or recent hardships have you faced? 
• What was one transformative event that impacted your life’s course or perspective? 
• What are your hobbies or special interests? 
• What achievements are you most proud of that aren’t stated in your application? 
• What experience or event changed your values or way of thinking? 
• What’s something you’re passionate about that you got involved in? What was the result of your passion? 
• How did your distinct upbringing, background, or culture put you on the path to law school? 
• What personal or professional experiences show who you are? 

Keep in mind that this isn't an exhaustive list. Consider your personal and professional experiences that have brought you to this point, and determine which answers would make the most compelling story. 

Pettit College of Law recommends you "go through your transcripts, application, and resume. Are there any gaps or missing details that your personal statement could cover?” If you've listed something on your resume that isn't further discussed, it could make a potential personal statement topic. 

Do More Than Recount: Reflect

Recounting an event in a summarized way is only one piece of your law school personal statement. Even if you’re telling an outlandish or objectively interesting story, stopping there doesn’t show admissions committees what they need to know to judge your candidacy. 

The University of Washington suggests that “describing the event should only be about 1/3 of your essay. The rest should be a reflection on how it changed you and how it shaped the person you are today.” Don’t get stuck in the tangible details of your anecdote; show what the experience meant to you. 

Beth O'Neil , Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at UC Berkeley School of Law , said, "Applicants also tend to state and not evaluate. They give a recitation of their experience but no evaluation of what effect that particular experience had on them, no assessment of what certain experiences or honors meant." 

Consider What Qualities You Want to Show

No matter what direction you want to take your law school personal statement, you should consider which qualities your narrative puts on display. Weaving your good character into your essay can be difficult. Outwardly claiming, "I'm a great leader!" doesn't add much value. 

However, telling a story about a time you rose to the occasion to lead a group successfully toward a common goal shows strong leadership. "Show, don't tell" may be an overused statement, but it's a popular sentiment for a reason. 

Of course, leadership ability isn't the only quality admissions committees seek. Consider the qualities you possess and those you'd expect to find in a great lawyer and check to see the overlap. Some qualities you could show include: 

• Intelligence 
• Persuasiveness 
• Compassion 
• Professionalism 

Evaluate the anecdotes you chose after your brainstorming session and see if any of these qualities or others align with your narrative. 

Keep Your Writing Concise

Learning how to write a personal statement for law school means understanding how to write for concision. Most prompts won't have a word limit but ask you to cap your story at two pages, double-spaced. Unfortunately, that's not a lot of space to work with. 

Although your writing should be compelling and vibrant, do your best to avoid flowery language and long, complicated sentences where they’re not needed. Writing for concision means eliminating unnecessary words, cutting down sentences, and getting the point quickly.  

Georgetown University’s take on law school personal statements is to “Keep it simple and brief. Big words do not denote big minds, just big egos.” A straightforward narrative means your reader is much less likely to be confused or get lost in your story (in the wrong way). 

Decide the Depth and Scope of Your Statement 

Since you only have two (or even three) pages to get your point across, you must consider the depth and scope of your narrative. While you don’t want to provide too little information, remember that you don’t have the room to summarize your entire life story (and you don’t have to do that anyway). 

UChicago Law’s advice is to “Use your discretion - we know you have to make a choice and have limited space. Attempting to cover too much material can result in an unfocused and scattered personal statement.” Keep the depth and scope of your narrative manageable. 

Ensure It’s Personal Enough 

UChicago Law states, "If someone else could write your personal statement, it probably is not personal enough." This doesn't mean that you must pick the most grandiose, shocking narrative to make an impact or that you can't write about something many others have probably experienced. 

Getting personal means only you can write that statement; other people may be able to relate to an experience, but your reflection, thoughts, feelings, and reactions are your own. UChicago Law sees applicants fall into this pitfall by writing about a social issue or area of law, so tread these topics carefully.

Mix the Past and Present, Present and Future, Or All Three 

Harvard Law School’s Associate Director Nefyn Meissner said your personal statement should “tell us something about who you are, where you’ve been, and where you want to go.” 

Echoing this, Jon Perdue , Yale Law School's Director of Recruiting and Diversity Initiatives, states that the three most common approaches to the Yale Law School personal statement are focusing on: 

• The past: discussing your identity and background 
• The present: focusing on your current work, activities, and interests 
• The future: the type of law you want to pursue and your ideal career path 

Perdue said that truly stellar personal statements have a sense of “movement” and touch on all or two of these topics. What does this mean for you? While writing your law school personal statement, don’t be afraid to touch on your past, present, and future. However, remember not to take on too much content! 

Keep the Focus On You 

This is a common pitfall that students fall into while writing a law school personal statement . UChicago Law cites that this is a common mistake applicants make when they write at length about: 

• A family member who inspired them or their family history 
• Stories about others 
• Social or legal issues 

Even if someone like your grandmother had a profound impact on your decision to pursue law, remember that you’re the star of the show. Meissner said , “Should you talk about your grandmother? Only if doing so helps make the case for us to admit you. Otherwise, we might end up wanting to admit your grandmother.” Don’t let historical figures, your family, or anyone else steal your spotlight. 

Decide If You Need to Answer: Why Law? 

Writing about why you want to attend law school in general or a school in particular depends on the prompt. Some schools welcome the insight, while others (like Harvard Law) don't. Meissner said, “Should you mention you want to come to HLS? We already assume that if you’re applying.”

However, Perdue said your law school personal statement for Yale should answer three questions: 

• Why law school?

Some schools may invite you to discuss your motivation to apply to law school or what particular elements of the school inspired you to apply. 

Don’t List Qualifications or Rehash Your Resume 

Your personal statement should flow like a story, with an identifiable beginning, middle, and end. Simply firing off your honors and awards, or summarizing the experiences on your resume, doesn’t tell the admissions committee anything new about you. 

Your personal statement is your opportunity to show how your unique experiences shaped you, your qualities, and the person you are behind your LSAT scores and GPA. Think about how you can show who you are at your core. 

Avoid Legalese, Jargon, And Sophisticated Terms 

The best law school personal statements are written in straightforward English and don't use overly academic, technical, or literary words. UChicago Law recommends avoiding legalese or 

Latin terms since the "risk you are incorrectly using them is just too high." 

Weaving together intricate sentence structures with words you pulled out of a thesaurus won’t make your personal statement a one-way ticket to acceptance. Be clear, straightforward, and to the point. 

Don’t Put Famous Quotes In Your Writing 

Beginning your law school personal statement with a quote is not only cliche but takes the focus off of you. It also eats up precious space you could fill with your voice. 

Revise, Revise, Revise 

Even the most talented writers never submit a perfect first draft. You'll need to do a lot of revisions before your personal statement is ready for submission. This is especially true because you'll write different versions for different law schools; these iterations must be edited to perfection. 

Ensure you have enough time to make all the edits and improvements you need before you plan to submit your application. Although most law schools have rolling admissions, submitting a perfected application as soon as possible is always in your best interest. 

Have an Admission Consultant Review Your Hard Work 

Reviewing so many personal statements by yourself is a lot of work, and most writing can always benefit from a fresh perspective. Consider seeking a law school admissions consultant’s help to edit your personal statements to perfection and maximize your chances of acceptance at your dream school!

How to End Your Personal Statement for Law School 

Law school personal statement conclusions are just as open-ended as your introductions. There are a few options for ending a personal statement depending on the prompt you’re writing for:

Some of these methods can overlap with each other. However, there are two more things you should always consider when you're ready to wrap up your story: the tone you're leaving on and how you can make your writing fit with your narrative's common thread. 

You should never want to leave your reader on a low note, even if you wrote about something that isn’t necessarily happy. You should strive to end your personal statement with a tone that’s hopeful, happy, confident, or some other positive feeling. 

Your last sentences should also give the impression of finality; your reader should understand that you’re wrapping up and not be left wondering where the rest of your statement is. 

So, what's the common thread? This just means that your narrative sticks to the overarching theme or event you portrayed at the beginning of your writing. Bringing your writing full circle makes a more satisfying conclusion.

Personal Statement for Law School Conclusion Examples

Evaluating law school personal statement conclusions can help you see what direction authors decided to take with their writing. Let’s circle back to the sample personal statement openings for law school and examine their respective conclusions. The first example explains the applicant’s motivation to attend Harvard Law. 

Sample Personal Statement for Law School Conclusion #1

“…Attorneys and legal scholars have paved the way for some of the greatest civil rights victories for women, people of color, LGBTQ individuals, and (people living with disabilities). At Harvard Law School, I will prepare to join their ranks by studying with the nation's leading legal scholars. 

For the past months, I have followed Harvard Law School student responses to the events in Ferguson and New York City. I am eager to join a law school community that shares my passion for using the law to achieve real progress for victims of discrimination. With an extensive history of advocacy for society's most marginalized groups, I believe Harvard Law School will thoroughly train me to support and empower communities in need. 

Our act of civil disobedience that December day ended when the Tower’s bells rang out in two bars, hearkening half-past noon. As we stood up and gathered our belongings, we broke our silence to remind everyone of a most basic truth: Black lives matter.” 

What Makes This Conclusion Effective 

Although Harvard Law School states there's no need to explain why you want to apply, this law school statement is from an HLS graduate, and we can assume this was written before the advice changed. 

In his conclusion, he relates and aligns his values with Harvard Law School and how joining the community will help him fulfill his mission to empower communities in need. The last paragraph circles back to the anecdote described in his introduction, neatly wrapping up the event and signaling a natural end to his story. 

This author used these strategies: the motivation to attend a specific law school, stating his mission, and subtly reiterating what his acceptance would bring to the school. The next example conclusion worked at UChicago Law: 

Sample Personal Statement for Law School Conclusion #2

“Songs can be rewritten and reinterpreted as situation permits, but missteps are obvious because the fundamental laws of music and harmony do not change.

Although my formal music education ended when I entered college, the lessons I have learned over the years have remained close and relevant to my life. I have acquired a lifestyle of discipline and internalized the drive for self-improvement. I have gained an appreciation for the complexities and the subtleties of interpretation. 

I understand the importance of having both a sound foundation and a dedication to constant study. I understand that to possess a passion and personal interest in something, to think for myself is just as important.”

What Made This Conclusion Effective

This law school personal statement was successful at UChicago Law. Although the writing has seemingly nothing to do with law or the author's capability to become a great lawyer, the author has effectively used the "show, don't tell" advice. 

The last paragraph implements the focus on qualities or skills strategy. Although related to music, the qualities they describe that a formal music education taught her mesh with the qualities of a successful lawyer: 

• A drive for self-improvement 
• The ability to interpret information 
• The ability to learn consistently 
• The ability to think for herself 

Overall, this essay does an excellent job of uncovering her personality and relating to the opening paragraph, where she describes how she fell in love with music.

2 Law School Personal Statement Examples From Admitted Students

These are two law school personal statement examples that worked. We'll review the excerpts below and describe what made them effective and if there's room for improvement. 

Law School Personal Statement Example #1

This is an excerpt of a law personal statement that worked at UChicago Law : 

“The turning point of my college football career came early in my third year. At the end of the second practice of the season, in ninety-five-degree heat, our head coach decided to condition the entire team. Sharp, excruciating pain shot down my legs as he summoned us repeatedly to the line to run wind sprints. 

I collapsed as I turned the corner on the final sprint. Muscle spasms spread throughout my body, and I briefly passed out. Severely dehydrated, I was rushed to the hospital and quickly given more than three liters of fluids intravenously. As I rested in a hospital recovery room, I realized my collapse on the field symbolized broader frustrations I felt playing college football.

I was mentally and physically defeated. In South Dakota, I was a dominant football player in high school, but at the Division I level, my talent was less conspicuous. In my first three years, I was convinced that obsessively training my body to run faster and be stronger would earn me a starting position. The conditioning drill that afternoon revealed the futility of my approach. I had thrust my energies into becoming a player I could never be. As a result, I lost confidence in my identity.

I considered other aspects of my life where my intellect, work ethic, and determination had produced positive results. I chose to study economics and English because processing abstract concepts and ideas in diverse disciplines were intuitively rewarding…Gathering data, reviewing previous literature, and ultimately offering my own contribution to economic knowledge was exhilarating. Indeed, undergraduate research affirmed my desire to attend law school, where I could more thoroughly satisfy my intellectual curiosity…My efforts generated high marks and praise from professors, but this success made my disappointment with football more pronounced.

The challenge of collegiate athletics felt insurmountable. However, I reminded myself that at the Division I level, I was able to compete with and against some of the best players in the country…After the hospital visit, my football position coach—sensing my mounting frustrations—offered some advice. Instead of devoting my energies almost exclusively to physical preparation, he said, I should approach college football with the same mental focus I brought to my academic studies. I began to devour scouting reports and to analyze the complex reasoning behind defensive philosophies and schemes. I studied film and discovered ways to anticipate plays from the offense and become a more effective player. Armed with renewed confidence, I finally earned a starting position in the beginning of my fourth year…

‍I had received the highest grade on the team. After three years of A’s in the classroom, I finally earned my first ‘A’ in football. I used mental preparation to maintain my competitive edge for the rest of the season. Through a combination of film study and will power, I led my team and conference in tackles…The most rewarding part of the season, though, was what I learned about myself in the process. When I finally stopped struggling to become the player I thought I needed to be, I developed self-awareness and confidence in the person I was.

The image of me writhing in pain on the practice field sometimes slips back into my thoughts as I decide where to apply to law school. College football taught me to recognize my weaknesses and look for ways to overcome them. I will enter law school a much stronger person and student because of my experiences on the football field and in the classroom. My decision where to attend law school mirrors my decision where to play college football. I want to study law at the University of Chicago Law School because it provides the best combination of professors, students, and resources in the country. In Division I college football, I succeeded when I took advantage of my opportunities. I hope the University of Chicago will give me an opportunity to succeed again.”

Why This Personal Statement Example Worked

The beginning of this personal statement includes vivid imagery and sets up a relevant anecdote for the reader: the writer’s injury while playing football. At the end of the introduction, he sets up a fantastic transition about his broader frustrations, compelling us to keep reading. 

The essay's body shows the writer's vulnerability, making it even more personal; it can be challenging to talk about feelings, like losing your confidence, but it can help us relate to him. 

The author sets up a transition to writing more about his academic ability, his eventual leadership role on the team, and developing the necessary qualities of a well-rounded lawyer: self-awareness and confidence. 

Finally, the author rounds out his statement by circling back to his opening anecdote and showing the progress he’s made from there. He also describes why UChicago Law is the right school for him. To summarize, the author expertly handled: 

• Opening with a descriptive anecdote that doesn’t leave the reader hanging for too long 
• Being vulnerable in such a way that no one else could have written this statement 
• Doing more than recounting an event but reflecting on it 
• Although he introduced his coach's advice, he kept himself the focal point of the story 
• He picked a focused event; the writer didn’t try to tackle too much content 
• His conclusion references his introduction, signalling the natural end of the story 
• The ending also reaffirms his passion for pursuing law, particularly at UChicago Law 

Law School Personal Statement Example #2 

This law school personal statement excerpt led to acceptance at Boston University Law. 

“She sat opposite me at my desk to fill out a few forms. Fumbling her hands and laughing uncomfortably, it was obvious that she was nervous. Sandra was eighteen, and her knowledge of English was limited to “yes” and “hello.” While translating the initial meeting between Sandra and her attorney, I learned of her reasons for leaving El Salvador. She had been in an abusive relationship, and though she wasn’t ready to go into detail just yet, it was clear from the conversation that her boyfriend had terrorized her and that the El Salvadoran police were of no help…Eventually, Sandra was given a credible fear interview. The interviewer believed that she had a real fear of returning to El Salvador, and Sandra was released from detention with an Immigration Court hearing notice in her hand. She had just retained our office to present her asylum case to the Immigration Judge.

I tried to imagine myself in Sandra’s shoes. She hadn’t finished high school, was in a completely new environment, and had almost no understanding of how things worked in the US. Even the harsh New England winter must have seemed unnatural to her. Having lived abroad for a couple of years, I could relate on some level; however, the circumstances of my stay overseas were completely different. I went to Spain after graduating from college to work in an elementary school, improve my Spanish skills, and see a bit of the world…I had to ask hundreds of questions and usually make a few attempts before actually accomplishing my goal. Frustrating though it was, I didn’t have so much riding on each of these endeavors. If I didn’t have all the necessary paperwork to open a bank account one day, I could just try again the next day. Sandra won’t be afforded the same flexibility in her immigration process, where so much depends on the ability to abide by inflexible deadlines and procedures. Without someone to guide her through the process, ensuring that all requirements are met, and presenting her case as persuasively as possible, Sandra will have little chance of achieving legal status in the United States…

Before starting at my current position at Joyce & Associates, an immigration law firm in Boston, I had long considered a career in law. Growing up, I was engaged by family and school debates about public policy and government. In college, I found my constitutional law courses challenging and exciting. Nonetheless, it wasn’t until I began working with clients like Sandra that I became convinced that a career in law is the right choice for me. Playing my part as a legal assistant in various immigration cases, I have been able to witness how a career in immigration advocacy is both intellectually stimulating and personally fulfilling. I have seen the importance of well-articulated arguments and even creativity in arguing a client’s eligibility for an immigration benefit. I have learned that I excel in critical thinking and in examining detail, as I continually consider the consistency and possible implications of any documents that clients provide in support of their application. But most importantly, I have realized how deserving many of these immigrants are. Many of the clients I work with are among the most hardworking and patriotic people I have encountered…

‍I am equally confident that I would thrive as a student at Boston University, where I would be sure to take full advantage of the many opportunities available. The school’s Asylum and Human Rights Clinic and Immigration Detention Clinic would offer me invaluable experiences in various immigration settings…Given my experiences in an immigration firm, I know that I would have much to offer while participating in these programs, but even more to learn. And while I find BU’s immigration programs to be especially appealing, I am equally drawn to the Boston University experience as a whole…I hope to have the opportunity to face those challenges and to contribute my own experiences and drive to the Boston University community.”

