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Personal statement: topic opinion?

DawnHenryDawnHenry Alum Member
edited September 2018 in Law School Admissions 298 karma

Hi everyone. I'd like to get some thoughts about the topic of my personal statement. I have two potential ones in mind, and would love some opinions.

Background: I am a nontraditional student. I will be 50 when I start law school in 2019. I have been to law school before: I finished two years back in 1997-1999, before I decided to leave under financial pressure (from now ex-husband) combined with having one toddler and another baby on the way. Now that both kids are grown (youngest starts college this month), I am going back to law school because it is unfinished business, and all I've ever really wanted to do is be a lawyer. Before, when I was in law school, I pictured myself in a courtroom winning cases and being brilliant (ha). Now, after being a mom, and having both my kids be transgender, I'm very focused on wanting to focus on LGBT issues and civil rights.

Topic 1: my kids being transgender and how that has inspired my return to law school. Pro: it very much fits the overall theme of my application. Con: it's actually a very big topic to try to address in 2 page and still make the kind of impact a personal statement should make (?) There's no one moment or story to tell. I could address this in other places, such as a "Why X" statement (I'm looking at schools that have LGBT journals and/or clinics or other programs), and/or an addendum that explains my years away from work and school. So it's not like it will go unaddressed entirely.

Topic 2: This is the one my gut is telling to write, even though it doesn't speak to WHY I want to go to law school at my age. It's about how, after getting divorced and feeling very "not me," I picked the scariest, most difficult sounding trip in a travel brochure and went to Nepal to go trekking in 2004. I wanted to be out of my comfort zone and challenge myself, and to remember what it was like to feel successful. I'd never been trekking before and was out of shape. The Annapurna circuit is nothing but steps, and this incident is about how I got so far behind my group one day, that I just wanted to give up. I wanted to just lie down on the side of the trail and quit. And then it started pouring, and we (myself and the poor porter who spoke no English but had to stay with me) ended up on some random woman's front step, next to her chickens, while I fought off hypothermia. I had a moment of realizing that there was no giving up: no one was going to come get me; there were no cars to call up there, or any way for find an alternate way out. I had to just suck it up and keep going. And I did.

So I think topic 2 is much better personal statement material, and says a lot about me. But it doesn't tie in with my overall application theme.

Thoughts?

Comments

  • PineapplePizzaSucksPineapplePizzaSucks Member
    534 karma

    Ahh that’s a tough one! Have you considered making #2 your personal statement and #1 a diversity statement? Diversity is not solely based on race and I think you have a very very unique story to tell with #1.

  • LivingThatLSATdreamLivingThatLSATdream Alum Member
    edited September 2018 500 karma

    If you use the second topic, you can tie it back into why lawschol and why now. Which is what your personal statement should address. It doesn’t need to be in your face about it, but I definitely think it needs to be addressed. Also, look up the prompts for the schools you want to apply to and that should help guide your topic.

    Another thing to note, I’ve seen the diversity statement have longer limits in most apps. Like 3-4 pages for some. And of course there are the apps that don’t have any limits for their essays. But I think the overall consensus is to keep your essays concise and directed in a meaningful way.

    Both sound great and if you can find a way that works to tell both stories I’m sure it will be very impactful.

  • BamboosproutBamboosprout Alum Member
    1694 karma

    I'm probably not the strongest essayist, but I think both topics really speak to different aspects of you that would both be extremely beneficial for your application. I don't see why the first topic can't be the concluding paragraph for the second topic to tie everything back around. That would be piece of art of a PS, if you could combine them. =)

  • DawnHenryDawnHenry Alum Member
    298 karma

    Thanks, everyone! You gave me some ideas on how to proceed. Appreciate it!

  • samantha.ashley92samantha.ashley92 Alum Member
    edited September 2018 1777 karma

    I think that if you use the first topic for your personal statement, you really need to make it about you and not your child. (Btw, you're an awesome mom to be so accepting.) You'd need to write about your personal journey through this and how you grew/changed. I'm not sure if the topic would qualify for a diversity statement, as they cannot use it to inflate any statistics. That's what they really care about lol. As for the second topic, it is great. However, you would have to write an additional essay about why you want to go to law school. If the first topic covers that, this would basically be a bonus essay. If you are a great and efficient writer who is willing to spend the time writing both, do it. Life can beg really chaotic, and writing an additional essay will likely take a lot of time. I would also look into whether or not being a "mature student" qualifies you to write a diversity statement. If so, I would definitely do it.

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