Choosing a topic for PS

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• Sprinkles Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 edited August 2016 11542 karma

  @david.busis will be doing another webinar soon and I highly advise you attend!! And actually I don't think it's too early to purchase the Admissions course that's offered here by David because it provides rich information on how to go about essay topics and admissions in general. Time is precious so don't waste it!
• inactive Alum Member

  August 2016 12637 karma

  I think David is doing another webinar near/on the 14th! But, like @montaha.rizeq mentioned, the Admissions course is always available and is great:
  https://7sage.com/enroll-admissions/
• 2 Likes

  Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  August 2016 27901 karma

  Yeah, I’ve got a similar dilemma with my topics. I’m not sure what to do. I’m torn about the quality/interest of the narrative versus the relevance/inspiration of the subject matter. I think of them like little movies. With movies, there’s Oscar bait and there’s cult classics.
  
  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.
• 3 Likes

  Burt Macklin Alum Member

  August 2016 170 karma

  I posted this to another thread, but I figured Ill drop it here too so you can get ahead of the game until the webinar. Its a bit long but at the bottom are links to example essays.
  
  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
  
• Sprinkles Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 11542 karma

  Thanks again @"Burt Macklin" ! Very precise notes and people should benefit
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 23929 karma

  @"Burt Macklin"
  
  
• ashleysummer877 Free Trial Member

  August 2016 edited August 2016 2 karma

  Removed by Admin.
• sbc.mom_3x Alum Member

  August 2016 1501 karma

  @ashleysummer877 not judging. I'm a mother as well. three under four. Totally know how busy you are. The only thing I can think to write of are my kids and I am so afraid that will be redundant...... anyway, are you nervous the admissions will think you did not write your own PS? I think I would be. Curious how it goes for you. Kudos to you and your goals + motherhood.
• tltl1111 Yearly Member

  August 2016 edited August 2016 78 karma

  what's the difference between *removed* and 7Sage's essay service?
  
• 2 Likes

  Ron Swanson Alum Member Inactive ⭐

  August 2016 edited August 2016 1650 karma

  @ashleysummer877
  
  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)
• 1 Like

  Ron Swanson Alum Member Inactive ⭐

  August 2016 edited August 2016 1650 karma

  @tomlee1196
  
  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
• sbc.mom_3x Alum Member

  August 2016 1501 karma

  Definitely plagiarism.
• 1 Like

  badgalriri Alum Member

  August 2016 316 karma

  As much as a I reaaaaally wish I could sign up for the 7sage Admissions course (I thought the David Busis webinar was very helpful), I don't know if I can because I dropped so much $$$$ on the LSAT already, and now I have to save for apps.
  
  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?
• 1 Like

  inactive Alum Member

  August 2016 12637 karma

  Let's not mention that shitty site, guys. Removed mention of it, don't want them getting traffic.
• 1 Like

  sbc.mom_3x Alum Member

  August 2016 1501 karma

  I gave kudos to a spammer. I feel like a fool that I felt compelled to commend another mom of young children pursuing a law degree -_-
• inactive Alum Member

  August 2016 12637 karma

  @"dytmom_3x" said:
  I gave kudos to a spammer. I feel like a fool that I felt compelled to commend another mom of young children pursuing a law degree -_-
  

  That's how they get 'ya!