This statement makes excellent use of opening with an experience that sets the writer's motivation to attend law school in motion. We're introduced to another person in the story in the introduction before the author swivels and transitions to how she'd imagine herself in Sandra's shoes. 

This transition shows empathy, and although the author could relate to her client's struggles on a more superficial level, she understood the gravity of her situation and the hardships that awaited her. 

The author backpedals to show how she's cultivated an interest in law in college and explored this interest to know it's the right choice for her. The conclusion does an excellent job of referencing exactly how BU Law will help her achieve her mission. To recap, this personal statement was effective because: 

• She started her personal statement with a story 
• Although the writer focuses on an event with another person, she moves the focus back to her 
• The author’s statement shows qualities like empathy, compassion, and critical thinking without explicitly stating it 
• She connects her experiences to her motivation to attend law school 
• This statement has movement: it references the author’s past, present, and future 
• She ends her statement by explaining in detail why BU Law is the right school for her 

Although this personal statement worked, circling back to the opening anecdote in the conclusion, even with a brief sentence, would have made the conclusion more impactful and fortified the common thread of her narrative.

How to Write Personal Statement For Law School: FAQs

Do you still have questions about how to write a personal statement for law school? Read on to learn more. 

1. What Makes a Good Personal Statement for Law School? 

Generally, an excellent personal statement tells a relevant story, showcases your best qualities, is personal, and creatively answers the prompt. Depending on the prompt, a good personal statement may describe your motivation to attend law school or why a school, in particular, is perfect for you. 

2. Should I Write a Separate Personal Statement for Each School? 

Depending on the prompts, you may be able to submit the same or similar personal statements to different schools. However, you’ll likely need more than one version of your statement to apply to different schools. Generally, students will write a few versions of their statements to meet personal statement instructions. 

3. How Long Should My Personal Statement Be? 

Personal statement length requirements vary by school, but you can generally expect to write approximately two pages, double-spaced. 

4. What Should You Not Put In a Law School Personal Statement? 

Your personal statement shouldn’t include famous quotes, overly sophisticated language, statements that may offend others, and unhelpful or inappropriate information about yourself. 

5. What Do I Write My Law School Personal Statement About? 

The answer depends on the prompt you need to answer. Consider your experiences and decide which are impactful, uncover your personality, show your motivation to attend law school, or show your impressive character traits. 

6. Does the Personal Statement Really Matter for Law School? 

Top LSAT scores and high GPAs may not be enough, especially at the T-14 law schools. Due to the high level of competition, you should take advantage of your personal statement to show why you’re an excellent candidate. So yes, they do matter.

Writing A Law School Personal Statement is Easy With Juris

Writing a personal statement can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be. Juris Education is committed to helping you learn how to write a law school personal statement with ease. We help future law school students develop their narratives, evaluate writing to ensure it’s in line with what law schools expect, and edit statements to perfection. 

A stellar personal statement helps you stand out and can help you take that last step to attending the law school of your dreams.

Schedule A Free Consultation

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Law School Personal Statement Dos and Don’ts

The personal statement, one of the most important parts of your law school application, is an opportunity to highlight your writing ability, your personality, and your experience. Think of it as a written interview during which you get to choose the question. What one thing do you wish the admissions evaluators knew about you?

To help you write a law school personal statement that best reflects your abilities as a potential law student, we have some recommendations below.

• Discuss possible personal statement topics with your pre-law advisor (or someone else) before you invest a lot of time writing.
• Choose a narrow topic. Offer details about a small topic rather than generalities about a broad topic. Focus on a concrete experience and the impact it has had upon you.
• Be yourself. Do not tell law schools what you think they want to hear — tell them the truth.
• Pay special attention to your first paragraph. It should immediately grab a reader’s attention. Reviewers are pressed for time and may not read beyond an uninteresting opener.
• Keep it interesting. Write with energy and use the active voice. You do not have to explain how your experience relates to your desire to attend law school. Tell a story. Paint a vivid picture. The most interesting personal statements create visuals for the reader, which make your personal statement more memorable.
• Keep it simple and brief. Big words do not denote big minds, just big egos. Choose your words with economy and clarity in mind, and remember that your reader has a huge stack of applications to read. A personal statement generally should be two to three double-spaced pages.
• Proofread. Ask several people to proofread your essay. Grammatical or mechanical errors are inexcusable.
• Include information from your background that sets you apart. If your ethnicity, family, religion, socioeconomic background, or similar factors are motivating you to succeed in law school, be sure to highlight them. You can do this in the personal statement itself or in a separate diversity statement. If you are writing a personal statement and a diversity statement, make sure the two essays address different topics.
• Consider your audience. Most admissions evaluators are professors, third-year law students, or admissions professionals not long out of law school. Therefore, you want to come across as an attentive student, interesting classmate, and accomplished person. Again, consider what you most want them to know, beyond the information provided in the rest of your application.
• Read the application carefully. Most law schools allow you to choose a topic, but some will require you to address a specific question. Follow whatever instructions are provided.
• Do not play a role, especially that of a lawyer or judge. And stay away from legal concepts and jargon. You run the risk of misusing them, and even if you use them properly, legal language may make you appear pompous.
• Do not tell your life story in chronological order or merely re-state your resume. Furthermore, resist the urge to tie together all of your life experiences. The essays that try to say too much end up saying nothing at all.
• Do not become a cliché. You may genuinely want to save the world. Maybe your study abroad experience transformed the way you look at the world. But these topics are overused. Before writing your essay, consider how your story is unique and highlight your individuality.
• Do not use a personal statement to explain discrepancies in your application. If your academic record is weak in comparison to your LSAT scores, or vice versa, address that issue in an addendum. Emphasize the positive in the personal statement.
• Do not offend your reader. Lawyers rarely shy away from controversial topics, but you should think twice before advocating a controversial view. You do not want to appear to be close-minded.
• If you are in the bottom of an applicant pool, do not play it safe. You have nothing to lose by making a novel statement.

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Law School Personal Statement

Your personal statement is an opportunity to present yourself as more than an LSAT score and GPA. The personal statement sets you apart from other candidates. It is also a sample of your ability to express thoughts clearly and cogently.

The Process

• Brainstorm any topics or themes you might want to consider for your statement
• Select 1-2 topics/themes you believe will be the strongest
• Write a rough draft. Don’t worry about length, style, or grammar
• Put it away for a while. Time adds an interesting perspective on your writing.
• Redraft and edit as needed
• Have several people read it including NCA’S prelaw advisor, a professor or the Writing Place
• Consider the feedback you have been given and craft your final draft
• Proofread, proofread, and proofread

Possible topics

If the school does not specify a topic (and many don’t, but always check) here are a few ideas to help you brainstorm:

• Hobbies/work/other experiences that have shaped you
• How you became interested in the law
• Life events that have changed or motivated you
• Challenges & hurdles you have overcome
• An issue or subject that you feel strongly about and why (just make sure not to “preach”)
• The growth you’ve experienced in college
• A unique experience that you have had inside or outside the classroom
• Your goals and the events that have shaped those goals

Things to Watch for when Writing and Editing

• Ensure that you answered the essay questions they provided
• Remember to put the “personal” in the personal statement – use a personal stories/anecdotes
• DO NOT approach this as a “Statement of Purpose” ( which would be an essay about why you want to pursue a law degree) unless the law school essay prompt indicates to do so
• Try to “Show” the reader/Do not “Tell” in your writing
• Avoid just restating your resume or transcript: law schools are looking to get to know who you are outside of your achievements
• Most schools do not place restrictions on the personal statement but a general guideline is 2-3 pages double spaced (although check with each school for specific guidelines)

Formatting your Personal Statement

• Make it distinctive by telling a story
• State your topic

Detailed Body Paragraphs

• Focused, each with its own topic sentence

Relevant, each contributing/supporting to your main idea Conclusion

• Summarization of your points
• Brings essay full circle to the beginning

Top Mistakes Made in Personal Statements

• Spelling and grammatical errors
• Staying too detached in your writing style and not letting your personality come through in your “personal” statement
• Using too many big words, “legalese,” or research jargon
• Spending just a few hours on your personal statement and submitting your first draft
• Not following directions: exceeding the specified page limitations, not answering the questions
• Using gimmicks such as writing in crayon, modeling your personal statement as a legal brief, or writing it as a poem

Law School Essay Prompts: What to Expect

Law school essay prompts are questions, instructions, or statements to which an applicant must respond in their admissions essays. These prompts indicate which direction your law school personal statement , law school letter of intent , law school diversity statement , or law school optional essay should take. Some form of essay is required as part of the application package in virtually all law schools. A well-formulated response to the prompt can make your application stand out and help you get into your chosen law school. In this blog, we’ll look at the different types of essays, their essential features, and common themes for prompts. We’ll also see some examples of how one applicant created and adapted their essay to respond to different requirements.

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Article Contents 18 min read

What is a law school essay prompt.

As you likely already know, law schools require the submission of an essay with your application. Law school admissions statistics may be daunting but rest assured that a well-prepared essay can significantly influence your chances! A writing prompt is the suggested question to answer in your essay. In researching law school application requirements, you will notice that they often provide similar prompts; however, it is important not to assume that all law schools will use a standard structure. For example, Stanford Law School asks for a proposal and explanation of three pieces of music that could be playing while the admissions committee reviews the student’s application.

What is the Purpose of Law School Essays?

Regardless of the prompt structure, these essays share certain features. Importantly, they are intended to complete your application package. In these essays, the admissions committee is seeking information that will round out and complement your application, not repeat what they already know based on your academic record, LSAT score, or other supporting documents you were required to submit. For example, if the law school’s application required that you detail any employment or volunteer positions you have occupied, it would not make sense to focus your essay on those experiences, as they have already been covered. Rather, you should seek to balance what the prompt suggests with what is missing from your application that you think the admissions committee should know.

These essays also serve the important purpose of demonstrating your writing skills. As the field of law requires strong and persuasive writing, the application essay is one of the first and essential ways to showcase your skills. Think of the last time you read a book or an article that truly impressed you. Did the author’s name stick with you? Were you tempted to read more by that author or find out more about them? In addition to improving your admission chances, a well-crafted application essay is an early opportunity to stand out or “make a name for yourself” at your chosen law school. Take advantage of it!

The key point is to answer the prompt; otherwise, your essay will be dismissed. In so doing, use all the tools at your disposal to ensure that your writing:

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It is essential to note and respect the formatting requirements of each school you apply to. A basic guideline is to provide the most significant information in as concise a form as possible , but details may vary. If the essay requirements for a particular law school seem vague, first, ensure that you are consulting the full requirements page or document. For example, some requirements may be posted as a summary on a web page to introduce the overall process, while the full list of specifications is detailed elsewhere on the law school\u2019s website or in a PDF or other form. Don\u2019t assume that brief requirements are the only requirements. When in doubt, contact the admissions office to clarify the requirements, the prompt, or both. "}]">

The following essay examples are written from the point of view of a single applicant who has adapted their narratives to emphasize the specific requirements for different essay prompts. 

1. Why Law?

In surveying the top 100 law schools in North America, the most common principal essay type, by far, is the personal statement, and its most common prompt will ask you why you are pursuing law as a career. The intent of the prompt may be veiled by the prompt’s phrasing, but most law school personal statement prompts seek to assess what steps you took and what experiences you had that led you to apply to law school. 

In a survey of about 35 of the top law schools in Canada and the United States, the following were the most frequently mentioned themes among the prompts for the personal statement:

While the prompt may not be as obvious as “tell us why you are pursuing law as a career”—though some schools may ask this bluntly—you should remember that this is the question you must answer in your personal statement. So, what can you focus on when answering this prompt?

First, the admissions committee is looking to get a better idea of you as a person, your background, experiences, and interests that led you to pursue law. They want to know what makes you unique and how an academic and professional career in law will be significant in your life. To understand this, they need you to provide detailed information. Use examples of your activities, accomplishments, and behavior to make specific points. Avoid being vague or using clichés, such as “I believe in being the change you wish to see in the world.” Law schools will be looking for original thinking in your essay, the “ring of truth” as it pertains to you as an individual, and realistic objectives. They will also be attempting to gauge whether you match their ideal student profile, which you can learn more about by thoroughly researching the law school and citing (only those) aspects that truly reflect you: authenticity should shine through in every line of your essay.

Second, they want to understand how you intend to contribute to the law community in general but also—specifically, and importantly—to the school’s law community. Regardless of any other information suggested by the prompt or what you choose to include in your essay, it should always conclude with a clear sense of the contribution you envision making as a law student. As it may not always be possible to single out a particular law school in your application, for example, if you are applying to law schools which use a unified application system, simply highlight how your personal experiences, skills, and perspective will complement their existing high standards and meet their expectations. Remember, if a letter of intent is a required application component for your chosen schools, you may be faced with prompts asking you to demonstrate why you are the perfect candidate for their school or what you can contribute to their program. 

Third, most remarkable law school personal statements are written in the form of a narrative: after all, it is your “story.” Within this narrative structure, you can insert illustrations of your experiences, knowledge, and skills. It may even be helpful to think of your personal statement as a “picture book.” There is text to tell the story and imagery you suggest through your words to create a picture in the minds of the admissions committee members. You may also wish to describe any challenges, pitfalls, or struggles you have faced along the way and how you chose to address and rise above them, but that will depend on whether you have an opportunity to discuss these in another law school essay prompt. Read on to learn more!!!

Prompt: We would like to know how your background and experiences influenced your decision to apply to law school.

As the self-appointed legal advisor for my friends on the military base where my parents were stationed, I was not prepared for the news that arrived on X day. It went so far beyond what my 14-year-old mind could fathom, even after living in four different countries or being exposed to so many accounts of death and injury as a military child. This was not one of my pals getting caught shoplifting and then turning to me for advice. We had read of this crime in the local paper— the copy they translated and distributed to us at the base. While the punishment for the crime was unimaginable, it was not unheard of. What struck me most was that the accused was the same age as me.

We called ourselves “army brats,” yet I wouldn’t say I felt stigmatized as a child due to my status. After all, most of my time was spent on the base, with kids in the same situation, who didn’t have much else to compare the experience to. Nevertheless, we knew we were different— from civilian peers in our home country, from the residents of the country where we were stationed, and even from each other, as we had all come from different places before arriving there. Sometimes, we were reminded that our difference had value. Sitting there that day, reading the local news to kill time, my two best friends and I realized just how protected we were from our own mistakes. Only a few miles away, another 14-year-old, just like us, would not get a second chance.

Military life is governed by rules and regulations, and even as a child, you’re expected to follow them. To keep everything straight in my mind, I kept a spiral-bound notebook with different chapters for school rules, base rules, military rules, and rules for trips into town. When the context changed, I reorganized my notes, added to them, or crossed out passages. It was an unserious pursuit, which earned me the nickname of “the lawyer,” but after that day, my legal research began in earnest. With guidance from various cherished teachers, mentors, and my parents, I began to educate myself on human rights issues and international law. I felt that if I could understand how things worked, I might one day be in a position to change someone else’s life for the better— someone who, if not for where they were born, could have been me.

Having been obliged to grow up fast, I slowed the pace somewhat when I finally returned to Canada. It was my decision. After being exposed to so many different cultures, I felt a calling to experience my birth country more directly. I initially landed in Toronto, but I did not feel connected to the place. With new friends, I set out on a road trip, travelling as far as Vancouver on the west coast. While passing through Winnipeg, however, I met some students from the University of Manitoba, who inspired me to retrace my steps and settle there. My aim was clear: to complete the four-year Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies and ultimately apply to the interdisciplinary Master of Human Rights.

My personal experience of witnessing political strife in the world, through various lenses, made the BA in Political Studies, with its focus on civil liberties and distributive justice, the perfect introduction to this country and the diverse nations it contains. Further, it helped illuminate my past, which certainly had its dark moments. Courses such as War, Politics, and Culture and the Arab-Israeli Conflict contained themes which resonated deeply; International Relations provided me with a strong foundation in key literature; and Canadian Public Management and Indigenous Governance lit a flame of interest in the history and workings of my own country.

In addition to the intellectual stimulus I crave, I feel like I have found my next home in this university town. Early in my undergraduate career, I began part-time work at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and have since become deeply involved as a researcher and volunteer with the Centre for Human Rights Research (CHRR). These activities, coupled with my academic achievements, have only confirmed my commitment to this area of law. I know it will define my future just as certainly as it shaped my past. Since completing the Master of Human Rights at the University of Manitoba, I now see the Juris Doctor degree as an essential next step in advancing my planned advocacy work, and I can hardly wait to extend and expand my contribution to the thriving legal community in Winnipeg.

