I don't think it's necessary. FWIW last cycle I got into HLS without writing a Why X statement or a tailored personal statement. The general consensus I've heard is that for the top 6 schools, they already know you want to go there and so you don't need to include an additional statement expressing your interest. That said, if you have a very compelling reason to want to go there and think you can write a fantastic and genuine Why X statement, go for it. But writing a Why X statement just for the sake of including one is not likely to move the needle in your favor.
Here is an excerpt from Harvard's admission blog that provides more insight:
"Prospective applicants sometimes ask if they should discuss why they want to attend HLS in their personal statement. In general, we leave it to your best judgment to decide what to include in your personal statement. We are looking for your voice and relevant information that we may not have gleaned in other materials. For some, that may mean unpacking an HLS resource that is central to their motivation towards legal study. However, it is not necessary, required, or encouraged unless it is the best use of space for your experience.
We know a lot about HLS. We are hoping to learn more about you."
https://hls.harvard.edu/real-talk-expressing-interest-during-the-application-process/
Hey everyone! Michigan asks for "no more than two" optional essays. Does anyone have insight on whether it would put me at a disadvantage to only write one? Michigan is one of my top choices, so I don't want them to think I'm not willing to go the extra mile...
Good idea, I think I will do that. Thanks!
Hey everyone,
While I was still in undergrad, I attended a 3-week legal program abroad. On my application to NYU, I was not sure how to classify the institution, so marked it as "graduate," since I received ECTS credits that can be transferred to American law schools and the program was technically for law students. However, now I am realizing that in the country where I took the course, law degrees are considered Bachelor's degrees, so I am not sure whether it was correct to classify it as a graduate institution.
I already applied to NYU, but should I send them a clarification email or addendum explaining more about the program and why I chose to classify it as a graduate institution? Any insight would be appreciated.
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@ - what do you mean by applied to NYU in Sept and April? I am pretty new to the application process. Can you apply multiple times to a single school?
No, I just applied in September and by the time April rolled around, they still hadn't gotten back to me with a decision.
Man, I can't imagine the agony... wish you the best! Hope you get to hear good news soon
Thanks! I've deposited at a different school that I'm really happy with, so I withdrew from NYU before finding out their final decision lol.
That makes sense, thanks. Best of luck on your retake!
Follow up question for anyone who might know: UChicago says "Any large differences between LSAT scores, GRE scores, or GMAT scores should be explained in an addendum" Does anyone have an idea of whether a six point increase would qualify as a "large difference?"
Thanks. Yeah, good point. I'm going to try to avoid writing one. This would mainly be for Michigan, which asks for an explanation if there's a difference of six or more points.
Hey everyone! I am writing an addendum explaining my score increase (from a 167 in 2019 to a 173 this year). However, I am honestly not positive why my score increased, since my PT average remained the same in between tests - I just scored below my average the first time and scored right around my average on the second test. One reason I can think of is that I had a pretty bad headache during the first test, so that may have interfered with my concentration. Not sure whether this would be viewed as a good reason in an addendum, though. Any advice would be appreciated!
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Yes, the school you assign the letter to will get an update regardless of whether it is a new letter or existing but newly assigned letter.
Awesome, thank you!
Does anyone know whether it's possible to assign an additional letter of recommendation to a school after I've already sent in the application and my file is complete? For context, the additional recommender already had uploaded his letter to LSAC, but I decided later to assign his letter to the particular school. I know LSAC's website says that they'll send an updated CAS report if they receive a letter for a recommender that you've already assigned, so I'm unclear as to whether I can actually assign a recommender after the fact...
I'd love to hear thoughts from anyone who has experience with this!
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@ - what do you mean by applied to NYU in Sept and April? I am pretty new to the application process. Can you apply multiple times to a single school?
No, I just applied in September and by the time April rolled around, they still hadn't gotten back to me with a decision.
I just got invited to do a group interview with Dean Cornblatt... but I already did an alumni interview in mid-December and haven't heard back since. Has anyone else had this experience or know what it could mean?
Hey everyone,
I spent 3 weeks at an international legal academy hosted at a university in Switzerland during my undergrad years. It wasn't any type of program sponsored by my university, and since it was less than a year long I thought I wasn't supposed to send the transcript to LSAC. But some law schools specifically say "Transcripts of postsecondary work completed at a college or university outside the United States or Canada must be submitted through the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS)."
Does anyone have any idea whether these instructions would apply to less than a year of study, or whether LSAC would even accept the transcripts if I sent them?
I'm not currently being ghosted by any schools, but I applied to NYU in September and by the end of April, they still hadn't given me a decision. I wound up getting annoyed and just withdrawing before they got back to me haha. That's crazy you still haven't heard from UMN though--especially since I'm guessing their deposit deadline has passed. Hoping they get back to you with good news soon!
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I did the same as @!
i ignored the why law in general and just wrote why duke
and i was accepted
Awesome. Congrats!
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Hey! I think you will be fine not following the prompt exactly. For the Optional Essay 1 "You may submit an essay providing additional information about why you have chosen to apply to law school in general and Duke in particular." I ignored the "why law in general" part because I addressed that in my personal statement, so I only wrote about Why Duke. I have been accepted! I think they want you to address somewhere in your application why you want to go to law school. If you cover that in the optional essay and not the personal statement, that is probably fine.
That makes sense, thanks! And congrats on getting accepted! :)
Hey everyone,
Duke Law's personal statement prompt says to mention your "personal and career ambitions," but in my "Why Law, Why Duke" optional essay, I go into detail about my career ambitions. I don't want to repeat myself (Duke specifically says not to do this), but I also don't want it to seem like I'm not following their directions... Does anyone else who has applied to Duke/gotten accepted have any insight on this? Thanks in advance!!
Yeah this cycle has been super slow! I applied in October and November and I still haven't heard from like 6 schools. I got accepted at one school after waiting for four months and just got an interview invite at a school that I applied to in the fall lol.
Hi everyone! I'm thinking about applying to Berkeley Law School, but I would first really like to talk to a current student or alum to find out more about the school's culture and academics.
If anyone knows of someone currently at Berkeley or a graduate who would be willing to speak with me over email, please let me know!
Hey everyone,
Has anyone recently had an interview at UChicago, and if so, do you have any tips for what kinds of questions to prepare for? I have seen previous lists of interview questions, but they all appeared to be from several years ago, so I was wondering if anyone had more recent info. Thanks!
So I just had a law school interview today, and I'd like to send a thank you note, but I can't find the interviewer's email address. Should I send a thank you to the general admissions office and address my interviewer by name? Or should I write something like "Dear Admissions Office" ? Any insight would be appreciated!
I think you'd be better off focusing on the specific experience you think is the most impactful, even if it's from before college. I'm no expert, but from my understanding, it's fine to talk about a past experience as long as you show how it's still relevant to your life or how it's shaped who you are now. UChicago Law has examples of "admissions essays that worked." In the first one, the author describes an experience that seems to be from high school and then in the last paragraph, describes how it's still relevant now.
Link to UChicago essays: https://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/their-own-words-admissions-essays-worked