I feel each topic I am writing about for my PS, Addendum, and DS are all pretty heavy topics and sometimes I am like "these people are going to read this and think my life is a depressing movie", but at the same time I truly feel discussing these topics is essential to explaining why I so deeply crave to become an attorney and help those facing abuse and persecution. And on top of that, I personally don't see what has happened to me as a weakness, and it all has just strengthened me and made me grow into who I am. Do admissions officers frown on this?
for clarification it's structured like "this happened, I learned this, here is how I grew" I don't feel I am playing victim in these documents
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Some people have some heavy stuff to talk about, @KSki, and that's alright. Ultimately, you gotta do what you gotta do:
The goal of the Personal Statement is to discuss why you want to go to law school and be a lawyer. For an not-small number of folks, that rationale is based in a negative experience. The key here is not that the thing happened, but that it helps me understand why you may want to pursue law school and this particular field of law (so for example, someone writing about how their parents' conviction of tax fraud inspires them to go to law school ... to be a human rights lawyer ... doesn't seem to connect).
The goal of the Diversity Statement is to help me understand you and your background. Again, that may involve something heavy. That's ok! But I'll also throw out there that if that topic is the same as the one you'd bring up in the PS, you can maybe move in a different direction just to give us a different side of you.
With the Addenda, you're explaining something that I otherwise wouldn't understand like a gap in your resume or an uncharacteristically low grade in college. Again, sometimes that rationale has a big issue attached to it and that's alright.
As long as you've got your eyes on these targets, it's ok to write about subjects/topics that are authentic to you!
I hope that helps!
@JacobBaska Thank you!
I wrote about some really depressing things in my PS and went to an essay workshop at 7sage, plus I've listened to some admissions podcasts that gave me perspective. From all that I've learned
no whining, you only explain the hardship as reason for growth or perspective, not as merely painful.
mention it professionally in a matter-of-fact way without flowery prose or explicit detail. they don't want to hear that.
maintain perspective on how serious that "bad thing" is - is it a common illness? grief in general? rape? parent's divorce? watching someone be murdered in front of you? surviving a shooting?
i watched UMich's application review of two PS that did this badly. One was about using a common medical device for a temporary health condition as traumatic and embarassing. Another was about a distant relative getting a condition from a vaccine and having to go to community college instead of a more expensive university. I've heard some say that being overly negative even about being a second gen / arrived in childhood immigrant can sound bad on you if you dont balance these things out.
i'd also strongly encourage you to explore a different topic instead of the same one over two essays, if you can. or if you can't, to frame it as more positive in one (for example if you're talking about the struggled of being an URM, or a valuable perspective from growing up lower class, or how something built resilience or allowed you to connect w/ others)
@zunair thank you, this has been helpful.
listen to the 7sage podcast, they go over your questions. Another advice is to book an essay workshop with 7sage, they really know what AO are looking for and how to write your story
@Peter888 I appreciate that but I honestly can't afford the prices they want us to pay for essay review (unless I want to skip out on bills lol).