Want more law school personal statement examples from top law schools?

• Harvard law school personal statement examples
• Columbia law school personal statement examples
• Cornell law school personal statement examples
• Yale law school personal statement examples
• UPenn law school personal statement examples
• Cambridge law school personal statement examples

Writing your optional essay? Check this out:

2. Why Our Law School?

As previously noted, a law school letter of intent is different from a personal statement. Most importantly, it should explain why you wish to attend a specific law school and what you hope to contribute. A law school letter of intent would be sent to only one or two schools and would emphasize why you are perfect for their program. For this reason, a generic draft will not work as well in crafting your letter of intent as it would for your personal statement, as the letter should demonstrate that you have done your research. Reading some well-written examples can guide you toward producing a professional, polished letter that will improve your chances of being admitted.

* As with all other essay types, check the specific length and formatting requirements for your chosen law school. In fact, given the focused nature of this essay, it is even more important to be absolutely certain of the requirements.

Prompt: Please explain what motivated you to apply to (our law school).

Dear Admissions Committee,

After completing the Master of Human Rights at UM Law, I am now hoping to pursue the prestigious Juris Doctor degree. I believe my educational and professional background, much of which has been anchored in the Winnipeg academic and legal community, is ideally suited to success in this program.

My goal is to perform human rights advocacy, and for the past four years, I have been honing my skills in this area. As an undergraduate, various initiatives I joined enabled me to build my professional network. For example, I became deeply involved as a volunteer researcher with the Centre for Human Rights Research. During my master’s degree, I contributed to two studies addressing domestic procedural protections affecting refugee claimants, and as a result, I was recommended to a research position with the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation.

Having deepened my knowledge of human rights law, I am now seeking to further my clinical experience and skills as a lawyer and polish my scholarly writing abilities. These objectives seem perfectly aligned with your program’s emphasis on experiential learning, writing, and critical analysis. Furthermore, I see an advanced understanding of ethics and diverse perspectives as an essential aspect of human rights law.

In addition to the intellectual stimulus I crave, I feel like I have found my next home in this university town, and acceptance to the Juris Doctor would allow me to both continue my current work and expand my contribution to the thriving legal community at the University and in Winnipeg.

Claude Madden

3. What Can You Contribute to Our Campus/Incoming Class?

This is a very common prompt/theme in law school diversity statements and optional essays. As a diversity statement is often optional, you may question whether you should submit one. Perhaps you have made some assumptions concerning what constitutes “diversity,” but not everyone is raised in a single-parent household; not everyone has been an Olympic athlete; not everyone had to work throughout undergrad to get that bachelor’s degree; not everyone in your class will have an intercultural marriage. Everyone has a unique story to tell, and yours does not have to be in accordance with a traditional understanding of diversity. While a diversity statement may be optional, we advise you to take every opportunity to make your application stand out. Tell the committee what experiences have formed you. What makes you different from your peers? The key here is to think of experiences that would broaden the horizon of your classmates and faculty. Think of what would make a great narrative. Once you have settled on a few key features that set you apart, describe their impact on your life and your decision to attend law school. Maybe you’re not sure what makes you unique. In this case, let law school admissions consulting services help you find your story!

* As with all other essay types, check the specific length and formatting requirements for your chosen law school. Note that stand-alone diversity statements are often shorter, typically 500 words or less.

Example of “What Can You Contribute to Our Campus/Incoming Class?” Essay

Prompt: Describe any unique qualities you feel will contribute to the diversity of (our law school).  

Growing up in a military family has its pros and cons. Being a member of a subculture does set you apart. We called ourselves “army brats,” yet I wouldn’t say I felt stigmatized as a child due to my status. After all, most of my time was spent on the base, with kids in the same situation, who didn’t have much else to compare the experience to.

From the military, I learned the importance of “seizing the day” and “making the most of things,” especially as I grew older and developed stronger attachments to places or people. One of the most difficult periods is when your parent is first deployed. There is the emotional turmoil, of course, and the constant worry, but there is also the need and expectation for you to be more independent than you are ready to be. I quickly understood how to stick to a schedule and take responsibility for myself, including meals, homework, and bedtime. Later, in my volunteering, I helped other young people take charge of their lives, for example, by teaching them how to find the necessary resources to address a range of legal issues, from misdemeanors to tenant conflicts. 

Military life is also governed by rules and regulations, and even as a child, you’re expected to learn them. You absorb “respect,” almost by osmosis, because you’re surrounded by this sense of order, sacrifice for the greater good, and dedication. It’s a demanding way of life, even for the families. In addition to the military rules, you need to know what to expect when you leave the base: what to wear, how to behave, how to speak. You need to understand what is culturally and legally accepted in each new country, and what is not. Through exposure to the pros and cons of diverse legal systems, I developed both an interest in international law as well as a pronounced desire to engage in advocacy.

From a young age, I kept a spiral-bound notebook to keep track of all the rules that governed my life. I associate those rules, written in the pencil scratch of my younger self, with certain challenges I faced and overcame. While my peers often found the rules oppressive, this pastime of mine made them more fun or interesting. To this day, researching precedents and authority associated with case law is one of my favorite tasks.

On the base, when we didn’t agree with or understand the rules in every situation or country, various cherished teachers, mentors, and our parents helped explain them. However, when I returned to Canada, it was up to me to acquire all the knowledge I needed about a place that, despite being my birth country, was completely unfamiliar. This personal quest, coupled with my ingrained appreciation for regulations, made me well qualified to help people I encountered in academic and daily life better understand the law and, perhaps more importantly, why it exists. My experiences have also highlighted areas where the right law, or even justice, is lacking. In my research on domestic procedural protections affecting refugee claimants, I had the opportunity to study recent literature on the topic but also work directly with clients. In addition to advising them on the law and training them to be independent in conducting their own information searches, I often assisted them in resolving school and housing issues. In this way, I expanded my knowledge of related fields, such as property and education law, and developed a deep respect for the Canadian legal system with its inherent sense of fairness and justice. I nurtured a love of advocacy and took real pleasure in successfully helping someone out of a tough spot. Perhaps most importantly, I confirmed what I believe I knew intuitively all along— that law will define my future just as certainly as it shaped my past. My enthusiasm, the practical tips I can offer my classmates, and my ability to work collaboratively as part of a team are qualities I believe will certainly contribute significantly to the school.

This is your cue to discuss anything else that has not been addressed in your application. Most often, with this prompt, the admissions committee is giving you a chance to discuss any setbacks you experienced. You might have discussed some of them in your other essays already, but you should know that there may be specific essays that are designated for such topics. The law school addendum , as the name implies, refer to additional information. During your research, care should be taken to discern how each law school defines this essay type.

For example, the term “addenda” might be used to refer to addenda to your LSAT score, that is, an explanation of your low grade, or it could indicate a more general optional essay to provide supplementary information that you think might be important when considering your application. But most often, addenda should address any red flags you may have in your academic and personal background. Even if you find no information indicating that they are looking for explanations of your low GPA or lack of professional experience, it is always best to address the issue.

Why? Because you do not want the committee to come up with their own reasons for these setbacks. Instead, explain that maybe you had to work throughout your undergrad to support yourself and that resulted in lower hours of legal experience, but that your job taught you x, y, z skills necessary for law school. Or maybe there was a death in your family in second year and your grades suffered. Remember the key to these essays: show what you learned from these experiences. Do not blame anyone else for your setbacks. These tend to happen to everyone! What the committee wants to see is your takeaway.

* As with all other essay types, check the specific length and formatting requirements for your chosen law school. Note that the length of the optional essay varies significantly between law schools.

Example of “Is There Anything Else Regarding your Academic or Personal Background We Should Know About?” Essay

Prompt: Describe any extenuating circumstances affecting your grades or other aspects of your academic performance that you think we should be aware of.

I wanted to take this opportunity to explain certain extenuating circumstances which influenced my academic career path and my performance during my first year of undergraduate studies.

As a military child, I had to grow up fast and learn to be independent. For the most part, this experience has been a positive one, as it instilled a sense of self-reliance and encouraged me to take responsibility for my own learning. I attended five different schools from kindergarten through high school, and my college-level education was conducted entirely online. This situation, while valuable in terms of the variety of instructional contexts and styles, nevertheless had its pitfalls. In the transition process between schools, I often found myself either ahead of or behind my peers, and I experienced some gaps in content that I only became aware of much later, as no one was formally monitoring the curriculum flow.

My return to Canada to register for university was delayed due to an injury in the family. As my parents were struggling to reconcile conflicting needs, I took a gap year— six months on the base and a subsequent six months when I returned to Canada. Although I was used to being without one or both of my parents for extended periods, I always had a stable place to live, and my needs were taken care of. In Canada, however, I felt truly alone and homeless, and I dealt with that by traveling extensively. While I believe this was initially a coping mechanism, it ultimately restored a sense of peace and my confidence. Importantly, I made friends who shared my interests, specifically in human rights issues and the law. I subsequently gained the information I needed to choose a higher education path and decided to apply to the Political Studies program at the University of Manitoba.

When I settled in Winnipeg, I found that while our family income basically covered my school tuition, it did not cover my living expenses. I was already exhausted when I started university and could not quite find my rhythm until after the winter break. You will note that once this stage passed and I found regular work that complemented my academics, my grades came up significantly. I have been able to maintain a high GPA since then, including during my master’s degree, but not as high as it might have been if the circumstances had been better in the beginning. I hope that you will consider this in your assessment of my application and see it not as a failing but as an indicator of my persistence and dedication to overcoming obstacles.

Looking for law school personal statement examples?

As you will note from all these essays, the applicant has developed a core narrative, which truly defines them as a person, as a student, and as an applicant to law school. In each essay, they return to the same key features, either mentioning them briefly or building on them in more detail. Consequently, if one or more essays were required or suggested by their preferred law school, they could easily edit these drafts to delete repetition and expand essential points. Note the importance of focusing on different topics and priorities in each essay for the same school.

Most importantly, all these essays show (rather than tell) that the applicant knows who they are and where they would like to go. Moreover, they are not afraid to embrace and integrate the more challenging aspects of where they have been. This paints a picture for the admissions committee of a lively, engaged, diligent, confident, and courageous individual who would likely be considered an asset to their law school.

Again, it is essential to check the requirements of each law school to discern which type of essay is required. Often, more than one type is required, suggested, or proposed as an “optional” essay. Sometimes, all three types are sort of rolled into one: for example, you may be expected in your personal statement to include responses to diversity prompts (e.g., cultural background) and/or addenda (e.g., gap year activities). In all cases, it is important to respect the precise requirements for each law school applied to.

Law school admission essays are intended to complete your application package and give the law school a better idea of who you are as a person and why you are a good candidate for admission. The purpose of these essays is to provide supplementary information about yourself and your motivation for applying to law school that is not reflected in your grades or other supporting documents. You might include volunteer, work, or research experience if you have not already covered them in other parts of your application. While it is not necessary for every activity to be specifically related to law, it is important to show how they might contribute to your law school and career plans.

You may be asked to discuss how your background and experiences influenced your decision to go to law school, why you are motivated to study law, or what made you decide to choose a specific law school. Virtually all law schools have criteria for the type of statement they require and provide some general guidelines, even if they don’t provide highly specific prompts. However, certain law schools do provide very unique and surprising prompts, so it is important to research your short list of law schools carefully to ensure that you identify the correct requirements.

Typically, law school essay prompts are “evergreen”; that is, they are always available for consultation on their web site. Most law schools do not require several rounds of essays or invite applicants individually to write on specific prompts, as some graduate schools do.

A letter of intent is not the same as a personal statement, but it may replace the personal statement. Typically, it is a more formal statement which emphasizes your experiences and skills that prepare you for a specific law program. Law schools that request a letter of intent usually provide more detailed criteria for their expectations; therefore, it is important to verify the requirements carefully.

Yes, as each person is unique, chances are they have something to contribute that is different from their peers. The diversity statement is a real opportunity to stand out from the crowd by highlighting your background, experiences, contributions, and ideas. Anyone should consider the benefits that writing a diversity statement may bring to the application process.

If the essay is categorized as “optional,” it is unlikely that you are obliged to provide one. Some law schools emphasize the optional essay for certain applicants, such as those who could benefit from diversity opportunities or who need to explain their grades. However, even if you don’t check such a box, it is advisable to write the optional essay to stand out and increase your chances of being accepted.

Many law schools provide the opportunity to explain lower grades, extenuating circumstances, gap years, and other issues in an “optional essay” or “addendum,” and this is therefore the proper channel to inform the law school of your situation. If only one essay is allowed as part of the application process, yes, it would certainly be appropriate to write a concise statement on this topic, while emphasizing how you addressed and overcame the problem. No one is perfect, and challenges can often allow other personal strengths to emerge.

If no prompts are provided, focus on answering the question “why do you want to be a lawyer?”

Always stick to the prompt, as this is the information the law school wishes to know. Moreover, it shows that you can follow instructions, are detail-oriented, and have tailored your response to a particular school’s requirements.

Follow the guidelines. If no guidelines are provided, try to stay within 600–800 words.

The number of essays varies, depending on the school. Carefully verify the requirements for each school to which you apply.

At BeMo, we have consultants who can help with many stages of your law school application process, including essay writing.

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7 Law School Personal Statement Topic Ideas

• Applying to Law School
• Pre-Law Prep
• Surviving Law School
• Homework Help
• Private School
• College Admissions
• College Life
• Graduate School
• Business School
• Distance Learning
• J.D., Temple University
• B.A., English and History, Duke University

The law school personal statement is a required part of most law school applications. Each law school provides their own instructions and the requirements will vary, so make sure to review them thoroughly. For example, some law schools will ask for specific information about you (e.g., academic background, professional experiences, personal identity), while others ask for a general personal statement. Many law schools are most interested in why you want to pursue law, but not all.

Regardless of any school-specific requirements, your personal statement must demonstrate exceptional writing abilities. The admissions committee will be considering your ability to communicate and present information effectively. In addition, although the personal statement does not need to address your interest in law, it should illustrate qualities that would make you a good lawyer. Most importantly, the essay should be personal in nature.

Good topics for personal statements can come from almost any part of your life: extracurricular activities, community service projects, professional experience, or personal challenges. The possibilities are endless, and most law schools do not provide specific writing prompts—a perfect recipe for writer's block. If you're feeling stuck on your personal statement, use our list of topic ideas to kick off the brainstorming process.

Why Law School?

Most law school personal statements say something about why the applicant wants to go to law school, so it's important to make your essay personal and unique to you. Avoid legal jargon or overly abstract concepts. Instead, write a truthful essay that conveys sincere interest.

To jumpstart the brainstorming process, jot down all the reasons you want to study law. Then, look for patterns in the list to identify key moments or experiences that led you to pursue a legal career. Remember, your reasons can be personal, professional, academic, or a combination of all three. A typical "why law school" essay will begin with a pivotal moment that led to your decision, then explain your short and long term goals, potentially including classes you want to take, specializations you plan to pursue, and the area of law you intend to practice.

A Personal Challenge You Overcame

If you have overcome significant personal challenges or hardships , you may wish to share those experiences in your personal statement. Make sure to structure the essay in a way that demonstrates personal growth, and consider connecting it to your interest in law. The description of the challenge should be relatively concise; the majority of the essay should focus on how you overcame it and how the experience affected you.

One caveat: it's best to avoid writing about academic failures in your personal statement. If you must explain a low grade or test score, do so in an addendum , rather than your personal statement.

Your Proudest Personal Achievement

This prompt gives you the opportunity to brag about accomplishments that you may not have been able to include elsewhere in your application. For example, you might write about the time you navigated your hiking group out of the woods during a storm, or the summer you spent helping a neighbor develop their small business.

Be sure to provide details about how you felt as you worked toward and eventually achieved your goals. The accomplishment does not have to be academic, but it should be something that demonstrates personal growth or showcases your best qualities.

A Project That Led to Personal Growth

Did you create or participate in a project that still influences you to this day? Consider writing about the project and its impact in your personal statement.

Don't worry if your project doesn't feel big enough. Remember, the most compelling projects are often those that initially seem small but are actually quite impactful. Good examples include community service work or a significant project undertaken at a job or internship. In the personal statement, explain the project and its impact on you with vivid language and anecdotes. In other words, take the reader on the growth journey with you, rather than just describing it to them.

Growth Experienced in College

In addition to intellectual growth, many students experience significant personal growth in college. When you reflect on your undergraduate years, what stands out? Perhaps one of your long-held beliefs was challenged by friendships you formed in college. Maybe you discovered an unexpected interest that changed the course of your academic or professional career. Reflect on your core values and beliefs before and after college. If you see an obvious and interesting growth trajectory, consider using this topic for your personal statement.

An Experience That Changed Your Life

This personal statement prompt allows you to describe formative experiences and how they impacted your life and career choices. Good examples include a mid-life career change or the decision to have a baby while in college.

Describing a truly life-changing experiences will help you stand out from other applicants, especially if you write reflectively and demonstrate how the experience connects to your pursuit of a law career.

Introduce Yourself

If you were introducing yourself to an admissions officer, what would you want him or her to know about you? What makes you who you are, and what unique perspective can you add to the law school environment?

