An effective personal statement is based on sound self-assessment. To help you reflect on some of your accomplishments, interests, personal traits and characteristics, ask yourself:
You
- What’s your background, your values? (First generation college student, parents' occupation, role models, spirituality, social justice, etc.)
- Who have been the most influential people in your life and why?
- If applicable, reflect on the diversity/uniqueness that you bring (culture, age, major, special life experiences and perspectives.)
- How would you describe yourself?
- How would your professors, employers, family members, classmates and friends describe you?
- What are you passionate about?
- What keeps you motivated? Why?
- What kind of learner are you?
- How do you re-energize?
- What are your greatest assets?
- What is it that you would like for a law school to really know about you?
- Why should a law school want to have you as a student?
Your experiences
- Think of your proudest moment. Why was that accomplishment particularly meaningful to you?
- What skills are you learning in your classes, research experiences, and other academic endeavors that are relevant to the legal profession?
- What are you learning about yourself through your experiences inside and outside of the classroom?
- Reflect on your extracurricular experiences: remember critical incident moments, "revelations" etc.
- Ponder about one or two particular events that deeply affected you. Why did these people/events have such a profound impact on you?
- How have you demonstrated leadership?
- What kind of hurdles did you have to overcome in your life?
- What cocurricular activities have broadened your horizons?
- What experiences have enabled you to interact with people of different backgrounds and cultures?
Your plan
- How have you formed your own opinion/perception of the nature of legal practice and the daily demands placed upon lawyers and their families?
- What kind of lawyer would you like to be and why?
- What impact do you want to have on your community? In what ways have you already started this process?
- What are your goals for the future, both personally and professionally?
Bottom-line points
- Why do you want to become a lawyer? Be as sincere as you can
- What experiences have confirmed your career choice? Be as specific as you can
- What do you want law schools to know about you beyond what is stated in your application?