The title is a bit misleading, but basically, I’m wondering how much my PS has to really reckon with law. I was told by a 7Sage writing consultant (you guys are amazing by the way) that my narrative arc, from beginning to why law, is very clear and well-executed. I’m just noticing some particularly lauded examples of personal statements seem to reckon more with legal frameworks and court cases. I just feel like if I did that in mine, it would be clunky and I’d probably end up looking foolish. Thoughts?
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I know I'm admittedly biased since I'm one of the admissions (not writing) consultants here, but my honest professional opinion is that admissions officers want to leave your application with a clear sense of why you want to go to law school and be a lawyer. That's the point of grad school - to give you the education and training to get a particular job (in this case, in the legal industry). While there may be some grace for people who have a resume with a clear indication of their legal experience (meaning, they don't have to be explicit about their professional intentions because it's baked into their resume) AND they have great stats AND they write a brilliant PS about something else ... I mean, that's a pretty small subset of applicants to law school right there. The vast majority of admitted students to all schools are just writing about why they want to go to law school and be a lawyer. So why try to do something that you don't think you can do when the easy/clear path is right there?
@JacobBaska yeah, this makes sense. I think - and have been told by people with far more experience than me - that my PS has a very clear arc and salient why law and why now. I guess I saw some of those examples that are like ‘I’m particularly interested in this very niche housing bill’, or ‘I spent years studying the intricacies of zoning regulations’, and I felt like my PS doesn’t do that. Really though, I guess I’m overthinking it. There’s a pretty straightforward a-b-c, and c is a compelling why law, which I suppose is the most important part
@ShaneTrullo Quick analogy time.
We're right at the start of football season here in the States. The least sexy/fun/exciting play in all of football is a 4 yard run up the middle. No one will ever cut a package of 4 yard smash runs into a Youtube compilation. But do you know what happens if you run the ball for 4 yards on every single play? You win the game.
(And I've also just described how Army and Navy have built effective football teams over the past 20 years - option right, option left, play action deep, go for it on fourth down and convert it, lather/rinse/repeat).
The point being is that I think it's more important to look at your application materials as needing to be "effective" rather than "blow the mind." As long as you're effective, you'll be totally fine!