Get started by reflecting on these questions and free writing your answers. You can also ask friends, family, teachers, and classmates for their input about your special qualities. By the end of the process, you should have a list of unique personal characteristics and experiences. A great law school personal statement will either focus on one specific personal characteristic or experience, or braid several of them together to paint a rich portrait of who you are.

Remember, the admissions committee wants to know applicants through their personal statements, so don't be afraid to let your personality shine through.

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Law School Personal Statement

An effective personal statement.

Personal statements should provide a reader with a sense of who you are beyond your test scores and transcript, and demonstrate that you have a distinct voice to contribute to the incoming class. In the same way that each individual is unique, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to writing an effective personal statement. Your content will be driven by your life experiences, your perspective, and the reasons you chose to apply to law school. Remember, however, that you typically will not interview with an admissions committee before receiving a decision on your candidacy. You should, therefore, aim to provide the reader with a window into who you are as a person through your personal statement.

The information provided on this page is meant to help you think about, and then write, an effective personal statement. Having an interesting story to tell is not enough; the presentation of your information is just as important.

Do You have any tips before I write?

You should be the subject of your personal statement. To ensure that your writing has an appropriate focus:

• First, consider your defining qualities and strengths. Specifically, what would your family, colleagues, or friends say about you? Think in terms of adjectives.
• Second, consider the experiences through which your qualities have been developed and/or demonstrated. For example, do you love to tutor, work with kids, solve computer problems for your friends, or run marathons?
• Finally, tell a story through a cohesive narrative. Your most difficult task, and the most important task, in writing your personal statement is tying your abstract qualities with instances that demonstrate them.

Remember, you should connect your experiences logically to your interest in applying to law school, but do not dedicate your entire personal statement to this information. There are thousands of applicants with a similar interest in law school, but there is only one of you.

What should I write about?

While there is a broad range of topics that can be discussed in an effective personal statement, below are some common examples that are appropriate and relevant:

How do I know my topic is on track?

Don’t write your resume in paragraph form. As you select your topic, take special care to avoid speaking about information that is already described on your resume. Your personal statement is not meant to merely reiterate your resume in narrative form.

Focus on the present and the recent past. Admissions Committees are inerested in the adult version of you, as opposed to the child you once were, even if you had formative childhood experiences. With that in mind, prioritize relatively recent activities or experiences.

Find the appropriate depth and breadth. Although it is tempting, try to avoid writing a mini-autobiography or a chronological narrative of your life. Describing the event, activity or experience that you ultimately choose should take no more than one-half (usually about one-third) of your personal statement. The remaining portion should demonstrate how your anecdote(s) impacted you and shaped the person you are today.

Things to Do for an Effective Personal Statement:

Revise and reflect: Do not rush to finish your personal statement without taking the time to understand yourself. Personal statements are about critical self-examination, and Admissions Committees know when essays only begin to scratch the surface. Reflecting on your first draft is just as important as the self-reflection you did in considering your topic.

Focus on yourself: Use the first-person “I” when discussing yourself throughout the essay.

Ensure that your narrative is cohesive: The ideas you present in your personal statement are connected by a common thread (or threads). For example, your conclusion should refer back to your introductory paragraph and restate your main thesis in a slightly different way.

Proofread carefully: Edit and spell-check your personal statement multiple times, with the caveat that the spell-check tool is not perfect. You typically have only two double-spaced pages to make the strongest case possible for your candidacy. Do not let the small details distract from your big picture.  Sometimes it helps to have someone you trust proof-read your finished product.

Check each law school’s requirements and instructions: While most law schools ask for an open-ended essay, the prompt may differ by school. You should also check each law school’s page length or word/character specifications. Generally, a two-page, double-spaced essay is the standard.

Things to Avoid for an Effective Personal Statement:

Try to sound like a lawyer: You should not include legalese or complex language in your statement because you are applying to law school! Avoid rhetorical flourishes and language that you think sounds sophisticated. Clarity and concision of presentation are valued in both your personal statement and in the practice of law.

Forget that you’re applying to a professional school: Try to avoid cliches or overly colloquial phrasing. Law school admissions committees will be put off by informal language in your application materials. You should consider this as one of your first professional exercises in your law school career.

Include direct quotations: Avoid using other people’s quotations (and direct quotes in general).  As stated, the purpose of your personal statement is to demonstrate your own voice. Instead of quoting, try to paraphrase using explanatory details. Even when quoting yourself, you probably will not remember the exact words or phrasing you used.

Title your personal statement: The theme of your narrative should be apparent to the reader through the content of your statement. Including a title is distracting and a waste of valuable space.

Use your personal statement to justify your other application materials: The personal statement is not an appropriate place to provide context for a poor GPA or standardized test score. If you are concerned about your “numbers,” and if you believe that additional information would help the reader to understand your performance, include a separate “supplemental statement” or addendum. This information is important to the Admissions Committees, but it should not be the focus of your personal statement.

Remember: be yourself, tell your story, and let the best version of you be reflected on the pages!

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• Sample Essays

You are a thoughtful, intelligent, and unique individual. You already know that—now you just need to convince top law school adcoms that you're a cut above the rest. To do so you need to write a powerful personal statement for law school. Let's first discuss what that personal statement should be and then examine examples and what made them powerful.

A law school personal statement tells the part of your story that reveals your motivation for attending law school and the reasons you will make a great lawyer (or whatever career you want to pursue after law school). 

By reading the sample law school essays provided below, you should get a clear idea of how to translate your qualifications, passions, and individual experiences into words. You will see that the samples here employ a creative voice, use detailed examples, and draw the reader in with a clear writing style. Most importantly, these personal statements are compelling—each one does a fine job of convincing you that the author of the essay is a human being worth getting to know, or better yet, worth having in your next top law school class.

These sample law school personal statement essays are here to stimulate your writing juices, not to shut them down or persuade you to think that these essays represent templates that you must follow. The writers of these essays, who were all once law school applicants just like you, sat down, thought about their stories, and crafted these essays. However, their first step, significant self-reflection and thought, you can’t see. They didn’t use a template or try to shoehorn their story into someone else’s story. You shouldn’t either. But you should take the same first step that they took: Think about your life, the influences upon it, and why you want to obtain a legal education. 

Your story will be different from these author’s stories, but as you review all four of the sample essays you will see commonalities among them, which are highlighted below. You will also see that they are very different essays written by individuals reflecting their different life experiences and dreams. The authors of each of these essays were all accepted to law school, in some cases to elite U.S. law schools. 

Now let’s explore what you can learn from each of these outstanding sample law school essays.

Lessons from Law School Sample Essay #1: The Archaeologist Enthusiast  

• Attention-grabbing opening - The author of the essay immediately grabs the readers’ attention by placing them in the midst of the scene and vividly conveying what the author felt and saw as well as the excitement she felt. 
• Vivid, visual opening and consistent use of opening imagery - You can practically feel the dripping sweat and the heat at the opening of this essay because the applicant used vivid, sensory language that we can all relate to. She also quickly develops a metaphor comparing archaeological excavation with research in general and legal research specifically. She uses the imagery of archaeology (“finding the shard of glass,” “reconstructing the pot”) consistently throughout the personal statement to convey not only the unusual experiences she’s had in the past, but to show her love of research and analysis. 
• A clear theme that ties the essay together-  Her essay has a clear theme, which she states at the end of the first paragraph and in her conclusion. (You may not need to state it twice; that depends on your essay.) The applicant also relates every experience in the essay to her theme of research, analysis, and discovery. 
• Solid structure - Because her theme is so strong, the essay is easy to follow even though she has diverse experiences that aren’t obviously related to each other – archaeology in Spain, research on Colombian environmental policy, working for an online real estate company considering entry into the art market, and her travels.
• Good use of transitions - Transitions help your reader move from one topic to the next as you connect the topic in the preceding paragraph to the topic in the next. They can consist of a few words or a phrase or simply repetition of the topic by name as opposed to using a pronoun. The first paragraph in this sample essay ends with “research and analysis” and the next paragraph begins with “The challenge of researching and analyzing an unknown subject” as she turns from her introduction to her enjoyment of academic life and the research she had done in college. 

While one could argue that perhaps she has too many subtopics in this essay, because of the strong theme and excellent use of transitions, the essay holds together and highlights her diversity of experience, curiosity, and sense of adventure. 

Most importantly this law school personal statement earned its author a seat at an elite T10 law school.

Click here to read the essay >>  

Lessons from Law School Sample Essay #2: Returning to School 

This sample law school personal statement is about half the length of Essay 1 and concentrates on the author’s post-college work experience. In its brevity and focus it’s the mirror image of Law School Essay 1. The contrast between the two highlights the diversity that can work in law school essays.

This applicant writes about the impact of his work experience on his law school goals – with no discussion of extracurricular activities, hobbies, or travels. He had a tight word limit on his personal statement and simply had to be concise. Regardless of the narrower focus and shorter length, this essay also shares certain elements with Essay 1 and in both cases it leads to an engaging personal statement and acceptance. Let’s review them:

• Engaging, vivid opening that grabs attention - The applicant plops the reader right into his story and challenge: how to persuade the tired, grouchy doctors that the product he’s selling is better than the one they have been prescribing.
• A detailed story of his developing interest in law and relevant experience - Using just enough details, he tells his story starting with research that led to evidence-based persuasion. He also highlights his success, which led him to be named Rookie of the Year. He then goes on to explain that he now seeks new, more-lasting intellectual challenge than he currently has as a pharmaceutical sales rep because the industry, or at least his segment of it, changes slowly.
• Direction within law - Based on his background in science and his work in Big Pharma, he has direction in law. He clearly states that he wants to go into medical law. Given his background and work experience, that goal builds logically on his past, and is distinctive. 
• Ties the essay back to the opening - At the end of his essay, he references “his grumpy physicians” and “staring at his professor…” Sometimes applicants will start an essay with a catchy opening that grabs attention, but has little or nothing to do with the rest of the essay. When reading that kind of essay, the opening feels like a tease or a gimmick. In this essay, the applicant paints a picture of what he faces on a typical workday at the beginning, refers back to the opening scene in his conclusion, and contrasts that experience with what he hopes to face when in law school. It’s not a gimmick. It unifies the story.

This applicant was accepted at several T14 law schools.

Click here to read the essay >>

Law School Sample Essay #3: The Twilight Zone

There is a story behind this law school personal statement. This applicant, a very early Accepted client, during her first meeting said that she wanted to write about a trip to Country X. When asked about the trip, she said, “Oh, I’ve never been to Country X, but I know many people who have visited, and I haven’t done anything interesting.” 

Surprised at this unexpected approach, her consultant asked if she had any creative writing experience. The client said she didn’t. The consultant said that she too lacked creative writing experience and suggested they discuss what the client had done as opposed to what she hadn’t. This essay is the result of that (and other) conversations. It is an oldie but goodie.

Let’s take a look at the lessons in this sample law school essay:

• Don’t ever feel you don’t have a story to tell. Every single one of us has a story, and you don’t have to make one up or borrow someone else’s. Tell yours proudly and authentically.
• Launch with a vivid, engaging opening.  While her opening is a more frightening than the other openings, it definitely grips the reader’s attention and starts her story.
• Always have a clear theme.  Everything in this essay relates to the impact of the earthquake on her and specifically her decision to become a public interest lawyer. 
• Tell a story.  This personal statement tells the story of the earthquake’s impact on the applicant. In telling her story, she highlights her community service, her internship, and the evolution of her goals. 
• Use effective transitions.  As she moves from topic to topic, the author effectively carries the reader along. Look at the end of one paragraph and the beginning of the next one throughout the essay. You’ll see that in every case, there is either a word, phrase, or concept that ties one to the other. 
• Write a conclusion that really brings the essay to a close and contributes to the sense of unity while still looking forward. The applicant repeats her thesis that her career direction was shaped by the earthquake and its aftermath. She touches on key experiences (and achievements) that she wants the reader to remember, looks briefly forward, and ties back to the Twilight Zone opening.

This client was accepted to her top choice law school.

Lessons from Law School Sample Essay #4: Change 

This essay takes a different approach than the other three essays. The theme opens the essay followed by images and sounds that make the change she is experienced something the reader can also experience or at least imagine because the applicant uses sensory language. The writer also takes a chronological approach to tell her story of change and how it shaped her. 

The author in this essay chooses not to directly address her reasons for wanting to attend law school. However, the essay still works. The essay highlights her communications skills, research, international exposure, bilingual language skills, and initiative.

However here, too, there are lessons to be learned and some may sound familiar.

• Clear theme - Yes, this takeaway is in this essay as well as the preceding three. In fact, for any effective essay, you need a clear theme.
• Effective use of specifics and anecdote - Whether referencing the “bleak Wisconsin winter,” the fact her mother added “barbecued brisket” to her menu in Texas, or the cultural challenges she faced in Bolivia, she effectively illustrates her ability to deal with change and adapt throughout her life. 
• A conclusion that shows her evolution and growth - She subtly, but clearly reveals an evolution in her adaptability from complete adoption of the mores of her surroundings in New Jersey to more nuanced adaptability where she chooses what she wants to adopt and reject as she deals with change as an adult. Finally, while change is something she has to deal with throughout most of the essay by the conclusion she views it as an opportunity for growth.

Takeaways from These Law School Statement Samples

• There are an infinite number of ways to write a law school personal statement that will help you get accepted. 
• Begin your essay with an opening that grabs your reader’s attention. In today’s age of short attention spans and very busy people, there should be no long, slow warm ups. Put your reader in the scene as soon as they start reading.
• Use sensory language to engage your reader and help them imagine experiencing what you were going through. Reference scenes, sounds, smells, textures, and tastes as appropriate.
• Have a clear theme. Unless you are James Joyce, a stream of consciousness will not work. Know the core idea you want your essay to convey and ruthlessly ensure that every subtopic supports that idea. If it doesn’t, either make the connection clear or delete.
• Use transitions to take your reader with you through your story.
• Use specifics and anecdotes to support your theme in a distinctive way while highlighting your achievements.
• Write a conclusion that contributes to the unity of your essay. Highlight key points in your conclusion. While you can take your theme into the future in your conclusion, it still must relate to your core idea and build on what preceded it. If you can tie your ending back to your opening, your essay will have a stronger sense of coherence. 

How would I like to see these essays improved? I would like to see them, with the exception of Essay 2, address why they are applying to a given school. Essay 2 didn’t have room for that. 

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Everything You Need to Know About the Law School Personal Statement

Padya Paramita

February 10, 2021

Law school admissions committees can see your numbers and extracurricular activities on paper, but have absolutely no idea about who you are as a person and what makes you unique. This is where your personal statement comes in. Your law school personal statement is the place to reflect on your interests and background to help set you apart from the rest of the candidates in a tough law school application pool.

While you may have similar grades, extracurriculars, and LSAT score as the other applicants, your law school personal statement should stand out as your chance to show JD programs your unique story. Take this opportunity to discuss your interests, your travels, or how your cultural identity made you the person who should be admitted. A strong personal statement combines a carefully chosen topic with well-crafted prose. 

You might have guessed by now that writing your law school personal statement isn’t something you should take for granted. This essay can make a difference even if your GPA and LSAT score aren’t quite up to the mark. To help you understand the process more clearly, we will take a closer look at the law school personal statement prompts from the T-14 schools, talk more in detail about the importance of your personal statement, go over how to pick the right topic, discuss common mistakes people make when writing, as well as review tips for editing your personal statement before submitting your law school application.

Requirements from School to School 

It wouldn’t be the wisest decision to submit the same personal statement to all law schools because they’re not identical at all! When you apply to law schools via the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), each school has its own personal statement requirements and prompt. The word or page limit varies from school to school as well - it’s usually somewhere between two and three pages. So, writing one essay to send to every school won’t suffice. 

While you can write a barebones essay on one topic to serve as a skeleton, make sure to tweak and expand on it to suit each school’s specific question. Some of the prompts are more open-ended than others. All of them want to know you better, understand your personality, and see context and color within your law school application. Outlined below are the law school personal statement prompts for each of the T-14 schools.

Most of these prompts are open-ended, except the one for Duke. Duke’s personal statement has two requirements. First, that you reflect on opportunities you’ve pursued that aren’t mentioned in your resumé, and second, that you discuss your personal career ambitions. 

While the others may be broad, some prompts encourage you to choose specific routes when considering your topic. For example, UChicago emphasizes that you should not reiterate your resumé, and your essay should be about something not already covered. On the other hand, Columbia wants to know by the end of the essay why you’re interested in going to law school - specifically to Columbia. Similarly, the UPenn admissions committee also wants to know why you’ve decided to pursue a JD, and how UPenn will help you. For the UC Berkeley essay, you are encouraged to discuss any diversity factors - whether in your interests or your background. Northwestern recommends that you reflect on your personal and professional goals. 

As you can see, while one draft reflecting on a particular interest or story could respond to most of these law school personal statement prompts, you cannot - and should not - submit the same essay for all law schools. Make sure your essay is geared toward answering the question each institution asks. Mention the school specifically as well, if applicable. 

The Importance of the Personal Statement in Your Application

You’re going to have to write - all the time - while you’re in law school. Your personal statement gives law school admissions committees an idea of your writing style and how you would fare in a writing-intensive curriculum. Like we’ve mentioned, the law school  personal statement presents an opportunity for the program to get to know you better, and learn something about you that is not apparent from your transcript or resumé. It’s crucial that you highlight a story that is your own - not your parents’ or your friends’ - and one which helps admissions committees understand you beyond your LSAT score and your professional experience. 

