Hi, I'm David Busis, 7Sage's admissions

editor, and I'm going to give you

a bird's-eye view of the entire

law school application process.

When you begin your journey to law

school, you should focus almost

all of your energy on studying

for the LSAT, but in the summer,

you'll want to attend to the other

components of your application.

Let's go through them one by one.

Law schools require you to write a

personal statement, a double-spaced,

one- to three-page essay about yourself.

You can usually use the same

personal statement for every school.

Some applications ask why you

want to be a lawyer; others,

especially T14 schools, leave

that prompt completely open.

This essay is your chance to

distinguish yourself from other

candidates with similar numbers.

A great essay cannot make up for

a low LSAT score or bad grades,

but it might push a borderline

application into the "yes" pile, so

you should spend a lot of time on it.

The key is to tell a memorable

story about yourself.

A diversity statement is an optional

essay that explains how you might

make the campus more diverse.

Think about diversity broadly, not

just race, ethnicity, socioeconomic

status, sexual orientation, or religion,

but also experience, such as being a

single mother or being homeschooled.

Only write it if you can

talk sincerely about how your

background has shaped you.

Not writing a diversity statement

is not going to count against

you, but writing a bad one will.

Your diversity statement will

generally be a little bit shorter

than your personal statement.

The résumé is often treated

like the neglected stepchild

of the application process.

It shouldn't be.

It's probably the first thing an

admissions officer is going to look at.

She'll only spend about 30 seconds

on it, but that means it's even more

important for you to shape it carefully.

Make sure it's scannable with plenty of

white space and easy-to-read formatting.

Only include the highlights.

Try to keep it to a page and leave

yourself plenty of time to work on it.

Law schools usually require

two or three recommendations.

If you've been in the workforce for

a long time, admissions officers will

understand if you can't reconnect with

your professors, but you should make

every effort to get academic letters.

They just count for much more

than professional letters.

Go with people who know you, not

necessarily people who are important.

If you've ever been subjected to

disciplinary action at school or

charged with a criminal offense,

you'll probably have to explain

what happened in a short essay.

Err on the side of disclosure.

Keep the essay short and factual and

take responsibility for your actions.

Don't make excuses.

Law schools will let you explain

extenuating circumstances.

For example, if you took care

of a sick family member and that

led to a drop in your grades, you

can tell them what happened in a

short essay, but don't abuse it.

Make sure you're writing about a

legitimate problem and something

that's not going to happen again.

If you write the addendum,

explain all the facts and why

the problem won't happen again.

Some schools offer an optional "why us?"

essay.

Treat that essay as nonoptional.

The schools are really trying

to see if you're interested in

them to protect their yield.

To write a good "why school X?"

essay, you're going to

have to do some research.

Talk to alumni, admissions officers,

current students, and make sure

you cite your conversations.

Only use unique reasons: classes

you want to take, clinics

you want to participate in,

professors you want to work with.

Strip out anything that could

be applied to other schools.

You should usually keep this

essay to one page or less.

Some applications include

idiosyncratic essays.

So, for example, Yale requires you to

write a 250-word essay about anything.

Georgetown gives you the

choice of five optional essays.

Think about how you can use these

essays to complement your application.

For example, if your personal

statement is about why you want

to be a lawyer, you might write

an optional essay about a hobby.

You can also use these essays

to emphasize your brand.

For example, I wrote my personal

statement about my interest in

food law, and then I wrote my Yale

250 about an artisanal butcher.

Now I'll walk you through

an ideal timeline for the

whole application process.

In June, you should

sanitize your social media.

Get rid of the keg-stand

pictures, take out the whiny

comments on top law schools.

Admissions officers can

and will use the internet.

You should also get a professional

first name.last name email address.

Then draw up a list of schools that you

want to apply to, update your résumé,

and begin your personal statement.

In July, you should ask your

recommenders for letters.

Get back in touch with them,

have a conversation, or take

them out for a cup of coffee.

You should also begin your diversity

statement if you're going to write

one and begin your other essays.

In August, you should write

your character and fitness

addendum if you have to write

one, and write your addendum

about extenuating circumstances.

Finally, iterate those other essays.

Do draft after draft.

It takes a long time to find the

best version of a given essay.

In September, you should finish

your essays and just proofread

the hell out of everything.

Most law schools begin to accept

applications on a rolling basis

around the beginning of October,

so that's the best time to apply

because there are the most open spots.

December is still a very good

time to apply, and you'll probably

be fine if you apply in January.

It's getting a bit late by February,

and rather than apply in March,

I would advise you just to wait

until the next application cycle.

Good luck and happy studying.

Let's talk about how to choose

a personal statement topic.

I think the biggest problem with

personal statements that I see

is people write about things

they don't really care about.

