Including a "Why X School" Paragraph in the Personal Statement

brooke.cushing.hemingway

I was reading an article published a few years ago about personal statements, and it recommended to specify the personal statement to each school you apply to. It had two examples where the authors included 2-4 sentences showing some knowledge of the school's programs and why it aligned with their personal stories/interests. (https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2017-04-27/2-law-school-personal-statements-that-succeeded)

My question is, is necessary or even good advice? I haven't seen any schools recommending this on their website, and Harvard specifically states that they don't really want it (They say: "As for discussing HLS in your personal statement, we do not recommend it. The admissions team knows a lot about Harvard Law School — but we don’t know much about you quite yet."). I understand that you shouldn't make the entire statement about a certain school, but am worried that even the 2-4 sentences recommended by the US News article might be penalized.

I'd love to hear people's thoughts about this!

cdot9000

I have recently been told to do this! Although, I will not be doing it for Harvard lmao

I think schools will like to see that you took the time to personalize your PS per their programs instead of uploading the same one for all -- shows you care