If your GPA or your LSAT score aren’t up to par with the school’s median, a strong personal statement can combat the weaknesses in your application. Remember: your personal statement is not the place for you to explain why you have shortcomings in your application. Rather, if your topic and writing are stellar enough, admissions committees might overlook the lower numbers. 

There is no typical law student. Law schools don’t want their classes to be full of the same type of applicants. The personal statement helps law schools determine how diverse, in terms of race, gender, sexuality, class, and professional and extracurricular background an incoming class will be. So your personal statement is crucial in helping admissions committee members understand who you are, what you value personally and professionally, and where you come from. 

Picking Your Topic

It might feel like a lot of pressure to find the perfect topic. How do you know what will set you apart? Which part of your identity do you talk about? Or, should you talk about your extracurriculars instead? The perfect topic won’t come to you immediately. Look at the prompts for the schools that interest you, and then try asking yourself a few questions. This can get you a handful of ideas that might be worth expanding upon.

Some questions you could ask yourself are:

• How has your upbringing shaped you? Has your geographical or cultural background made an integral contribution to the way you think or the career path you’ve chosen?
• What is the most unique or unusual thing about your family?
• Do you have any hobbies that most people don’t? What have they taught you?
• What has been your proudest non-academic achievement?
• Where do you excel?
• What is your dream career?
• What kind of law do you wish to pursue?
• What current issues are you most passionate about?
• If you weren’t going to law school, what would you be doing?
• When did you first know you wanted to become a lawyer?
• How did your extracurriculars shape your decision to apply to law school?
• What kind of jobs have you worked? Which has been the most memorable or meaningful?
• Did a significant event impact your decision to become a lawyer?
• What has been the greatest challenge you’ve faced?

When brainstorming topics, take a trip down memory lane. Think about your childhood, your interests, your goals, and your background. Jot down events and parts of your life that stand out - topics don’t always have to be about your culture or background. Something that might feel minute like your coin collection or your backpacking trip during a gap year can spark some inspiration. Once you’ve picked a few topics that bring out your best storytelling and writing skills, go ahead and write a first draft. Remember to show not tell!

Mistakes to Avoid

Rewriting your resumé: We cannot emphasize this enough: do not repeat the information on your transcript and resumé. They exist as separate components for a reason. 

Writing about someone else: Never fall into the trap of writing about someone else. Sure, you could dedicate a sentence or two to someone who inspired you, but your own personal story should be at the core of the essay. 

Straying away from the prompt : The schools have a set of questions for a reason. If Duke asks you to talk about your career ambitions , don’t go off on a tangent about what you’ve done in the past. You have limited space. Don’t waste it.

Using pretentious language: Don’t sound like a robot ! It’s your personal statement, and you undoubtedly want your personality to shine through in your writing. Don’t use too many long words that may not fit with the rest of your essay, or might not reflect your usual writing style. Taking a dictionary and throwing every other long word you find won’t help show who you are - you’re not a poet or an SAT tutor, you’re trying to get into law school! Flowery language can make you sound ingenuine. 

Trying to finish too fast: Don’t rush through and then skip the time to revise. The last thing you want is to turn in your first draft! There’s always room for editing. Errors can be easily avoided through some careful proofreading. Of course, make sure your spelling and grammar are all correct. 

Exaggerating adversity: The applicant pool contains people who have experienced abuse, homelessness, natural disasters, and serious losses. If your adversity is not as grave in comparison to these powerful stories, don’t write about adversity. If you suffered from chicken pox, there’s no need to write lines and lines about the pain you experienced. Or if your friend was bullied in high school and you were simply a witness, you should not be writing about all the torment you suffered and how you grew from the experience!

Discussing academic inconsistencies: Your law school personal statement is NOT the place where you talk about why your junior spring grades fell drastically due to an emergency. Law schools usually have an addendum section for cases such as this. Don’t waste your page limit focusing on bad grades when you can be writing a glowing, positive essay instead!

Living in the past: You’re an adult now. There’s no way your biggest accomplishment to date is an award you won in high school. You’ve been through at least four years of college since, seen more places, met more people, and gained much greater knowledge and experiences. Your character has grown a lot, and law school admissions officers want to see that. Don’t write about your love for your high school debate club or how you led your high school Model UN team to multiple championships. 

Mixing up schools: Don’t send the wrong letter to the wrong school. Your Harvard Law essay cannot have the word “Yale” all over, or in fact anywhere. Make sure you’ve checked and double checked that you’re sending the essays to the right school, and maintained each of their word or page limits. 

Editing Your Personal Statement

Once you’ve got that first draft out of your system, it’s time to edit and polish your work. It wouldn’t hurt to take a couple days away from your essay, and then come back and review it again. Read it out loud. That way, you can spot errors or sentences that don’t flow as well as you might have thought they did the first time around. Have a parent, friend, or coworker read it. Another set of eyes and opinions is a great way to improve and catch silly errors. 

When checking for typos, don’t rely on spell checkers. They don’t always catch similar-sounding words, such as where vs. were. Make sure your sentences aren’t too long. Transitions between paragraphs should also be smooth. Remember, the quality of your writing will be evaluated alongside the content of your personal statement. Check back with the prompt to ensure that you’ve answered what they’ve asked, and not gone off on a completely separate tangent. The editing process is just as important as the writing, and taking the time to sit down and go through multiple drafts goes a long way toward helping your personal statement stand out.

Your law school personal statement is your chance to showcase your individuality and provide more information on how your upbringing, activities, and interests can not only contribute to an esteemed law school, but also make a difference in the world after you graduate. No matter what you decide to write about, use your personal statement as a chance to go beyond your grades and work experience. Let the admissions committee get to know what makes you tick, and help them realize why you would be a wonderful asset to their institution. 

Tags : applying to law school , law school personal statement , law school essay , law school essay prompts , jd essay prompts

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Application Toolkit: Written Statements

On this webpage, you will find our advice and guidance for approaching the two written statements in the application.

Beginning with the application for Fall Term 2024 enrollment, we now require that all applicants submit a Statement of Purpose and a Statement of Perspective. Although it is no longer an application component, much of the advice we shared about the personal statement may still be useful to applicants as they develop their Written Statements. We have preserved that information on this toolkit for your reference.

Changes to the J.D. Application Components

Instructions

Every applicant must submit both a Statement of Purpose and a Statement of Perspective, responding to the prompts below. Each Statement must be one to two pages in length, using double-spacing, one-inch margins, and a font size that is comfortable to read (no smaller than 11 point). We expect every applicant to use at least one full page for each Statement.

Statement of Purpose : What motivates you to pursue law? How does attending law school align with your ambitions, goals, and vision for your future?

Statement of Perspective : The Admissions Committee makes every effort to understand who you are as an individual and potential Harvard Law School student and graduate. Please share how your experiences, background, and/or interests have shaped you and will shape your engagement in the HLS community and the legal profession.

Blog Advice

• Visit the Admissions Blog
• View All Written Statements Blog Posts

Changes to the J.D. Program Application Components

August is here, and that means the J.D. Admissions Office is finalizing our application for the 2023–2024 cycle before it opens on September 15. One exciting change for this year: we have reworked our essay requirements and prompts.

August 4, 2023

Should you include a “why Harvard” statement in your application?

Each year at this time, we receive questions about how applicants should express interest in Harvard Law School. Include a “Why Harvard” essay? Talk about HLS in the personal statement? Maybe an addendum on this topic? The answer to all these questions is the same: no, that’s not necessary.  Let’s start with the separate “why

December 2, 2022

Overrated/Underrated Part 3

Continuing our Overrated/Underrated series, this week, we shift our focus to highlight some of the overrated approaches that we recommend applicants avoid as they craft their applications. 

November 17, 2021

Overrated/Underrated Part 1

The J.D. Admissions team recently came together to offer their thoughts on some underrated and overrated approaches that applicants might take towards their HLS application. We hope you’ll find some of these nuggets useful.

September 9, 2021

Real Talk: The Personal Statement

For our first entry in the Real Talk series, Associate Director Nefyn Meissner shares advice on approaching the personal statement.

August 6, 2020

Personal Statement Advice

The personal statement is “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.” But what does that mean to us?

November 6, 2018

Podcast Advice

Navigating law school admissions with miriam & kristi.

Miriam Ingber (Associate Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Yale Law School) and Kristi Jobson (Assistant Dean for Admissions at Harvard Law School) provide candid, accurate, and straightforward advice about law school admissions — direct from the source. They will be joined by guest stars from other law schools to discuss application timing, letters of recommendation, personal statements, and more.

• View All Episodes

Written Statements Workshop

Our Statement Workshop provides applicants with straightforward advice on how to craft essays with a reflective activity and guiding questions to consider.

We do understand mistakes happen. You are more than welcome to upload an updated document through your status checker. We will review the new material alongside what has been previously received.

Note that when you complete your application and hit “submit”, the information contained in your application may not be altered or deleted in any way by you as an applicant or by us as an admissions team.

Yes. Reapplicants will need to submit new written statements with their application.

We ask that transfer candidates also address the reason(s) for applying for transfer enrollment. Please visit our Transfer Applications Components for more information.

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JD Application Process

Step by step to sls.

If you are applying for admission to Stanford Law’s JD program for Fall 2024, mark these three important dates on your calendar:

September 15, 2023  — When the application becomes available.

December 1, 2023 — The date your application must be received and deemed complete (last eligible LSAT test administration is November 2023) by SLS if you are applying for the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program . We strongly suggest that applicants take the LSAT prior to the November test administration so that all application deadline requirements are met. If you opt to submit a GRE score in lieu of the LSAT, plan accordingly so that we receive your score from ETS by the stated deadline.

February 15, 2024, 11:59 PM PST — The deadline for submitting your application.

Explore these key steps in the application process — then get started.

Application Process at a Glance

The first step to admission to Stanford Law is a thoroughly completed application. It is your responsibility to make certain that all items arrive at the Office of Admissions. We will consider your application complete and proceed with an admissions review as soon as we receive all required documents. Unless stated otherwise, any updates to your application must be submitted via e-mail to the Office of Admissions at [email protected] .

• Application for Admission.  You must complete the entire application form and submit it electronically through LSAC.
• Application Fee. Your nonrefundable application fee of $85 must be submitted by credit card through LSAC. If you are unable to pay the fee, please review the 2024 SLS Application Fee Waiver Instructions , complete the Fall 2024 SLS Application Fee Waiver Form , and submit it to the Office of Admissions as soon as possible so that we may process your fee waiver request. You must submit your fee waiver request prior to submitting your SLS electronic application. Allow 5-7 business days for a decision and factor in this timing to ensure you adhere to the application deadline. Please note that our fee waiver criteria and process are distinct from that of LSAC.  
• Resume.  Stanford requires a one-to-two page resume describing your academic, extracurricular and professional activities. The resume must be submitted electronically with your electronic application. Please do not include a photo. If you have already submitted your resume and have included a photo, note that we have redacted that photo. No further action is required on your part and that original submission will not impact our review process.
• Personal Statement. Please describe what aspects of your life experiences, interests, and character would help you make a distinctive contribution to Stanford Law School. The personal statement must be submitted electronically with your electronic application. Your statement should be approximately two pages in length.
• Optional Essay . At Stanford Law School, we value the ability to communicate constructively across differences – even when the stakes are high or the differences significant. Please discuss a time when you encountered a viewpoint that contrasted with your own and explain how you responded. Would you do anything different if the same thing happened today? Your essay should be approximately one to two pages in length.
• Optional Short Essays. From a list of four essay questions, you may provide up to two responses of 100 to 250 words each.
• Two Letters of Recommendation.  Stanford requires that at least two and no more than four letters of recommendation be sent directly through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation Service . Letters sent directly to the Office of Admissions will not be accepted. Recommenders should be instructors who have personal knowledge of your academic work, preferably those who have known you in a seminar, small class, tutorial program or the like. If you have been out of school for a significant period you may substitute one letter from an employer or business associate. Sometimes these applicants find it difficult to obtain even one academic recommendation; in that case, you may submit two nonacademic letters. Please advise recommenders that should you choose to apply for a joint degree and/or other programs at Stanford University, the letters of recommendation may be forwarded to that program for review.
• Right of Access to Recommendations. Federal law provides a student, after enrollment, with a right of access to, among other things, letters of recommendation in the student’s file (if maintained). This right may be waived, but such a waiver may not be required as a condition for admission to, receipt of financial aid from, or receipt of any other services or benefits from Stanford Law School. Please indicate your choice by checking the appropriate box on the LSAC Letter of Recommendation form before giving them to your recommenders.
• Standardized Tests. All applicants are required to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) or the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test. If you have one or more valid LSAT scores, they must be reported as part of your application. If you also take the GRE, you may submit all valid GRE scores, but you may also choose to submit only LSAT scores. The only circumstance where you may apply without providing us with an LSAT score is if you have only taken the GRE. If you are admitted to the Law School with a GRE and, after admission, take the LSAT, the Admissions Committee will consider this new LSAT score and will re-evaluate our offer of admission. LSAT. If you choose to apply with the LSAT, you must take the LSAT no later than January 2024. This deadline is based on the time needed by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) to get your scores to us by our application deadline of February 15, 2024. LSAC will report scores directly to us. If you do not indicate the January 2024 test date on the application but plan to take that test at a later date, you should notify the Office of Admissions in order for the score to be considered. Scores received on tests taken prior to June 2018 will not be considered valid. Note that all applicants using the LSAT are required to submit at least one writing sample. This sample can either be taken at the time of the LSAT examination or at a later date. If taken at a later date, note that it may take several weeks for LSAC to process and report your writing sample so plan accordingly keeping our February deadline in mind. GRE . If you choose to apply with the GRE, you should take the exam no later than February 1, 2024. This deadline is based on the time needed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to get scores to us by our application deadline of February 15, 2024.  You must arrange with ETS to have all valid GRE scores sent directly to us. Log into your ETS account and select Stanford Law School as a recipient of GRE results using the school code 4993 . Scores received on tests taken prior to June 2018 will not be considered valid.
• Credential Assembly Service Report.  Transcripts from each college or university you have attended should be forwarded to LSAC, which will prepare and transmit a Law School Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report to Stanford Law School. To register for the CAS service, please visit LSAC . The report furnished to the school will include copies of all transcripts sent to LSAC. If you have received academic credit for coursework taken abroad while enrolled as a full-time student, and if grades for that period of study are not clearly indicated on your home transcript, you must send that foreign study transcript directly to LSAC or to Stanford Law School. All non-US/Canadian transcripts listed during registration for the Credential Assembly Service are forwarded to the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), where they will be authenticated and evaluated, except in cases where it is clearly marked on the home campus transcript. This service is included in the CAS registration fee. The data is assembled into a credential evaluation document that contains AACRAO’s summary, copies of the transcripts and translations (where applicable), and will be sent to the Office of Admissions. Any updated transcripts must be sent directly to LSAC. Please note that should you choose to apply for a joint degree and/or other programs at Stanford University, the CAS report may be forwarded to that program for review.

When the documents described above have all been received, your application is considered complete. However, until the application has been finally acted upon (and until the first day of attendance, if you are accepted and enroll), you are obligated to advise the school of any changes in the information previously furnished. In particular, you should promptly report to the school any additional grades received and any other facts that would have required a different answer to the questions asked in the application. Such changes may be reported informally by e-mail to the Office of Admissions; if official verification is required, you will be so advised. You must have received, or expect to receive by the Summer of 2024, a bachelor’s degree (or the equivalent) from an approved college. All offers of admission are conditional upon graduation.

Reapplication Procedure

If you wish to reapply for admission you must submit the following:

• New application
• Application fee
• Updated resume
• Updated personal statement
• New letter of recommendation to LSAC utilizing the Letter of Recommendation and Evaluation Service
• Updated transcripts showing conferral of degree
• New LSAT scores through LSAC if available

Please note that recommendations already on file need not be duplicated. Applications for the Fall of 2021, 2022, and 2023 have been retained.

Application Status Check

To keep you apprised of your application status, we provide an online status page. To view the status of your application, please click on the link below to access our password-protected online status page. Please note that bookmarking may make it difficult to access the page.

CHECK YOUR STATUS ONLINE

The Admissions Committee does not grant interviews as part of the admissions process. However, we encourage you to visit the school and arrange to meet with a member of the admissions staff.

Notification of Acceptance

Stanford Law uses a rolling admissions process, acting upon applications throughout the admissions season as they are completed. However, some applications are held until the committee has reviewed the entire applicant pool. This second review generally occurs in April, at which time the class will be filled. (A small number of applications will be held for possible use in filling vacancies that may occur during the summer.)

The Office of Admissions will make every effort to send applicants a first response (accept, deny or wait list) by April 30.

To secure a place in the entering class, applicants accepted for admission must pay a deposit.

If you are offered admission, Stanford reserves the right to withdraw that offer of admission (even after enrolled attendance) if: 1) you show a significant drop in academic performance or fail to graduate from your current program; 2) there has been a misrepresentation in or a violation of any of the terms of the Stanford Law School (SLS) application process; 3) we learn that you have engaged in behavior prior to the first day of enrolled SLS attendance that indicates a serious lack of judgment or integrity; or 4) you reserve a place in our entering class and make an enrollment commitment or make a deposit at another law school. Stanford further reserves the right to require you to provide additional information and/or authorization for the release of information about any such matter.

