Reflecting for Your Personal Statement
An effective personal statement starts with honest self-assessment. To help you reflect on your accomplishments, interests, values, and future goals, use the prompts below as a guide.
You
- What’s your background, and what values define you? (First-generation college student, parents' occupation, role models, spirituality, social justice involvement, etc.)
- Who have been the most influential people in your life and why?
- If applicable, how do you contribute diversity or uniqueness (culture, age, major, life experiences, perspectives)?
- How would you describe yourself?
- How would professors, employers, family, classmates, and friends describe you?
- What are you passionate about?
- What keeps you motivated—and why?
- What kind of learner are you?
- How do you re-energize?
- What are your greatest assets?
- What would you most like law schools to know about you?
- Why should a law school want to have you as a student?
Your Experiences
- What is your proudest moment? Why was it particularly meaningful to you?
- What skills are you learning in class, research, or other academics that relate to law?
- What are you discovering about yourself through experiences inside and outside the classroom?
- Reflect on extracurriculars: notable moments, “revelations,” or growth.
- Ponder a few events or people that have had a profound impact on you—why?
- How have you demonstrated leadership?
- What hurdles have you overcome in your life?
- What co-curricular activities have broadened your perspective?
- What experiences have enabled you to work with people of varying backgrounds and cultures?
Your Plan
- How have you formed your own understanding of legal practice and the daily life of a lawyer?
- 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?
- What are your future goals—personally and professionally?
Bottom-Line Points
- Why do you want to become a lawyer? Be as honest and sincere as you can.
- What experiences have confirmed your career choice? Be specific.
- What else do you want law schools to know about you beyond what is already in your application?