I'm not exactly sure how to go about drafting a personal statement. I'm applying to ND, and their application states that I should provide insight about myself and about why I'm interested in pursuing a legal education... But beyond that, I'm stumped. I've overcome adversity in a number of ways; I definitely plan to write about this because I feel it'll set me apart from my peers in a positive way. What else might I touch upon?

Since as long as I can remember, I've ALWAYS had a fascination with the law. I went through undergrad thinking I'd begin a career in law enforcement, but as I progressed through my undergraduate years my interests shifted more and more toward working in the legal field in more of a "white collar" type of atmosphere. After branching out, doing my research, speaking with a few lawyers that I knew relatively well, I decided to pursue a legal education.

I do plan to mention all of this in my personal statement. However, I believe that my personal statement will still be pretty skeletal beyond touching upon that and my section on overcoming adversity.

Thoughts?

I took the December LSAT and scored a 153. My scores had been averaging out at around 155-157, so I scored a bit lower than I would have hoped. However, I have an undergraduate GPA of 3.85+ in sociology (concentration of law) with a forensic sciences minor. I graduated in my program with distinction, and I am certain I will have glowing letters of recommendation at my disposal (my undergraduate academic advisor adored me and would be willing to say nothing but the best about me, I had a foreign language professor for 4 semesters straight in a course with section sizes of no larger than 15 students who I had established an intimate relationship with and who would do the same, I had a course on religion in which I had the second highest score of anyone in the course; the professor actually emailed me at the conclusion of the semester to congratulate me on a job well done, to inform me that I was only .37% away from the highest score, and to simply articulate that I was a pleasure to have in class, and so on).

My top school choice is Notre Dame, but it is quite competitive (even the 25th percentile LSAT score for the past incoming class is several points higher than I scored). However, I AM above the typical GPA 75th percentile.

I was wondering if a few other factors may play a strong enough role in my application to tilt the odds more favorably (and if they are points that I should even shed light on in my application):

In short, I am wondering if it is inconceivable for ND to admit me given my undergraduate GPA, my LSAT score, and any of the other five aforementioned criteria. Opinions are greatly appreciated

Thank you.