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Related Discussions
Choosing a topic for PS
badgalriri
Alum Member
I'm an old 7Sager who's (f i n a l l y) done with the LSAT but has returned for some much needed advice on personal statements! I've started writing four or five different statements, but I've hated all of them. I know I just missed an opportunity recently with the seminar thing, but does anyone have advice on narrowing down personal statement topics? As in, what to avoid? It's too early for me to spend money on an essay editing service, because I don't even like it myself!
Comments
https://7sage.com/enroll-admissions/
I feel like the Oscar bait PSs are abundant. Oscar bait movies are designed from the very beginning to win Oscars. They don’t get a script and make a movie and then realize, oh hey, this is actually really good. They start by saying, let’s do an Oscar movie; and from there, they find an Oscar script, cast some actors who are overdue, and get the whole movie on the Oscar train. Obviously, that’s kind of the approach to PS: We’re writing with a very specific goal in mind. For writing my PS though, I worry that my Oscar topic is going to be an “Australia” in a sea of “Schindler’s List”s. And honestly, I prefer “The Big Lebowski” and “This is Spinal Tap” anyway. So I really want to go the cult classic route. As a writer, those are definitely the stories I’m most interested in telling, and honestly I think it will give a truer insight to who I am (for better or worse). It’s probably a lot riskier though. If it doesn’t “work” then I’ve really screwed myself. But if it does, I think it has a lot more potential to be a standout essay.
I should note that I really have no idea what I’m talking about. This has just been my thought process.
Here are my notes from David's Webinars.
A good personal statement topic finds a good center between What Matters to You and What is an Interesting Story (where there exists the most overlap is what you should write about)
-In additional, a good personal statement where there exists an intersection between what Matters to you and What is an Interesting Story AND doest make you look like a douche
-A really good writer can make almost anything an interesting story (I am not a good writer thought....)
-Tells your life story, or a thin slice of your life's story
Do you have an incredible story (something that could be made into a Lifetime movie?)
-If yes, then you want to use that
-If no then DON'T use that --> Brain storm, general rule is that 1 in 10 ideas are good ones
Personal statement should have an internal before and after, should be a lesson that reflects a small journey you made
Questions to ask yourself to find a good topic
1) When did you change your mind, your beliefs, or your goals? Anywhere in your life where you took a new direction, a big inflection point. Maybe it is smaller than significant change, such as a psychodrama.
2) What is the most challenging thing that you've done? What is your mountain? This might be a really good topic because it presents movement 1- the challenge and movement 2- the solution
3) What contributed to your identity? What shaped you or what made you, you? Might be about how you grew up, such as had to raise your siblings. Maybe you were a parking lot attendant and had a bunch of time to focus on something, like reading.
4) What is most surprising about you? It forces you to dig deep about something that will be memorable. Maybe its a hobby, a skill that most people don't have, or an interest most people don't have.
5) (Most powerful statement) What 5 seconds changed your life? Doesn't necessarily have to be actually 5 seconds. Might be easiest to write because you have an identifiable changing point and have a before and after.
6) What made you want to be a lawyer? This is a good topic for anyone who has a good and sincere interest in becoming a lawyer, not a boring reason such as a stable or respected profession. Don't pretend you want to be a lawyer for some abstract reason because your resume will flush out that your interest isn't actually sincere. If you have some use for your UG degree.
Topics can meld together, such as a 5 second change that drove you to want to be a lawyer.
Dudes favorite essays:
1) Tourettes essay - about a time someone who has tourettes his whole life, seemed ordinary from his POV, but from someone else POV its pretty interesting
2) Defending a Neo-Nazi - a African American who ends up defending a Nazi in court
3) Coffee Shop - A 5 second change in this girls life, who normally didn't stand up for herself, but was a pivotal movement for her
4) Paper Cranes - Korean student who moved to Japan who had an inherent distrust for Japanese culture, while making paper cranes in a park
5) Max's Death - An VETs story about an Iraqi Soldier who died while trying to get his Green Card, focus's more on his relationship between the two NOT ABOUT MAX
6) Tourne - Someone who could make a type of food, tourne, and his struggle
7) Women like you - About a woman who was harassed in a police station in South Korea, turns that moment about being harassed into what are her core beliefs
The best personal statements touch on the MOST IMPORTANT THING IN YOUR LIFE
Things to ask:
1) Do you play an active part in this story? If you're not active then the topic probably doesn't work
2) Can you illustrate the point with specific anecdotes and details? These are the "bricks" that build your essay. If you can't remember specific details about the event, it might be a shitty essay because it will be vague
3) Is the topic important to you? Can you write about it sincerely?
4) Is it "the time that"?
Things to NOT DO:
1) Don't say what you're not sincere about because you think its what they want to hear, the admissions will flush out your bullship
Bad Essays topics:
1) The time I witnessed injustice essay, unless you were wronged or people you were connected to were wronged, then this is not going to seem sincere. Did you try to, or actually, do something about it? Did you actively act on that cause?
2) The Blah Business School Essay
-Did this experience working at the internship, or working at your job, matter to you? Did it change you? If not then it will feel like blah.
-Is your accomplishment something special, or was it just doing your job? Sometimes just doing your job can have a sense of nobility.
3) The essay about the obstacle that's not really an obstacle.
-Disappointments are not real obstacles
-Is this an actual obstacle or is this a disappointment?
4) The Two-Headed Essay
-Writer doesn't really know what he wants to write about and morphs into something weird
-Do I have more than one topic?
-Is every paragraph part of the same story?
5) The Headless Essay
-People writing about their resume or writing about
-Can you explain what this essay is about in one sentence or less? If you can't then you probably don't have a good essay
Notes from Admissions webinar on Personal Statement:
Personal Statement (600 - 850 words, easier to overwrite and cut)
-Make them remember who you are, do not brag about what you've done as that what your resume is for
-Diversity Statement only if you can write a really really good one, should generally be shorter than personal statement, if it wants to be longer than personal statement than maybe use that as personal statement
-Wont make up for low LSAT scores or low GPA, but could help put your application into the "Yes" pile
-Stories stick in peoples heads more than facts, remember you as the guy who "Locked keys in car, broke into own car, got arrested for breaking into own car"
-If you have a really good reason to be a lawyer, then write about it, otherwise DONT
Useful resource for examples of PS that worked-
University of Chichago School of Law Admissions Letters: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/alumni/magazine/spring11/intheirownwords
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/node/1451
Assuming you aren't just spam for that site, it's a pretty low/dishonest practice to buy an essay to then pass off as your own. Not to mention, I can't imagine any law school accepting you if they were to find that out (spoiler alert: they will)
The 7sage service is a comprehensive admissions course designed to give you "how to" tips on brainstorming PS topics, the writing process, getting good letters of rec, how to make a resume for your applications.
The *removed* service advertised seems to be plagerism similar to those sites that get high schoolers to pay money about summer reading books they were too lazy to read
I've been trying to find a cheaper alternative online but don't have much luck. Does anyone know any websites that edit for an affordable price?