Supplemental essays allow you an opportunity to provide us with relevant information that you were not able to include elsewhere in your application materials or that did not fit thematically with your personal statement. If you think writing on any of the topics below would help us get a better understanding of what you individually bring to the law school class, we encourage you to consider submitting your responses to one or two (but no more) of the following topics. Your response to each essay should be less than 500 words. Please use a minimum of 11 point font and double space your responses. Please be sure to include the number of the prompt you are addressing at the top of your essay.
Essay Prompt #1
Describe a challenge, failure, or setback you have faced and overcome, whether long-term and systemic (e.g., socioeconomic, health, or complex family circumstances) or short-term and discrete (e.g., a workplace scenario or a particularly demanding course). How did you confront it? What, if anything, might you do differently?
Essay Prompt #2
Describe a quality or skill you have and discuss how you expect it will help you in your legal career.
Essay Prompt #3
Tell us about a time in the recent past when you changed your mind about something significant.
Essay Prompt #4
Our law school culture is one of encouragement, cooperation, and collaboration. We actively seek out students who exhibit those characteristics, even when it is not convenient or easy. Describe a recent experience when you exhibited any or all of these characteristics.
Essay Prompt #5
One of the goals of our admissions process is to enroll students who will enrich the quality and breadth of the intellectual life of our law school community and the legal profession. How have your lived experiences and perspectives positively shaped who you are today in a way that contributes to our admissions goals?
Essay Prompt #6
Think of someone who knows you in an academic or professional setting, but doesn't know you well (i.e., not a family member or a close friend). How would they describe your work ethic, written or oral communication skills, and/or professionalism? Would their description be accurate? Why or why not?
Essay Prompt #7
Provide insight into your potential to contribute to a community of inclusion, belonging, and respect in which scholars with varied perspectives, abilities, and experiences can learn and collaborate productively and positively.