Acceptance Deferral Policy

Stanford Law School grants a limited number of requests for one-year deferrals. Any admitted applicant granted and accepting deferred admission is required (1) to submit a nonrefundable deposit that will be applied to tuition; and (2) to sign a statement that deferred status is not also held at another law school, that all prior applications to other law schools have been withdrawn, and that new applications will not be made to other law schools. Persons admitted from the wait list are ineligible for deferment.

Additional Matters

International Student Visas

In order to register as students, Stanford University requires all those who are not U.S. citizens or U.S. registered permanent residents to obtain and maintain an appropriate visa status for their stay in the United States. For more information, please visit the Bechtel International Center website .

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or Undocumented Applicants

Inclusion and nondiscrimination are core values held by the University and this extends to all members of our community regardless of citizenship or nationality. Therefore, SLS remains firmly committed to the principle that citizenship is not a condition for admission to any of our programs. Individuals who have been granted DACA status at the time of application are eligible to apply and matriculate at SLS. In addition, individuals who have met all other admission requirements and are otherwise undocumented are permitted to apply and matriculate at SLS.

Stanford has actively supported the DREAM Act legislation since its introduction in 2001, which would enable undocumented students to continue their education and apply for U.S. citizenship. Stanford also supports DACA, which has allowed some undocumented individuals who entered the United States as children to remain in the country without fear of deportation. Stanford is among the more than 600 colleges and universities that have signed a letter in support of DACA.

https://immigration.stanford.edu/

Nondiscrimination Policy

Stanford University admits qualified students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, or marital status to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the University. Consistent with its obligations under the law, in the administration of the University’s programs and activities, Stanford prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, marital status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law; Stanford also prohibits unlawful harassment including sexual harassment and sexual violence. This policy applies to Stanford programs and activities both on and off-campus, including overseas programs.

The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding this nondiscrimination policy: Stanford’s Director of the Diversity and Access Office, Krista Martinelli, Kingscote Gardens, 419 Lagunita Drive, Suite 130, Stanford, CA 94305-8550; (650) 723-0755 (voice), (650) 723-1791 (fax),  [email protected]  (email). Stanford’s Title IX Coordinator, Stephen Chen, has been designated to handle inquiries regarding sexual harassment and sexual violence: Kingscote Gardens (2nd floor), 419 Lagunita Drive, Stanford, CA 94305, (650) 497-4955 (voice), (650) 497-9257 (fax),  [email protected]  (email).  Individuals may also file complaints directly with the Office for Civil Rights, within the United States Department of Education, by following the information on this website:   https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintintro.html

Last revised September 13, 2023 .  For the most recent policy, please visit the  Diversity and Access Office .

Campus Security

Stanford University complies with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act. Stanford’s policies and statistics under this act are posted on the Department of Public Safety website at  https://police.stanford.edu/security-report.html . A paper copy can be obtained by calling the Stanford Department of Public Safety at (650) 723-9633 or by sending an email to [email protected].

How to Write a 'Why This Law School' Essay

Here's how to respond when a law school asks about your specific interest in them.

Writing a 'Why This Law School' Essay

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Law schools value applicants who show they have done their research about where they are applying, because the investment of time and energy shows genuine interest and because research is a core legal skill.

Strong law applicants tend to have carefully considered why they are applying to law school , and they understand that their application essays need to express their interest in a legal career.

However, many are stumped when law school applications ask them a narrower question: Why are you applying to this law school?

Most commonly, law schools may ask this question through a supplemental application essay , sometimes called a “Why X School” or “Why This School” essay.

For example, the University of Notre Dame Law School offers applicants an optional statement of no more than two double-spaced pages “to express a specific interest in Notre Dame Law School.” The School of Law at the University of California—Irvine has a mandatory essay of up to 750 words about why you are interested in their school.

Other schools may ask applicants to address this question within their personal statement with a short-answer prompt. It is also a common interview question.

By asking applicants about their specific interest in a school, admissions officers turn the table on applicants. After all, applicants take pains to distinguish themselves by showing that their grades and test scores don’t reveal other factors that set them apart. With a “Why This School” question, law schools say: We’re unique, too. Why are you choosing us?

Ironically, many applicants have given little thought to what separates one law school from another! As you can imagine, admissions offices are not thrilled about this. They certainly don’t see themselves as gatekeepers to a generic, interchangeable institution.  

Answering a “Why This School” essay can be frustrating. How do you articulate your interest without resorting to boilerplate flattery about a school’s prestigious faculty and beautiful campus?

Learn About a Law School Through an Event, Interview or Visit

Since many applicants apply to a wide range of law schools, they may not know much about each one.

One of the best ways to learn about a law school is at a law school forum or information session. Many schools host online events, which can be convenient for applicants unable to visit the law school in person.

Look for these things

If you have a chance to speak with an admissions officer, you can ask good questions to learn more about how the school sets itself apart from others.

You may also learn about a law school by talking to current or former students about their experience on campus. 

Research What a Law School Offers

Use search engines like Google News or LexisNexis to find any mentions of the school in the press. Did the law school recently open a new building or center, or announce a new policy that might affect your interest?

Most importantly, carefully review the law school’s website . Law school websites are one of the best ways to learn about a school: how it sees itself, what it offers and what’s going on. While law school websites might look unremarkable at first, close reading can reveal valuable details.

Compare multiple law school websites and notice the differences between them in style and content. Often, the words and images they use are meticulously crafted to present and promote a distinct identity. Without copying their phrasing word for word, reference these ideas in your essays to reflect an understanding of a school’s unique character while avoiding cliches and generalities. 

Find Areas of Overlap

Law schools differ in their size, geography , culture, curricula, special programs, campus activities and many other ways. These distinctions provide perspectives on how each law school stands out.

Based on your research, make a list of strengths for each of your target schools that are relevant to your interests as a candidate. For example, if your personal statement is about your dream of becoming a prosecutor, look for clinics, research centers, programs, professors or distinguished alumni in the criminal law field.

Focus on a Few Specific Points

When elaborating on the reason you are interested in a school, don’t try to “flood the zone.” Broad compliments may sound insincere.

In a “Why This School” essay or interview response, center your answer on a few concrete reasons.

Try to keep the reasons varied. For example, rather than mention three clinics you find interesting, think about other potential points of intersection, like a personal connection or a geographic interest.

Think realistically about your plans for law school and beyond . It would be more effective to thoughtfully explain why a professor’s research interests align with your own than to rattle off every relevant course in the catalog.

Ultimately, “why” questions are about connecting a law school to yourself. Answer with confidence by researching and identifying a few specific ways in which a school’s unique offerings match with what sets you apart.

Tips to Boost a Law School Application

Tags: law school , graduate schools , education , students

About Law Admissions Lowdown

Law Admissions Lowdown provides advice to prospective students about the law school application process, LSAT prep and potential career paths. Previously authored by contributors from Stratus Admissions Counseling, the blog is currently authored by Gabriel Kuris, founder of Top Law Coach , an admissions consultancy. Kuris is a graduate of Harvard Law School and has helped hundreds of applicants navigate the law school application process since 2003. Got a question? Email [email protected] .

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Application Components

A comprehensive and holistic review.

At Yale Law School, our goal is to enroll a talented, diverse, and engaged entering class each fall. Each application is comprehensively and holistically reviewed to ensure that we thoughtfully consider all of the information that you provide to us. No one factor is dispositive. Instead, the Admissions Committee carefully evaluates each component of every application, including your essays, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities and leadership, honors and awards, professional experiences, and background. We do not utilize a GPA or standardized test score cutoff of any kind in our review process.

Every year applicants from all backgrounds and with scores in all ranges are admitted to Yale Law School. The only guarantee you will not be admitted is if you do not apply, and we take seriously every application we receive.

The below application components were updated as of August 2023.

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Application Fee & Need-Based Fee Waivers

Applications must be accompanied by a non-refundable $85 application fee, which will not be credited to tuition in the event of admission. The application fee is waived automatically for those applicants who have received an LSAC fee waiver.

If you do not have an LSAC fee waiver and would like to request a need-based fee waiver of your Yale Law School application fee, please request a fee waiver using our online application . Need-based fee waivers are generously granted, and parental information is not requested as part of the fee waiver application. If your request is approved, you will be given a fee waiver code to enter during the submission process for your Yale Law School application.

Please note that neither the request for, nor the granting of, a need-based fee waiver has any bearing on admissions decisions. Yale Law School employs a need-blind admissions process and encourages applicants from all socio-economic backgrounds to apply.

Undergraduate Degrees & Academic Transcripts

You must receive, or expect to receive, by the summer of 2024 a bachelor's degree (or the equivalent) from an approved undergraduate institution in order to be eligible to apply. All offers of admission are contingent upon graduation.

You must submit to LSAC transcripts from each college or university you attended, including all schools you attended for graduate or professional study. Even if one school includes summary data regarding courses from another school on its transcript, an official transcript from each institution must be submitted. Yale Law School strongly encourages applicants to submit transcripts, through LSAC, reflecting all coursework completed through the time of application and further encourages applicants to submit updated transcripts as additional coursework is completed. We suggest that you allow at least six weeks for a transcript to be processed by LSAC. For detailed instructions, please visit the LSAC transcript webpage .

In light of the circumstances posed by COVID-19, Yale Law School recognizes that transcripts may reflect mandatory or optional pass/fail or credit/no credit grades. These grades will not be viewed negatively by the Admissions Office and the Law School will maintain a holistic review process for all applications.

Personal Statements

Applicants must submit a personal statement that helps us learn about the personal, professional, and/or academic qualities they would bring to the Law School community and the legal profession. Applicants often submit the personal statement they have prepared for other law school applications.

Personal statements should be approximately two double-spaced pages.

250-Word Essays

The Law School is a vibrant intellectual community where students are expected to engage academically with faculty and fellow students. In no more than 250 words, applicants must write about an idea or issue from their academic, extracurricular, or professional work that is of particular interest to them. The idea or issue you choose does not have to be law-related; this is an opportunity for readers to learn more about how you would engage intellectually in the Law School community.

Optional Essay

Applicants may choose to submit an essay in response to one of the four questions below, each related to a value that is central to the Law School community. This is an opportunity to provide readers with relevant information that may not be found elsewhere in your application. If you choose to answer one of these questions, your essay should focus on your relevant personal, professional, and/or academic experiences and not on specific reasons why you wish to attend Yale Law School.

The optional essay should be approximately one page double-spaced. The prompts for the optional essay are as follows:

• Option 1: The Law School has a strong tradition of public service and encourages its students to contribute to the community in a wide variety of ways. Describe a community that has been particularly meaningful to you. Discuss what you have gained from being a part of this community and what you have contributed to this community.  
• Option 2: The Law School encourages its students and alumni to be leaders, innovators, and changemakers across many different sectors. Describe one of your most important accomplishments and explain why it is important to you. Discuss how you demonstrated leadership, helped innovate, and/or drove change as part of that accomplishment.  
• Option 3: The Law School values determination and resilience and recognizes that these traits are critical to success at the Law School and in the legal profession. Describe a significant challenge, disappointment, or setback that you have faced. Discuss how you approached this experience and what you learned from it.  
• Option 4: In order to succeed at the Law School and in the legal profession, you must be able to have discussions across difference and be open to changing your mind. Describe a time when you changed your mind on an important topic after discussing it with a person with whom you disagreed or learning additional information. Discuss what you learned from this experience.

Applicants may submit addenda to their application if any are necessary for a full representation of their candidacy. These addenda may include, for example, explanations related to transcripts or test scores, including a history of under-performance on standardized tests. It is not necessary to include any addenda, and many applicants do not include any.

Letters of Recommendation

Yale Law School requires at least two letters of recommendation. We strongly prefer letters from at least two professors with whom you have studied who can speak to your academic performance and who have had a chance to personally evaluate significant aspects of your academic work. Letters from employers, college deans, coaches, chaplains, colleagues, and others may be helpful, but are not preferred. If possible, they should not replace letters from two faculty recommenders.

Applicants who have been out of school for some time or who are otherwise unable to obtain two faculty recommendations may substitute letters from employers or others who know them well. These letters should address the qualities that academic recommendations typically address, for example: the applicant's ability to write and think critically, as well as their overall suitability for the study and practice of law.

A tip sheet for your recommenders can be found  here .

All letters of recommendation must be transmitted through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation Service , which is included as part of your CAS subscription.

We will begin review of your application as soon as we have received two letters of recommendation. We will not hold your application in order to wait for additional letters. To ensure that all of your recommendations are available for consideration, please verify that they are on file with LSAC prior to applying to the Law School.

Activities Sections

Applicants are required to submit a statement of activities to help us understand what you did during your undergraduate education and after graduation (if applicable). 

The college activities section asks three questions: 1) what you did during those terms when you were not in school, including summers and any other terms off (e.g., employment, internships, or study abroad); 2) what you did during the terms while you were also taking classes (e.g., extracurricular activities, employment, or internships); and 3) a catch-all question where you may briefly describe any other activities that you consider relevant (e.g., a significant thesis or capstone project, or significant personal or familial responsibilities). While you may choose to do this in a variety of formats, we ask that you do so in a structured manner such as a list or chart.

If it has been more than three months since you attended college, you must also describe what you have been doing since graduation in any format you choose. You should include graduate or professional education, paid or unpaid employment, as well as any other activities that you consider relevant. You may respond in a narrative format if you have only one or two activities. If you have more than a few activities, we ask that you format your response in a structured manner such as a list or chart.

The activities in these sections should be listed in order of their relative importance to you. For each activity, you must provide a brief description, state the approximate start and end dates, estimate the weekly hourly commitment, and note whether the activity was paid or unpaid. Please note that we anticipate significant duplication between these sections and your résumé. These sections should be brief, and, in general, applicants should answer the college activities questions in no more than 1–2 pages and the post-college activities question in no more than one page. 

Standardized Tests

Yale Law School accepts results from the  Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test . Additionally, the Law School accepts results from the  LSAT-Flex and the GRE General Test at Home . We do not have a preference among these standardized tests. However, you may submit score(s) from one standardized test only. If you have a reportable LSAT score, you may not submit a GRE score for consideration.

If you choose to apply with the LSAT, you must take the LSAT no later than January 2024. LSAC automatically reports all LSAT scores from the past five years. The oldest LSAT score we will accept is June 2018. If you have taken the LSAT since June 2018, you do not have the option to not report your score(s) to the Law School—your score(s) will be included in the information that we receive in your CAS report from LSAC.

LSAC requires at least one LSAT writing sample, taken either at the time of the LSAT examination or via LSAT Writing , in order to generate your CAS report. Yale Law School requires only one LSAT writing sample. Applicants who take the LSAT more than once do not need to submit multiple writing samples. It may take up to three weeks for LSAC to process and report your LSAT Writing. Therefore, you should complete your LSAT Writing no later than January 25, 2024 to ensure we receive it by Yale Law School’s application deadline.

If you choose to apply using the GRE General Test, we must receive your GRE scores from the Educational Testing Service (ETS) by our application deadline, February 15, 2024. Because it may take up to 15 calendar days for ETS to transmit your scores once you complete the exam, you should take the GRE no later than February 1, 2024. Applicants who have taken the GRE can log into their ETS accounts and select Yale Law School as a recipient of GRE results using the school code 4542.

To maintain parity between our evaluation of LSAT and GRE results, applicants who apply using the GRE must submit all GRE scores from the past five years. When reporting your GRE scores to Yale Law School, please select the option to report your entire testing history. Selecting this option will report all of your GRE scores for the past five years. Additionally, please ensure that the GRE score report submitted with your application is generated on or after the date you submit your Yale Law School application. A failure to comply with these policies may prevent the review of your application or result in the withdrawal of an offer of admission.

Dean's Certification

Yale Law School does not require submission of a dean's certification form(s) as part of the initial application. In the event an offer of admission is extended to you and you choose to accept that offer, you will be required to submit a dean's certification form from each college or university degree program in which you are, or have been, enrolled, regardless of whether a degree was awarded. The dean's certification form and a complete set of instructions will be provided to admitted students.

All offers of admission are contingent upon the satisfactory completion of the dean's certification requirement. Discrepancies between an applicant's answers to the questions in the Character and Fitness section of the admission application and the information provided in dean's certification forms will be considered sufficient grounds for the revocation of an offer of admission.

Interview Program

Yale Law School will continue piloting an interview program it began in the 2022-2023 application cycle. A small number of applicants will be selected for interviews as part of the evaluation process. If you are selected for an interview, the Admissions Office will contact you with additional information. Your application will not be disadvantaged if you are not selected for an interview.

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Law School Personal Statement Prompts

Yale law school.

We also require a personal statement that highlights aspects of your background that you believe will be of interest to the Admissions Committee. We are particularly interested in aspects of your background that may not be evident from other parts of your application.

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL

Please submit a brief personal statement.

Limit your statement to two pages, typed, double-spaced, minimum 11-point font and 1-inch margins. 

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.

STANFORD LAW SCHOOL

Please attach a statement of about two pages describing important or unusual aspects of yourself not otherwise apparent in your application.

