Self-study
Hi, I am currently drafting my personal statement and I am undecided on what route/topic I should choose. So, I am going to write down some of the ideas I have and would love to get some feedback.
My brother who died 4 months before my High School graduation, and talk about how his case introduced me to law and then wrap it up with how I want to work in criminal/corporate law? This is a sensitive topic for me, so I have been leaning away from this one.
Talk about how I've been collecting Care Bears since I was 6.
The legal TV Shows (unrealistic in a way lol) that got me interested in law.
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11 comments
Your topic should be something that enables you to portray yourself the way that you want to be seen. If you just write about a thing, even if you find it interesting, if it doesn't make you come out looking awesome, it doesn't matter.
You have to be the star of your essay whichever direction you go.
Hello. I am so sorry to hear about your brother. Your brother's story is a powerful option, but it is risky too. It is deeply personal and can show your lived experience with the legal system. If you focus less on the tragedy itself and more on what you learned about law, justice, and the systems involved, it would demonstrate maturity and self-awareness and give an evident passion for law. It would show that you can maintain emotional control and professionalism in one of the most sensitive areas of your life. You can talk about how it shaped your thinking, how you processed the feelings, and how you are now forward-looking. If it is still too raw, you might want to consider other options to focus on. This is just my 2 cents. Good luck. All the best!
@SageMean Thank you so much for your condolences and advice! Your comment just gave me confidence, thank you again.
Humbly, I think the first one is far more compelling. The fact that you are leaning away from it means it would be a really powerful (and unique to you) story that would clearly set you apart from other candidates.
@StephentSalter Yes, my advisor said the same thing to me. Especially since my opening sentence is like really powerful, so I appreciate your comment and definitely think that I should write about this. Thank you for the advice!
I think these are all great topics! Personally, I had a lot of opportunities to list the things that I found important in every application I submitted. So I don't think you should be worried about choosing one over the other: I'd write them all!
On top of that, the 7sage cc says, and I agree, that its important to have relevant details, but even more important to have things in your application that set you apart from everyone else!
@MarcusTsang I would LOVE to write about them all, but I'm more so struggling with how to connect all 3? I don't want it to be messy, because I've been advised to keep things simple and natural. However, I would love to know how you connected your topics, if you don't mind sharing.
@JaniyahSharp I don't mind! In my applications, there were many opportunities to answer questions. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by 'connect,' since in my applications, I used a different aspect for each question. Like for one question, I brought up how I represented my family's restaurant in a legal dispute with the landlord, and another question I used how I learned to crochet during COVID.
@MarcusTsang omg thank you for your response! Thank you for sharing, this just gave me a new idea LOL. I was mainly worried about how I could make everything flow, and this just helped me understand a little more. Good Luck with your studies and I'm manifesting many acceptance letters for you!
The Care Bears one sounds really interesting if there's a clear connection to law
@cetjit I don't think I have a clear connection to law, besides the time I got pulled over with my Care Bears in the backseat. I didn't do anything illegal, I was just driving slow so they wouldn't fall over LOL. Could this work if I chose the Care Bears topic or should I scrap it?