Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Apply for Membership

Categories

Personal statement topics: good or meh?

ChardiggityChardiggity Alum Member
in Law School Admissions 336 karma

Hi all! I wanted to get this wisdom of my peers on whether either of these is a good choice, and the potential pitfall I see with each.

1) A tale of two births. I wanted to explore how the contrast between the entries of my first & second kiddos into the world had a profound effect on me. There are external challenges, internal challenges, turning points, solutions, specific changes of perspective, and it's a very personal and passionate thing for me. My only hesitation is that it involves both a c-section and non-surgical birth (no gory details, I promise) and I worry that might be controversial. I would not be taking a stand, just talking about how I felt & what I learned, but it can be a sensitive subject for some. What do you think? Too risky? Or possible with careful handling?

2) The time I moved halfway around the world, just because I could. It was the most amazing three years of my life, my first kid was born there, and I grew/learned a ton. No human rights angle. It makes for interesting telling, but for a law school application is it too close a variation on the overused semester abroad theme?

What do you think? 1? 2? Or are there reasons I should scrap both and go back to the drawing board?

Show Related Discussions

Comments

  • LSAT_WreckerLSAT_Wrecker Member ⭐
    4850 karma

    My personal opinion, write them both and see which one "speaks" to you the most. While I believe that a sincere personal statement is good, there is probably not a "unique" personal statement. As much as we want to believe that we are each special, one of a kind snowflakes, admissions committees read thousands of these things each year. The odds of your (the broad universal "your") personal statement being truly unique are pretty slim. However, you can make it genuine and sincere which I believe is the most important thing.

    Don't worry about being special. Touch the reader with your sincerity. Both stories sound personal and interesting, which is what I think we should aim for. Good luck!

  • MissChanandlerMissChanandler Alum Member Sage ⭐
    3256 karma

    I think @LSAT_Wrecker 's advice is great. And I really doubt that a c-section/natural birth story would be too controversial

  • ChardiggityChardiggity Alum Member
    336 karma

    @LSAT_Wrecker Yeah, I'm definitely not unique in my experiences. I've just read articles where the author thinks the travel angle has been thoroughly done to death, and didn't want their eyes to glaze over first thing. Sincerity, I can do!

    @MissChanandler Good to know - so many things seem contentious these days, I wanted to see if other people were like, "Oh, honey, noooooooo..."

Sign In or Register to comment.