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LAW SCHOOL

Please use the personal statement to introduce yourself to the Admissions Committee and to help the Committee get to know you on a personal level. It should demonstrate your potential contribution to the Law School community beyond simply academics and should demonstrate your ability to communicate your thoughts effectively. The Admissions Committee generally finds that a statement that focuses on a unique personal attribute or experience is usually the most informative (as opposed to a restatement of your qualifications or résumé). 

While there is no page or word limit on the personal statement, please note that the Admissions Committee values an applicant’s ability to communicate thoughts in a clear and concise manner. The Admissions Committee typically finds that 2-4 pages is a sufficient length for most personal statements.

COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL

Candidates to Columbia Law School are required to submit a personal statement supplementing required application materials. We are curious about your interests, goals, and aspirations and how the J.D. program at Columbia can help you achieve these. You are encouraged to think about the contributions you hope to make to both the Columbia community and the legal profession while considering your personal, intellectual, and professional background and any relevant information that you may not have otherwise conveyed through your other application materials. Please note that the personal statement should be double-spaced and approximately two pages in length.

NYU LAW SCHOOL

While the Committee on Admissions does not use interviews as part of the regular selection process, we would like to give you the opportunity to include more information about yourself than the application form conveys. Because people and their interests vary, we leave the content and length of your statement to your discretion. You may wish to complete or clarify your responses to items on the application form, bring to our attention additional information you feel should be considered, describe important or unusual aspects of yourself not otherwise apparent in your application, or tell us what led you to apply to the NYU School of Law.

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA LAW SCHOOL

The Admissions Committee requires that every applicant submit an original example of written expression. The purpose of this personal statement is to provide you with as flexible an opportunity as possible to submit information that you deem important to your candidacy. You may wish to describe aspects of your background and interests—intellectual, personal and/or professional—and how you will uniquely contribute to the Penn Law community and/or the legal profession. Please try to limit your statement to two pages, double-spaced, as a suggested length. In addition, mark as “Personal Statement” and include your name and LSAC account number on each page.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL 

The University of Michigan Law School has long understood that enrolling students with a broad range of perspectives and experiences generates a vibrant culture of comprehensive debate and discussion. Essay submissions are an extremely helpful tool for evaluating potential contributions to our community. To that end, we require a personal statement, and also invite applicants to submit one or two supplemental essays from among the eight topics described in the application. For a fuller discussion of the form and content of essay submissions, please see the supplemental essay attachment section of the application.

As you prepare to write your personal statement, please keep the following in mind. First, we do not have a fixed checklist of particular attributes we seek in our students, and you will have the best insights into what is most important for us to know about you. Second, there is no set convention for communicating the information you choose to share. A successful essay might involve writing directly about expansive themes such as your goals or philosophy or background or identity, or very differently, might be a vignette that reveals something significant about you. In other words, think broadly about what you might wish to convey and how you might best convey it.

While the form and content of your personal statement are up to you, for ease of reading, please use double-spacing and at least an 11-point font.

There is no formula for a successful personal statement, and different individuals will find different topics to be well-suited to them. Applicants have, for example, elaborated on their significant life experiences; meaningful intellectual interests and extracurricular activities; factors inspiring them to obtain a legal education or to pursue particular career goals; significant obstacles met and overcome; special talents or skills; issues of sexual or gender identity; particular political, philosophical, or religious beliefs; socioeconomic challenges; atypical backgrounds, educational paths, employment histories, or prior careers; or experiences and perspectives relating to disadvantage, disability, or discrimination. Any of these subjects, and many more, could be an appropriate basis for communicating important information about yourself that will aid us in reaching a thoughtful decision. The length of your personal statement is up to you.

BERKELEY LAW SCHOOL

Please provide more information about yourself in a written personal statement. The subject matter of the essay is up to you, but keep in mind that the reader will be seeking a sense of you as a person and as a potential student and graduate of Berkeley Law.

Berkeley Law seeks to enroll a class with varied backgrounds and interests. If you wish, you may discuss how your interests, background, life experiences, and perspectives would contribute to the diversity of the entering class. If applicable, you may also describe any disadvantages that may have adversely affected your past performance or that you have successfully overcome, including linguistic barriers or a personal or family history of cultural, educational, or socioeconomic disadvantage.

Your personal statement should be limited to four double-spaced pages. The thoughts and words contained therein must be your own and no one else should assist in its creation beyond basic proofreading and critiquing. Please include your name and LSAC account number on each page of the statement.

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LAW SCHOOL

Your personal statement should provide information, in your own words, you believe relevant to the admissions decision not elicited elsewhere in the application. The statement is your opportunity to tell us about yourself; it may address your intellectual interests, significant accomplishments or obstacles overcome, personal or professional goals, educational achievements, or any way in which your perspective or experiences will add to the richness of the educational environment at UVA Law.

DUKE LAW SCHOOL

You will be required to submit a personal statement as an attachment. The statement is your opportunity to introduce yourself to the admissions committee and should include (1) what you think have been your significant personal experiences beyond what may be reflected in your academic transcripts and on your résumé, and (2) your personal and career ambitions. If your personal statement does not directly address your interest in attending law school and practicing law, we strongly encourage you to [also] write Optional Essay 1 [which covers this topic]. There is no required length or page limit.

NORTHWESTERN LAW SCHOOL

Include a typed personal statement (recommended length: one to three pages, double-spaced). Please look upon this essay as an opportunity to introduce yourself to members of the Admissions Committee. In doing so, keep in mind that the committee evaluates applicants in many areas beyond test scores. We encourage you to discuss personal and professional goals that are important to you and to include information about your achievements. Feel free to comment further about your education, background, community involvement, and strengths and weaknesses in certain courses or activities. Please type your name and LSAC account number on the top of each page. The statement should be electronically attached.

CORNELL LAW SCHOOL

The personal statement is your opportunity to discuss anything that you believe will be relevant to your admission to Cornell Law School.

The personal statement is your opportunity to highlight anything about you that may help our Admissions Committee reach a decision. The topic and length are up to you, but the goal is for us to learn aspects of your background that may not be revealed in other elements of your application.

GEORGETOWN LAW SCHOOL

You may write your personal statement on any subject of importance that you feel will assist us in our decision. (Please double-space.)

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• The Application Process and Admissions Decision

Among many criteria, the admission decision will be primarily based on your written application and supporting documents, which include your:

• undergraduate cumulative grade point average, " GPA ,"
• Law School Admission Test, the " LSAT " score,
• application and undergraduate transcripts (Applications  for all ABA-approved law schools are submitted through the Law School Admissions Council's Credential Assembly Service )
• personal statement ,
• letters of recommendation ,
• and in some cases a Dean's letter .

You will also need to understand rolling admissions and acceptance procedures.

The GPA considered by the law school is the cumulative grade point average of every course the applicant has taken at the college level to the date of consideration.  It includes all courses taken for credit at all colleges and universities attended.  Thus, the ideal time for a student to begin "working on getting a good GPA" is the first day of classes at the first college attended.  While the maximum GPA of 4.0 ("straight A's") cannot be a realistic expectation for more than a few highly gifted and highly motivated students, it should be the goal of every pre-law student at the time he or she begins college work, and every effort should be made to come as close as possible to that goal.  Since law school is a rigorous academic program, admissions officials want proof (i.e., a high GPA, particularly in your last two years) that you can succeed in college while taking challenging courses.  A GPA below 3.0 will harm your chances of gaining admission to law school and may need to be explained.  (See personal statement discussion below)  back to top

The LSAT is a standardized examination designed to measure skills that are important to the study of law---reading, reasoning, analyzing, and writing.  The exam is administered by the  Law School Admissions Council . The test’s results, when combined with GPA, are the best predictor of performance in the first year of law school, and it is required for admission by every ABA-accredited law school in the country.  You can obtain information about the  LSAT and other  LSAC services online. The test is now fully digital and is administered  multiple times each year . You should NOT take the exam on a lark, just to see how you might perform.  Even though you can retake the exam numerous times, law schools may average your test scores rather than taking the highest score.  It is generally advisable to take the LSAT by October of the year in which you are applying.  This provides sufficient time to re-take the test if necessary and to change your choice of schools should you test significantly higher or lower (+ or - 4 points) than expected. The LSAT is NOT a test for which an applicant can cram the night before.  Developing and strengthening the skills tested by the LSAT (critical reading, analytical, logical reasoning, and writing skills) are the goals of your entire college career.  In addition, you should prepare yourself to take this particular exam.  Consequently, it is very important that you thoroughly familiarize yourself with the LSAT by studying the types of questions it asks, learning strategies for answering these questions efficiently, and taking past LSAT sample exams under test conditions.  If you prepare for the LSAT on your own, study materials are available from various commercial companies.  Additionally, the LSAC has partnered with the  Khan Academy to provide  free LSAT prep materials . If you believe you need more than self-imposed structure while preparing for the LSAT, consider taking one of the review courses available (e.g., Princeton Review, Kaplan, Test Masters) that require you to take practice exams under test conditions, provide analysis of your strengths and weaknesses on the various types of LSAT questions, and provide tips on how to improve your performance.  These courses are quite expensive (up to $1500, though some financial aid is available).  However, if you typically experience difficulty and score low on aptitude tests, such as the SAT, you should consider investing in such a course.  As with a GPA below 3.0, a score on the LSAT at or below the 25th percentile for students admitted to the schools of your choice will seriously decrease your chances for admission there.  The SCU Pre-Law Advising Program does not recommend any particular way of preparing for the LSAT, not does it endorse any commercial review course. When registering for the LSAT, please permit your scores to be released to Santa Clara's Director of Pre-Law Advising.  This will assist us in tracking and analyzing LSAT scores of SCU students and giving better advice to future SCU students.  The Director is required to keep your individual score(s) confidential.   Register for the LSAT sufficiently early so that you can secure a place at the most convenient testing location.  You also should determine whether each law school in which you are interested will accept scores from the February LSAT administration, which is the last test date in each administration cycle.  The quickest and easiest way to register for both the LSAT and the Credential Assembly Service (CAS, a service required by most American Bar Association-approved schools) is online at www.lsac.org . For information on fee waivers, for test sites outside of the US and associated fees, and for more detailed information about the LSAT, consult the LSAC website. back to top

The Application Process

You should apply electronically (for all ABA accredited law schools) directly through the  LSAC's Credential Assembly Service . Consult  LSAC website for the checklist for the law school admission process. The instructions that accompany the application should be followed exactly, and all responses should be accurate and entered without error. back to top

The Personal Statement

Virtually every law school now requires a personal statement from the applicant.  Be sure to adhere carefully to the requirements or recommendations contained in the application instructions regarding length, prompt, format, etc.  unless otherwise specified, the typical statement should be about two typewritten pages, double-spaced.  It should reflect the very best grammatical and communicative effort of the applicant because it will be judged both as to form and substance (remember you are applying to professional school).  Being simple, direct, and clear will impress admissions officials.  Using unusual words and legal terms will not (e.g., avoid "said person told me...").  Consider the personal statement as your personal interview (on paper) with the admissions committee.  This is no time to hide who you are, what truly matters to you, or to be shy or modest. You may write about an accomplishment, experience, cause, or belief that is important to you as an individual.  Present yourself in a good light, but also be honest and candid. back to top

Letters of Recommendation

Applications will indicate how many letters of recommendation are required.  Follow them precisely.  Although the LSAT and GPA form the foundation of the admission evaluation process, your personal statement and letters of recommendation can provide the admission committee with a different perspective from which to view them. Letters should comment on the applicant's academic abilities and be specific in their comments about the individual.  Therefore, they should come from professors who have had significant personal contact with the student applying. You should seek out professors from your major field and those in whose classes you have done your best academic work.   General character references, even from prominent judges, attorneys, or politicians, will NOT help your chances and may in fact hurt them because the admissions committee has learned too little about you.  Take care in selecting your recommenders, try to be certain that they will write strong letters that discuss you as an individual.  You should feel free to supply them with additional information which you may be uncomfortable supplying in your personal statement.  For example, a letter-writer could include a notation that, although your overall GPA is a 3.2, your GPA in your major is 3.5 and, excluding freshman year when you were struggling, is 3.6, or could note that your LSAT score does not reflect your overall analytic ability as manifested in the classes you took from the person recommending you. back to top

Dean's Letter

Some schools, mostly on the East Coast, require a recommendation from the Dean of your school.  Typically, this information includes class rank and academic standing. If you have been subjected to any disciplinary actions even in your first quarter at SCU, this will appear on the Dean's Letter and may harm your chances for law school admission. Contact the Office of Student Life to obtain the Dean's Letter. back to top

Admission and Acceptance

Most law schools operate on a "rolling admissions" basis, in which applicants are evaluated and accepted continuously over several months, beginning in fall (often October 1) and extending to midsummer for waiting-list admissions (admission off a waiting list is typically an iffy prospect).  It is clearly advisable for you to apply at the earliest possible date, generally by about the middle of November.  The earlier you apply, the more places will be available.  Although schools will try to make comparable decisions throughout the admission season, it is disadvantageous to be one of the last applicants to complete a file–and your application will not be reviewed at all until it is complete according to the school's criteria.  Additionally, the more decisions you receive from law schools early in the process, the better able you will be to make your own decisions, such as whether to apply to more law schools or to accept a school's offer. Applicants whose qualifications exceed the school's admission standards are usually accepted during the first round of decisions.  With some exceptions, candidates whose credentials fall below the school's standards are usually rejected.  Most applications are not decided upon immediately upon review.  If you have strong qualifications, but they do not quite equal those currently being admitted at a particular law school, you may be placed on a waiting list for possible admission at a later date.  The law school will notify you of its decision as early as April or as late as August.  If you are on a waiting list and can honestly say that you will enroll if accepted, inform the admissions office of this (but don't make a pest of yourself by calling frequently to inquire about your chances).  Many law schools use seat deposits to help keep track of their new classes. For example, a school may require a deposit fee of $200 to $500 (some require two fees, one by April 1 and the second by June 1), credited to your first-term tuition if you actually register at the school; if you choose not to attend, the deposit may be forfeited or returned only partially.  However, submitting multiple deposits can be risky. Law schools participating in LSAC's commitment overlap reporting service submit to LSAC information on applicants who have made verbal, written, and/or monetary agreements to attend their schools. Therefore, ask each law school about its policy on multiple deposits; some will not penalize applicants for placing multiple deposits, and others threaten to revoke offers of admission for doing so. back to top

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

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3 Superb Santa Clara University Essay Examples

What’s covered:, essay example 1 – ethical dilemma (food waste).

• Essay Example 2 – Ethical Dilemma (Healthcare in Latin America)
• Essay Example 3 – Why Santa Clara?
• Where to Get Feedback on Your Essay

Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in California. The acceptance rate is around 50%, so it’s important to write strong essays to help your application stand out. In this post, we’ll go over some essays real students have submitted to Santa Clara University and outline their strengths and areas for improvement. (Names and identifying information have been changed, but all other details are preserved).

Alexandra Johnson , an expert advisor on CollegeVine, provided commentary on this post. Advisors offer one-on-one guidance on everything from essays to test prep to financial aid. If you want help writing your essays or feedback on drafts, book a consultation with Alexandra Johnson or another skilled advisor. 

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Read our SCU essay breakdown for a comprehensive overview of how to write this year’s supplemental essays.

Prompt: At SCU, we push our students to be creative, be challenged, and be the solution. Think about an ethical dilemma that you care about that our society is currently facing. This can be something happening in your local community or more globally. How can an SCU education help you prepare for and address this challenge? (150-300 words) 

When I am not studying or filling out college applications, you can find me in the kitchen trying a new recipe and experimenting with ingredients. Spending so much time cooking made me aware of the massive amount of food waste that I produce. So I changed my behavior; I now plan ahead the recipes I make to ensure that all ingredients will be used, only buy what I need for the week, and freeze leftovers for future use. Making these changes wasn’t easy. It makes me wonder how much harder it must be for larger institutions to scale up these solutions.

In my research of Santa Clara University, I came across the Food Recovery Network at SCU that aims to fight the same concerns I experience while in the kitchen. This community of dedicated students proves that there are possible ways to reduce food waste on large scales. I can contribute to help address this familiar challenge by involving myself with this network and the courses SCU offers in sustainable food systems. Additionally, SCU leads by example; their efforts in attaining food sustainability are inspiring to me as a potential student. They purchase locally grown produce and follow the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program for their dining services. Broadening its impact, SCU has made it a goal to become a zero-waste campus aligning with my values of sustainability to aid our environment. A university that shows this much care to attaining sustainable food options and reducing food waste is the perfect place for me to help be the solution.

What the Essay Did Well

This writer did a great job choosing an ethical dilemma to write about that they care about and that uniquely connects to Santa Clara University, which is exactly how you want to respond to a global issues prompt . Based on the anecdote about cooking at the beginning of the essay, it’s clear that food waste is an important ethical issue in the writer’s personal life. They describe working to change their behavior to address the issue after discovering that it was a problem through something they love, cooking! It was smart of the writer to use this as an opportunity to share a hobby that they may not have had the opportunity to include elsewhere on their application. 

The essay is also clearly written and does a great job of providing details about why the writer wants to go to Santa Clara University. The second half of the essay answers the part of the prompt that asks: “How can an SCU education help you prepare for and address this challenge?” This half is written like a “Why This College?” essay, but narrowly focused on the college’s connection to the ethical dilemma discussed in the essay.

