Present or Past Tense/Diversity Statement

divaspeller

Hello! I'm working on my applications, and have a couple of questions I'd like answered.

1. I received some advice regarding my personal statement from an admissions officer at a lower ranked law school. He suggested writing in the present tense, even though the story I'm telling occurred in the past. However, everything I'm reading online says to keep the past in the past. Whose advice should I follow?

2. I was adopted at birth, and homeschooled from 1st-8th grade. Does this warrant a diversity statement?

Thanks for any advice/suggestions!

Jerry

I think past tense or present tense isn't that much of a big deal? To me, I think it's just a tone that you feel more comfortable writing in. On resumes, the advice is to write in present if it's something that is still relevant, or past if it's not. Overall, though, I think it's alright on your statement to switch tenses by talking in the past and then segue into the present, or vice versa, as long as it connects smoothly. I suppose what matters more is the "flow" and how natural everything sounds. If that's good, then I don't think your tense matters. It will fade into the background and not even be noticeable. Meanwhile, if things are choppy, switching your tenses to be consistent isn't going to help. I'd write the essay, and then get some feedback. If people complain about the tense you're using or find it jarring, then maybe I'd do something.

On your other topic, I definitely see how being adopted counts as a form of diversity. I think most would agree there's an element of adversity that you can expand upon. The homeschool part, I find a bit more farfetched. But I'm sure some people have written about that and gotten it to work from a diversity angle.

AudaciousRed

Present tense is usually thought of as being stronger than past tense. It's more direct.