Application Process

Personal Statement

Your personal statement is a vital piece of your law school application that gives law schools a glimpse into your motivation to pursue a legal education. It should answer the general question, “why do you want to go to law school?”. A well written statement will address this question and how a legal education will help them meet their professional goals. It can also highlight your skills and how they will serve you in law school.

Here are some tips for writing a strong personal statement:

• Be honest!
• Focus on your journey. Try not to reflect on others’ experiences in your statement. Law schools will want to know what inspired you to go to law school and why.
• Start brainstorming early!  It takes time to write a great personal statement and you may have to write a few drafts before you have a final product. Do not wait until the last minute to start working on drafts
• Don’t have “too many cooks in the kitchen”! While having others critique your personal statement is important, do not try to get an opinion from everyone. Narrow it down to 2-3 people that you trust to give you an honest and helpful opinion.
• Be concise! Most statements are no more than three pages in length.

Remember to check the admissions websites for your intended law schools to make sure they do not have a prompt for the personal statement. Most do not but there may be the occasional few schools that want certain questions or topics addressed in your personal statement.

If you’d like more feedback on your personal statement, you can meet with a pre-law advisor to review your personal statement before submitting it.