Hi guys,

I've been reading up on personal statements and seem to be finding some conflicting information on whether or not the personal statement needs to address "why law."

Berkeley seems to suggest that the personal statement does not have to touch on why you're interested in law - "You don't have to write about your interest in the law. In fact, your statement will probably be more memorable if you don't!" However, other sources seem to suggest that the whole point of the personal statement is to talk about why you're interested in law."

Ideally I understand that the best case scenario is if the two happen to coincide, and your personal statement happens to explicitly or implicitly relate why you want to do law, but what happens if the story or stories you want to tell reveal growth that doesn't necessarily explicitly explain "why law"? Does anyone have any insight on this / or have any examples of essays that have worked (and how much or how little they addressed "why law"? Wondering if @david.busis has any words of advice. Thank you!

Hi guys,

I'm looking to apply this season, and am having some difficulty deciding how to proceed the LOR process. I graduated in 2015 and already have 2 professors whom I've worked closely with agree to write LORs, but am considering asking for a third recommendation from my place of employment (I've been working as a paralegal at a law firm for the past year and a half).

A couple of questions on this since time is running out:

1. Would it look bad if I didn't obtain a letter of recommendation from my place of employment? I know schools prefer academic recommendations, but I feel like it might be a little sketchy to have worked a year and a half and not have a letter. I think I could get a nice letter, but am not positive that it will be as strong as my academic letters.

2. Does ranking matter a whole lot in deciding which associate(s) I ask? I'm deciding between a more junior associate and a mid-level associate. I've worked extensively with both, but I feel like the junior associate might write the better letter. I was told that law schools might view the junior associate's letter as more of a letter from a "peer" though. Is this true?

3. If a school limits submission of LOR to 2, should I submit the two academic ones, or one academic one professional?

Any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you!