Guidelines for Writing a Personal Statement

First, consider your general attitude or frame of mind before you sit down to write. It's very important to know why you're going to law school, to be confident about your abilities and motivation, and to be enthusiastic and eager for the opportunity. Please have the patience to complete the "Personal Statement Warm-up Exercises" section of this site, and read all of the material below, before you decide on a theme for the essay. Try to have an upbeat, positive attitude every time you write. The idea is for your general tone to convey these underlying perspectives. If you are unsure, doubtful, or a little desperate when you sit down to write, that will come through.

If YOU enjoy writing the essay, it will show and your audience will enjoy reading it! So find a topic(s) that really appeals to you. Be yourself.

Read the following HPPLC documents:

• Writing an Effective Personal Statement For Law School
• Personal Statements
• Law School Admission—Questions & Answers for Juniors and Seniors

Before you begin writing, please consider these general tips! They are not written in stone, but if you decide to ignore any, do so only after due deliberation:

1. READ THE PROMPT ON EACH SCHOOL'S APPLICATION! All instructions for writing the personal statement are potentially different. Be sure you know what topic(s) you should address, and follow their guidelines precisely.
2. Begin with something that grabs the reader's attention; then hold it throughout the essay. Many officials suggest telling a "story" of some kind with a beginning, middle, and end. If admissions personnel agree on one thing concerning the personal statement, it is: "don't bore me!"
3. While the final draft will be 2-3 pages, do not be concerned at all about the overall length in your first drafts. In fact, plan on writing too much at first. Get everything out. It will be much easier to edit and cut down on excess material later.
4. If (when) you get stuck, or develop writer's block: "Freewriting" - writing for a set amount of time without stopping and with no thought to grammar or spelling - may help you start or help you generate new ideas. Write something, anything to pass through this phase. Consider completing the "Warm-up Exercises" on the prior webpage.
5. It should go without saying that you believe you are capable of doing well in law school-that you are motivated and hard-working; that in law school you will perform better than you did in college; and that you will make an outstanding lawyer. Of course you will! If you feel you have to mention such things outright, it may be interpreted as self-doubt. You should write your statement from the perspective of upbeat confidence in your abilities and motivation. Such conclusions should be the unspoken, underlying message of the essay as a whole.
6. Related to the above is the advice: "Show, don't tell." In other words, don't merely state: "I'm motivated, will work hard and succeed in law school." Instead, include actual incidents or vignettes from your life, which, after being read, will cause the reader to come to the desired conclusions on their own ("Wow-she must really be motivated. And such a hard-worker!"). In other words, give specific examples from real life that support your assertions. Do not rely on "conclusory statements" alone.
7. Do not be too original in your approach. The personal statement is not the time to be clever, poetic, or cute. It is not an exercise in creative writing. It is an exercise in communication. Stick to the traditional essay format. Trying something unusual is risky. Humor, if it works, can be effective--but again, it can be risky.
8. Most experts generally advise against the use of quotations, especially as the title or first or last line (this common device is seen as a crutch, a lack of creativity).
9. Hesitate in mentioning ANY TV shows, movies, or other "cultural" reasons for applying. Avoid clichés: for example, that your parents always said you "liked to argue,"  that you find the law "fascinating," that you want to "save the world" (even if you really do!), or that you "found yourself while studying abroad."  Think about what is truly unique about your situation, and what specifically distinguishes you as an individual.
10. Avoid telling the committee about the Law. Assume that everyone reading your statement is an experienced attorney. Such folks have built professional careers by finding flaws in the legal arguments and analyses of high-powered opponents. They will find flaws in yours.
11. If you have specific reasons, especially academic ones, tell the school why you picked them, and why attending their particular institution makes sense given your plans-why you would be a good fit. No platitudes-just the facts. (If you can do this in your personal statement, great. But if not, this might be a more appropriate subject for a separate, short letter of addendum-at least for those schools for which you do have explicit reasons for applying.)
12. Keep the statement upbeat and positive. It is usually preferable to explain negative factors in a separate, short (usually one paragraph), objective letter of addendum-one such addendum for each subject. HPPLC Prelaw Advisors can help you with any of these items. For example, the following issues would probably best be reserved for a separate letter of addendum:
    • If you had a bad semester, focus on the objective facts (not the excuses that you gave your parents), and keep it brief. Such facts could be: initial wrong major, lack of focus on academics, personal issues, health problems, working too many hours, a break-up with a significant other, family issues, etc. You are free to express your hesitation in raising such issues, that you don't want to be seen as making excuses-however, such things are real: they do happen and do have their effects. Admission committees want to know if there is a "story" behind any distortion of your GPA.
