Personal Statement

heatherelizabeth

What is the consensus on talking about things not explicitly mentioned in your application? In a discussion about social justice, I have a sentence that goes something along the lines of:

"... I have always been inclined to help when I can. For instance, I spent a year as an ****** at *******, I have grown up serving food at ******, and I have helped organize a demonstration on campus to...."

I have listed the first under the extra-curricular section of my application, but the other two have not been mentioned because (a) I don't have a contact for the second one because I don't go on a consistent basis, and (b) there is not a relevant place for me to mention the third one. Should I just leave these two out, or are they worth keeping in there? If it helps, it is part of a larger discussion about why I want to be a lawyer, and less about listing off my accomplishments.

marcosmcqueen

It's really hard to give meaningful advice without more of the essay, but here it goes:
for (a) I don't think you need a contact. You're not using this as a LOR and I can't imagine that an adcom will create new work for themselves by verifying information in your essay. I don't know that for sure, but since this doesn't seem to be the core of your essay I'd not worry about the contact.
(b) Not sure what you mean when you say that "there is not a relevant place" to mention this... Do you mean no place in your app? I can't imagine that's a problem. The point of the statement isn't solely to reiterate what you've put in your application.

My broader (unsolicited) feedback is that I'm not sure the sentence is all that strong regardless of (a) and (b). I doubt that you have "always" been inclined to help when you can. Really? That would be a lot of helping. Every time you could load groceries? Every time you walked past a panhandler? You get the point. I think that you might want to drill deeper into when and why you help.