It's hard to make yourself

sound sincere if you're not.

Good personal statement topics

matter to you, but they're also

something that you feel like you

can turn into an interesting story.

Let's talk about the flowchart.

So, first question you've got

to ask yourself, do I have

an incredible life story?

And I mean, incredible.

You're going to be applying with

people who fled war-torn countries,

who overcame cancer, who helped

support their families through

high school, et cetera, et cetera.

So if the answer is yes, great.

You should probably use that.

If the answer is no, and most of

the people I work with answer no,

then you've got to brainstorm.

Generate a list of topics and

then cull, which means sort

out the good from the bad.

If you're left with a list of

topics that you're still not

excited about, brainstorm again.

But what kind of prompts should you use

to generate ideas in your brainstorm?

(1) What's most important to you?

If something is important to

you, you can make it important

to the admissions committee.

Now, a few of you out there

probably really care about social

justice, and poof, I give you

permission to write about that.

But a good chunk of you probably don't,

not deeply, and in that case, you should

find something closer to your heart.

I've read great personal statements

about dance, joining a Jewish campus

organization, reading, working as

a park ranger, just to name a few.

(2) When did you change your

mind, your beliefs, or your goals?

A story is a record of change.

Something happens and the rest of

your life is a little bit different.

Look for the inflection points

in your life, the moments

when your trajectory changed.

It might be when you gave up on

the idea of being a professional

chef, or first grew interested in

political theory, or first became

skeptical of your parents' values.

Inflection-point essays are almost

always personal and very well

structured since they revolve

around a key moment and they

demonstrate your self-awareness.

(3) What's the most challenging

thing you've ever done?

You don't have to write about overcoming

a challenge, but it's a good idea

because it shows you to advantage.

People reveal their character

when they do something hard.

It's also a natural way

to structure your story.

Part 1 is the challenge,

part 2 is the solution.

(4) What's most surprising about you?

In order to answer this

question, you have to step

outside of your own perspective.

So let me give you an example.

I worked with a student who wrote an

essay about going to a conference.

He heard a lawyer speak and he

decided that he wanted to be a lawyer.

It wasn't a terrible

essay, but it had no spark.

So I spoke to him on the phone and I

asked him about his life, and in the

course of our conversation, he told

me that he had Tourette syndrome.

For him, that manifested

itself as a bunch of facial

tics and throat clearing.

He learned to control it with exercise

and diet, and as soon as he said

that, I knew that this was our essay.

It was interesting, it was

personal, it was about overcoming

a challenge, and it was unique.

I just doubt the admissions

committee has read very many

essays about Tourette's.

So maybe this topic sounds like

an obvious winner to you, but

it wasn't obvious to him because

he lived with the condition.

It's very possible that you also have

a topic that's an obvious winner, but

which you've never even considered.

(5) What five seconds changed your life?

If you can pinpoint five seconds

that changed your life, your essay

comes with a built-in climax.

This prompt is actually

compatible with the others.

You might write about the five seconds

in which you overcame a challenge

or the five seconds that made you

change your mind about something.

(6) What made you want to be a lawyer?

Some law schools ask why

you want to be a lawyer.

If the law school doesn't ask about

it, you really don't have to mention

it, and you probably shouldn't

unless you have a really, really

compelling reason for pursuing your JD.

But some people do.

Note that this topic is also

compatible with the others.

For example, maybe you write your

personal statement about immigrating

to America and how overcoming the

challenge of the move inspired

you to study immigration law.

Even if you decide to write about

your motivation to pursue your JD, you

still need to tell a personal story.

A few tips for you as you choose

a personal statement topic.

First of all, size doesn't matter.

You don't necessarily have to write

about a major, life-altering moment.

It's fine to write about a small

but meaningful interaction.

All you have to do is zoom in.

For example, I worked with a client

on a great essay about the day she

said to a barista, "Hey, excuse me.

Why do you have to be so rude?"

It wasn't a cataclysm, but she

usually didn't stand up for herself,

so that day stood out in her memory.

Two, think events, not themes.

Your theme is like your mortar,

but moments and details and

dialogue and specific reactions

are the bricks of your essay.

Don't worry about the theme yet.

Let it arise later from the events.

Finally, think in terms of the time that

X happened, the time I got locked out,

the time I wrote my senator, et cetera.

This trains you to focus on events.

When you're evaluating a topic,

ask yourself a few questions.

Do you play an active role in the story?

You don't want to write an essay

about something that someone else did.

Can you illustrate your point with

specific anecdotes or details?

If not, it's going to be

vague and forgettable.

Is the topic important to you?

Can you write about it sincerely?

Sincerity leaps off the page.

You should mean what you say.