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Personal Statement: Okay to talk about an experience in high school that affected your life? help :)

Sara_3080Sara_3080 Alum Member
edited December 2018 in Law School Admissions 432 karma

Hey everyone!

So I start off my personal statement with talking about an extracurricular that affected my life in high school and gave me the confidence to pursue other experiences in college and beyond when I had no belief in myself before that. But when I told this to a professional they said that it wasn't a good idea to talk about anything related to high school because it was so long ago. They didn't actually get to read my statement, I think I'm able to connect the dots from high school to present pretty well. But I'm not sure what I should do, if I should trust this person and just remove what I think is the best part of my statement or not, cause on the other hand I've also seen a lot of top personal statements talk about things that happened when they were a lot younger. Any guidance would be appreciated!

Sarah

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Comments

  • luwenxi6luwenxi6 Alum Member
    53 karma

    Hi, Sarah! I actually talk about what happened in my junior high and even before that time in my personal statement. I brought the same question to my pre-law advisor, and he told me that it is totally fine as long as it makes sense and speaks something valuable about you.

  • FixedDiceFixedDice Member
    1804 karma

    I think you are fine as long as you (1) wrap up the past in two paragraphs at most and (2) connect it to the present (which you already do).

    I would say that the professional's comment is far more applicable to the résumé.

  • David BusisDavid Busis Member Moderator
    7404 karma

    Here's a paradox: every writing rule (including this one?) is true about 80% of the time. The injunction against high school is kind of like the injunction against passive voice: a thing that applies sometimes, maybe most of the time, but definitely not all of the time.

    So I agree with @luwenxi6 @FixedDice. I've worked with many applicants who begin their PS by talking about something formative in high school, move on to something in college or later, and wind up getting into a great law school.

    Some of the personal statements in this lesson begin even before high school: https://7sage.com/law-school-ps-examples/

  • Sara_3080Sara_3080 Alum Member
    432 karma

    Thank you so much!! @"David.Busis" @FixedDice @luwenxi6

  • calcal101calcal101 Alum Member
    582 karma

    Former 7Sager, current HYS student here: I wrote about a high school experience and how it influenced my path to college and (very briefly) beyond. I think one of the keys is that you need your essay to be something an adult applying to law school would write, NOT something a high schooler writing a college admissions essay would. In other words, if it's mature and thoughtful (both in substance and form) then the topic doesn't much matter.

  • Sara_3080Sara_3080 Alum Member
    432 karma

    Wonderful, thank you for your input!! @calcal101

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