In a “Why This College?” essay, it’s important to use specific details. That’s exactly what the writer does here when they mention the Food Recovery Network and SCU’s adherence to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program. Mentioning these programs shows that the student has done their research on Santa Clara University, which goes a long way in showing that they want to be a student there!

Finally, the ethical dilemma that the writer chose is great. This essay shows that an interesting and unique topic doesn’t have to be so specific that the reader has never heard of it; rather, it’s something specific that the reader has a personal connection to and could connect to their interest in attending Santa Clara. 

What Could Be Improved 

One part of this essay that the writer could improve is the ending. They share an ethical issue they care about, why they care about that issue, and what the school is doing to address the issue. Then they end with, “A university that shows this much care to attaining sustainable food options and reducing food waste is the perfect place for me to help be the solution.” This response answers the prompt; however, the writer could have strengthened the ending by connecting SCU’s work back to the writer’s own future and goals. 

An alternate conclusion sentence could mention how the writer plans to use the knowledge that SCU would give them to address food waste. This would allow the writer to remain the focus of the essay, rather than the focus at the end being on SCU’s programs to tackle food waste. Because while this is an essay about the student’s views and ethics, it’s also a chance for the student to share more about themself with the admissions officers. 

Finally, the writer is currently under the word count. While it is okay to be under the word count, the writer could use this space to improve their conclusion. They could mention any ideas that they have for how SCU could better address the problem of food waste. Currently, what the school does well is included, which is great. However, if the writer chose to share their own ideas at the end, then it would help the reader better imagine a few ways that the writer will be a positive addition to the Santa Clara community. 

Prompt 2 – Ethical Dilemma (Healthcare in Latin America)

“Coca-cola da más vida”, but does it really? In towns like San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico coca-cola can be found easier, at relative cost, and safer to drink than water leading to high levels of consumption. As imagined, such consumption has caused devastating health effects throughout Chiapas. In these under-resourced communities, the diabetes crisis has become a leading cause of death and its treatment has brought upon ethical dilemmas. Clinicians in these areas are forced to make life-saving or fatal decisions with minimal resources or support. With having family members in Mexico, the thought of losing them due to simple issues like dosage amounts is truly heartbreaking. Santa Clara’s fast-paced quarter system will allow me to pursue a major in bioengineering, biomolecular track, and a minor in Spanish and public health. Classes like Evidence-Based Public Health, Engineering World Health, and Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Design I & II, will provide me with a strong foundation for truly understanding the issues behind our world’s leading health problems and effectively advocating and helping to engineer new medicines in the US and Latin America. Also, the university’s strong focus on global engagement will allow me to go on cultural immersions to widen my perspective and engage in international internships to deepen my understanding of healthcare and medical research around the globe. Besides the amount of opportunity available for me overseas, the Santa Clara campus is oozing with its own. I can become involved with on-campus bioengineering research on topics such as protein engineering or utilize Handshake and the Career Center to apply for internships in Silicon Valley. No matter where my experiences at Santa Clara take me, I will apply the knowledge I received to create a world where we are one step closer to eliminating the medical disparities between us.

This “global issues” essay starts off with a strong hook, which immediately draws us in to the student’s topic. The level of detail, such as the specific entry point of San Cristóbal de las Casas and its unique problems, are both effective ways to make this essay shine out of a sea of other responses, right from the very beginning. Additionally, the author’s distinctive approach to answering the question helps present them as a passionate and sophisticated storyteller with deep knowledge and care for this issue.

The student also does a great job of citing highly specific details throughout their response. For example, naming specific classes that will set this applicant up for success is a great touch that shows this student did their homework on what at Santa Clara would aid them in their journey of solving this issue. They also show an understanding of Santa Clara’s bigger picture values, such as global engagement, which demonstrates that the author can think on both a large and small scale.

While this student does a great job of considering everything from particular classes to studying abroad, they also don’t limit themselves to imagining their life on campus. They also think beyond their college career, when they talk about utilizing Santa Clara’s alumni network and connections to position themselves well for internships and postgrad life. Colleges like to know that you have future plans, and will one day be an alum that they can be proud of. This student shows them that they’re prepared to take full advantage of their Santa Clara education not only on campus, but throughout their life.

The flow of this essay could be improved with the help of an editor or peer reviewer. Some of the sentences are awkward, and there are some grammar errors present. For example, “…will allow me to pursue a major in bioengineering, biomolecular track, and a minor in Spanish and public health” should read “…and minors in Spanish and public health.”

Additionally, in the line “Classes like Evidence-Based Public Health, Engineering World Health, and Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Design I & II, will provide me with a strong foundation for truly understanding the issues behind our world’s leading health problems and effectively advocating and helping to engineer…” there should be a “for” after “advocating.”

While these flaws don’t ruin the essay whatsoever, polishing it up would present the student in an even better light, as a student who is not only talented, but also detail-oriented. Finally, also on a structural level, this essay would look cleaner on the page if it were split into at least three paragraphs. Having just one big block of text is a little hard on the eyes, and using multiple paragraphs also makes the presentation of your ideas more organized, as it clearly shows your reader where one point ends and the next one starts.

For example, they could have one paragraph focused on introducing the issue, one on the academic resources at Santa Clara, and one on the university’s value of global engagement. That structure would allow the reader to focus on each point, one at a time, rather than getting all the information dumped on them at once.

Prompt 3 – Why Santa Clara?

When I started my college search, I could only envision myself at a big college 2 hours away from home. Santa Clara University was the school that changed it all. The moment my eyes landed on the site, everything clicked. From the small class sizes that would allow me to engage and form connections with my classmates and professors to the large state of California that is filled with opportunity; it all seemed to attract me. Though it’s a school small in size, the spirit and clubs are large in number. From clubs like Bread Lovers Club to Biomedical Engineering Society, the variety and diversity entices me. There are clubs like Together for Ladies of Color, where I will be an indispensable member who empowers the women around me. Furthermore, weekly Sunday mass will help me strengthen my connection with God and develop a good headspace for the new week so I can work hard and thrive in my classes and outside commitments. Overall, I will be a Bronco that works hard not only for herself but to better the community around her. I am devoted to becoming a Bronco alumnus working to change the world ad majorem dei gloriam.

This prompt is an example of the “Why This College?” prompt, which is best answered by doing some research and providing specific reasons for why the school you’ve chosen is the school for you. This applicant does an excellent job of answering that question, by talking about both academic considerations, like class sizes, and clubs and extracurricular activities, like Bread Lovers Club or attending Mass.

Through the examples provided, we get to know the author a bit more, which is another strength of this essay. Rather than only talking about aspects of Santa Clara that would appeal to anyone, this writer shows her unique interests through her selection of more personal aspects of the school. From this essay, we learn that the student is a woman of color who also attends church, loves bread, and is passionate about improving herself and her community. This means that the admissions committee isn’t just learning about what she loves about their school; they’re also learning what Santa Clara might gain by admitting her.

One thing that would strengthen this essay is being as specific about the academic draw of Santa Clara as the non-academic side, as that would give us an even clearer sense of the student’s personality. The prime location and small class sizes are attractive aspects of Santa Clara, but they don’t give us much information about the applicant. Almost anyone would be excited about these benefits, so they’re too general for this kind of essay.

In the same vein, these facts are self-evident, in the case of the location, or something that can be found at many other colleges, in the case of the small class sizes. This kind of prompt exists so that you can show off your research skills and deep knowledge of that school. Admissions teams read countless essays that talk about the most common compelling attributes of their school, so instead try to choose elements that will make you stand out as an applicant who is both unique and engaged.

Additionally, this essay could benefit from an anecdote to anchor it. While the image of stepping on campus is powerful, it’s one shared by many applicants who have had the opportunity to tour. Even a sentence or two describing a more personal moment that connects the student to Santa Clara would help illustrate that her future plans are rooted in her current life or values.

For example, after the line “From clubs like Bread Lovers Club to Biomedical Engineering Society, the variety and diversity entices me,” she could say something like “During the pandemic, I went a little overboard with the breadmaking trend, so I designed my own bird feeder so I didn’t have to throw out the bits my family couldn’t finish. Santa Clara is just the place for me to continue making these kinds of quirky connections between my interests.”

This addition would put the writer over the word count, so she would have to make cuts elsewhere in the essay. That’s okay, though, as it’s better to include fewer details about the school, but take the time to explain your personal connection to them, then to just pack in as much as possible.

If you don’t have an anecdote that fits with the aspects of Santa Clara that appeal to you, consider imagining what your future on campus would look like and describing that. Solid images or ideas (for example, imagining some of the hymns you might sing in Mass), versus stated commitments, help admissions teams better picture you on campus, and create a more dynamic essay structure, even within the limited space allowed for these short supplements.

Finally, like in the previous essay, the student’s writing would flow more smoothly with a paragraph break or two. For example, starting a new paragraph with “Though it’s a school small in size” would make sense, as here, the writer is pivoting from talking about her initial draw to Santa Clara, to more specific features of the school that are intriguing to her.

Where to Get Feedback on Your Essay 

Do you want feedback on your Columbia University essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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UC Essay Prompts 2023-24 – Personal Insight Questions

July 26, 2023

The 2022-23 admissions cycle saw the nine undergraduate University of California campuses collectively attract an all-time record of 245,000+ applications; this represented a double-digit increase from three years prior. Logic would suggest that institutions receiving as many as 174,000 applications (UCLA) would not employ a particularly holistic admissions process. Certainly, not one that would give any weight to a supplemental essay, much less to four essays. In general, large institutions do indeed rarely devote much time to carefully considering application essays. Yet, true to brand, the UC schools defy convention. And thanks to some recent global changes enacted across the whole UC system, the UC essay prompts (UC Personal Insight Questions) have become an even more essential application component to anyone who hopes to study at any of the following UC campuses:

• Santa Barbara

(Want to learn more about How to Get Into the University of California campus of your dreams? Visit our blogs entitled: How to Get Into UC Berkeley: Admissions Data and Strategies and How to Get Into UCLA for all of the most recent admissions data as well as tips for gaining acceptance.)

Standardized Testing Changes at the University of California

In May 2020, as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the U.S. educational system (not to mention the rest of the country/world), the UC Board of Regents voted to make all of their universities test-optional for students applying to enroll in fall 2021 and fall 2022. By itself, such an announcement was hardly notable. After all, hundreds of other high-profile colleges made similar temporary policy changes due to the impact of COVID-19. It was the changes for fall 2022 applicants (and beyond) that shocked the higher education universe…

To everyone’s astonishment, this gargantuan system that garners over a quarter of a million applicants per year decided to go “test-blind,” moving forward. This means that, for in-state applicants, none of the nine schools listed above will even look at an applicant’s SAT or ACT score anymore. So, what’s the takeaway here for you, a future UC applicant? Simple: the essays matter more than ever before. Your writing will be your main opportunity to differentiate yourself from swarms of other well-qualified applicants.

Given this new reality, let’s turn our attention to the focal point of the article—the UC essays themselves. For each, we will offer thoughts/tips to guide you with prompt selection and execution of a stellar composition.

A Guide to the UC Personal Insight Questions

*Note: Your response to each prompt is limited to 350 words.

UC Essay Prompt # 1

Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.

Leadership is an admirable quality, but it can manifest in many different forms. This essay is not only for those who captained a varsity team to a state title or founded a charitable organization or served as student body president. Teamwork and collaboration are also valued leadership skills both in academia and in the workplace, and students with strong interpersonal skills and a high EQ can be an asset to any university. Think beyond the title that you may have held and more about the action(s) of which you are most proud. Note that the university invites you to share a story that involves your family. In other words, it doesn’t just have to be school or extracurriculars.

To sum up, this essay is about leadership, broadly defined. You can chronicle anything from mentoring others on your debate team to a simple instance of conflict resolution within your peer group. This is often a prompt that appeals more to extroverts, but that does not preclude a story of quiet leadership from being a winning choice here.

UC Essay Prompt #2

Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

Whether you are a prospective studio art, mechanical engineering, mathematics, or psychology major, creativity and the art of problem-solving will likely be at the heart of what you do. Even if few would refer to you as a “creative type,” this prompt can still serve as a nice platform from which to reveal more about what makes you tick and the unique ways in which your synapses fire.

There are two ways to go with this prompt. First, you could: Tie your creativity directly to your future major and/or career. Secondly, you could: paint a picture of your personal brand of creativity that reveals who you are as an individual. Either way, this prompt can inspire some highly-impactful, needle-moving responses from applicants.

UC Personal Insight Questions Prompt #3

What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

If you are a world-class athlete, you are likely already in the recruitment process. If you placed high in AIME or won a National Merit Scholarship, that is already stated in the awards section. Therefore, using the prized 350 words of real estate to merely rehash the fact that you won an award would not be an inspiring move.

If you read the question closely, UC wants to know how you got good at whatever it is that you excel at doing. A few years back, Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that becoming a master or expert at anything takes 10,000 hours of practice. Consider talking about the grind and sacrifice it took you to become great at a given skill and how you see that skill becoming even more finely tuned/developed over time. If this skill fits into your future academic/career plans, all the better—share that too!

Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

This is a prompt that acknowledges the fact that some students are born with more advantages than others. Some teens attend schools with very limited advanced course offerings; others attend high schools with 25+ AP courses. Whether you come from a privileged or an economically-disadvantaged home, this prompt can be a solid choice for you.

First off, it’s important to acknowledge that an “educational opportunity” doesn’t have to be your regular high school curriculum; it can be a summer program, debate club, shadowing opportunity with a physician, or a language immersion program in Peru.

On the overcoming an educational barrier front, this could be an issue of resources/economics or the barrier could be in the form of a learning disability, mental or physical health challenge, or just merely stretching yourself to take an AP Physics course when that area was not your strong suit.

Colleges like students who demonstrate grit, perseverance, and resilience as these qualities typically lead to success in a postsecondary environment. No matter what type of example you offer, demonstrating these admirable traits can do wonders for your admissions prospects.

UC Personal Insight Questions Prompt #5   

Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

This is a more generalized version of PI Question #4. Challenges can be anything mentioned in the previous section (disabilities, depression, etc.). They could also be events like: you moved in the middle of junior year or the COVID-19 pandemic interfered with your activities. Or perhaps your parents got divorced, a grandparent passed away, or any number of other personal/family traumas one can name. If a challenge you faced and overcame is a core part of your personal story, then this is a great choice. Just be sure to include the positive steps you have taken in response to the challenge!

UC Essay Prompt #6

Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

Students who are “Undecided” may shy away from this prompt. Contrarily, those who are laser-focused on a given academic area often find this to be an ideal selection. Whether it’s a general love for math/science or literature or a specific interest in aerospace engineering or 19th-century Russian novels, use this opportunity to share what makes you tick, the ideas that keep you up at night, and what subject inspires you to dream big.

Explain how your love of this subject may tie into your area of study or even a future career path. Feel free to include details about how the UC schools of your dreams can help you further this interest. You can name specific courses, professors, internship/research opportunities, clubs, or other campus resources that you have researched.

UC Personal Insight Questions Prompt #7

What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

How you interact with your present surroundings is the strongest indicator of what kind of future community member you’ll be. This PI prompt asks you to define your role within a community—your high school, your neighborhood, your family, or even a club or sports team. Some words of warning with this one: don’t get too grandiose in explaining the positive change that you brought about. Of course, if you truly brought peace to a war-torn nation or influenced global climate change policy, share away; but, nothing this high-profile is expected. This is more a question about how to relate to others, your value system, your charitable/giving nature, and how you interact with the world around you. If you have a sincere and heartfelt story in this vein to share, then #7 is an excellent selection.

8) UC Essay Prompt #8

Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?

Is there anything you have yet to share that is absolutely elemental to who you are as a person? Without the benefit of an in-person interview, it may feel like you never fully had a chance to connect intimately with a UC admissions officer. You have a burning sense that you have not communicated your true essence, your je ne sais quoi, your…you get the idea. If something important hasn’t been communicated elsewhere in the application, then PI #8 is about to become your best friend.

Consider that the admissions reader is already somewhat familiar with your academic history, activities, and awards. What don’t they know, or, what could they understand on a deeper level? This could be a particular skill or talent, or something about your character or personality. This one is intentionally open-ended, so use this space to share your most cherished accomplishments or most winning attributes. The university itself is inviting you to “brag” here. Therefore, we recommend obliging, by presenting the equivalent to a “closing argument” at the end of this admissions trial.

College Transitions’ Final Thoughts

• With the introduction of a test-blind policy , the UC Essay Prompts have never been of greater importance.
• Pick the four prompts from which you can generate the most compelling and revealing essays. No prompts are inherently favored or preferred by the admissions committee.
• If you are able to organically and convincingly tie in your academic and career interests and/or how a prospective UC institution can help you achieve your goals, take the opportunity to do just that (in any prompt).
• Strongly consider PI #8. It is the most open-ended option and allows you to highlight anything that doesn’t fit elsewhere in the application.
• Application Strategies
• College Essay

Andrew Belasco

A licensed counselor and published researcher, Andrew's experience in the field of college admissions and transition spans two decades. He has previously served as a high school counselor, consultant and author for Kaplan Test Prep, and advisor to U.S. Congress, reporting on issues related to college admissions and financial aid.

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