Since most competitive candidates have high grades and LSAT scores as well as strong letters of reference, admissions committees look to the personal statement and autobiographical sketch to help differentiate among similarly qualified candidates.
The personal statement serves as an introduction to your accomplishments, your personality and most importantly the steps taken, both academically and outside the classroom to develop your path towards law. It is your opportunity to tell the admissions committee what makes you unique and why you deserve to be a law student.
Similarly, the autobiographical sketch is a specialized curriculum vitae. Like a résumé, you must list relevant activities along with a short description of the experience in order to account for your endeavors prior to applying to law school. This list provides the admissions committee with a quick “snapshot” of your accomplishments.
Although there is no formula to create an outstanding application, there are a number of strategies you can utilize to make your personal statement and autobiographical sketch for law school more effective:
HOW CAN I PREPARE?
Begin your application early.
It can take over 40 hours to prepare an application to law school. Some students leave their applications until the last moment. As a result, they are often faced with competing pressures such as course requirements, work, extracurricular and volunteer activities, as well as preparing for the LSAT. These activities can heighten the stress many students face during the application process. The best time to begin applying to law school is during the summer. Getting an early start will provide you with an edge over your competition.
Start with your autobiographical sketch.
Create a list of your activities, including: formal education, employment experience, volunteer activities, awards and accomplishments, and research. Making a list of activities in these areas is an excellent starting point since it will highlight your major achievements and identify key/common themes to use in your personal statement. The autobiographical sketch is frequently overlooked by students and often not given the attention it deserves. Your autobiographical sketch should be viewed as a résumé for applying to be a law student. Like all résumés, it is important to consider what should be included and excluded. Once you have completed this step, aim to be as accurate and concise as possible and pay attention to detail.
Emphasize quality over quantity.
Choose a small number of themes to highlight in your personal statement rather than include too much information. Part of the challenge of writing a personal statement is to convince the admissions committee that you deserve a place in their law school among many qualified applicants. By focusing on a few central points, you will be able to make a stronger case for yourself.
Answer the question.
Make sure you have a clear understanding of what the question is asking and stay on point. Extraneous information is distracting and will diminish the overall impact of your answer.
Be specific and personal.
Remember that law schools want to know about you. Referring to specific, personal experiences will make your answers more memorable.
"Show” – Don’t “Tell”.
One of the most common pitfalls encountered by students relates to “telling” rather than “showing”. Telling something is simply stating a fact (e.g., “I am a hard-working individual”). Showing something requires supporting evidence and context in order to allow the reader to draw a conclusion that a fact exists. For example, the sentence: “Over my last semester at McGill, I maintained a full course load in addition to my duties as President of the Young Liberals and my employment at I.B.M.” demonstrates that the individual is hard-working without explicitly making this claim. Your objective in writing a strong personal statement should be to use experiences from your background to illustrate the characteristics you wish to showcase.
Given the competitive nature of the law school application process, effectively implementing these strategies can make the difference between acceptance and rejection.