    • If you have had any "disciplinary problem" or "indiscretion" with the law-again put your best foot forward, but do disclose IF the application asks about such things. This is true even for incidents that have been expunged or for which you went through pretrial diversion. It is also helpful to take responsibility, to express regret, to stress that you learned from the experience, and (if you can) to assure them that it has not happened again. Most such incidents will not have a negative impact on your chances for admission.
    • If you have taken the LSAT more than once and one score is higher-if there is a reasonable explanation then provide it (excess text anxiety, illness, lack of preparation, personal issues, etc.). Again, keep it very brief and objective.
    • Do NOT explain a single low LSAT score UNLESS you can really demonstrate that past standardized tests (e.g., the SAT or ACT) were low (percentile-wise) compared to your actual GPA. Do NOT say "I've always been a poor standardized test taker." Express it as: "standardized tests have never accurately predicted my future academic performance." Then give them specifics. You do not need an official SAT report-they will believe you.
    • Just provide the information in brief; there is no need to tell them how to interpret it. Consider concluding the addendum merely with some verson of: "I hope the committee will take this into consideration."
13. Do not regurgitate your resume. You can mention one or more experiences that are also listed on your resume, but then go into depth, and talk about the personal meaning and significance of those experiences to you-their impact on your life and/or goals. Do not merely describe these experiences, no matter how impressive or important they may be by themselves. Combine similar achievements to showcase your abilities, talents, and avocations.
14. Proof, proof, proof. Do NOT rely on spell-check! Grammatical or typographical errors are inexcusable.
    Personal statements should be read by at least two others who know English grammar well. Writing Tutorial Services can be useful, but even they are not perfect. Your statement must be. ANY MISTAKE OR TYPO can raise serious questions about your qualifications. This is not mindless obsessiveness: If you make a careless mistake in your Brief to the Court of Appeals, your entire case may be thrown out and you'll have to explain why to your client and to your firm's partners. This is taken quite seriously. 
15. If you mention the law school in your statement, be very careful to send it to the proper institution!
16. If there is a required question about becoming a lawyer, be specific and substantive in your reasons. This is where being self-aware and self-directed is essential. Some of the reasons may seem obvious to you. Present those reasons positively and from your perspective. You may want to become a lawyer because you enjoy the power of words, advocacy, or the role of a constructively engaged expert. You may want to become a lawyer because you have personally witnessed (have experience and can discuss with understanding) what lawyers can do-and you want to do that work. Avoid generalities.
17. While others have said that you would be a good lawyer, or you have relatives that are lawyers, or you have always wanted to be a lawyer, these facts are not significant by themselves. Unless they are essential to the main theme of the essay, do not include them.
18. Tell your story in your own voice. Speak naturally. DO NOT USE LEGALESE! (This is a principle they stress in law school as well. Legalese is seen as a crutch.) Do not try to impress with your vocabulary. Such statements are not impressive--they are embarrassing. As they say, big words do not denote big minds, just big egos. If the aforementioned testimonial appears incongruous, one is hereinafter urged to reformulate one's contemporaneous estimation. 
19. Most important: be yourself.
20. Remember—you cannot write a great personal statement. Such documents are rewritten. And rewritten, and rewritten again. Expect yours to take 2-4 weeks at least. Start it early enough so that you can put aside the "final" draft for several days and look at it again with fresh eyes.
21. Be willing to start completely over from the beginning if the final product is not working! But do not delete old drafts. Save everything and label prior drafts carefully.
22. If your essay exceeds the length requirement, simply call the admissions office and ask if your length is acceptable. For 70% of schools there will be no problem. But for 30% it will be a huge, unforgivable mistake.
23. After you submit the statement to a school, if you notice a typo or mistake, call the admissions office and ask how to proceed. For some schools, if your file has not been distributed to the admission committee yet, they may be willing to hold your file pending their receipt of a correct copy (as email attachment or overnight letter). At the very least, email the admissions committee acknowledging and correcting the error.
24. Read the essay "THE PERSONAL STATEMENT:  One Person’s View, of the View," by Collins Byrd, Assistant Deanof Admissions, University of Iowa College of Law , by clicking here.

Thanks to Pamela Bloomquist of Loyola University School of Law, Steven Baron of Boston College, and Rachel Tolen of Indiana University for some of the above material.